Puppies
If you have ever seen a litter of puppies at 4 weeks old and you have to choose one, you will know how difficult it is to make the right choice. They are all so very cute! I drove to the breeder last Saturday morning. Mike was not feeling well, and the grandkids had other activities so I went by myself. On the way out I took the 64 East instead of West, discovered it right away, but it cost me fifteen minutes. Navigation wants to send me via the I-40, like last time, but that route is half an hour longer. So I had looked at the maps and AAA gave me a TripTik. Do you remember TripTiks? We used those all the time in the sixties and seventies before there was navigation in cars. I felt pretty good about the TripTik, until I had to look at it (no passenger to do it for me). It was kind of scary to look at it while driving at 60 mph but anyway, I made it to the kennel.
Three of the eight females were black, so we had a choice of three; but at 4 weeks old, one of them appeared to have grey streaks over her eyes and two grey legs. They called it a Phantom black.
I sat on an upside down bucket in a small fenced area and observed two four week old black minis, one smooth haired with a pink collar and one curly haired with orange. They did not really know what they were doing there away from all the others (the litter counted twelve!) and aimlessly wandered around. Toys did not get their attention until Pinky gave a little shove to a bunch of knotted ropes. Orange took a few steps back – she appeared more timid. The choice was difficult, but I ultimately opted for Pinky, the smooth haired one. And later, after Mike had seen pictures and heard my observations, he agreed. So I will add some pictures of our new little bundle of joy: we are calling her Lani, the Hawaiian word for heaven, heavenly, but also majesty. Her current weight, at 4 weeks, is 2.5 lbs. She was probably born before Orange, who was 100 g lighter.
Thinking I could just use the TripTik in reverse to get home, appeared to be a mistake. Somehow I got terribly lost. I first asked a woman who was pulling weeds somewhere across the road; hers sounded like an easy way, but was not. I kept driving on the same roads in opposite directions. A gas station attendant would surely know! But he was from India, had never heard of Cary and when I said Raleigh he pointed me to the I-40. No way. Then back to my car navigation twice, and finally I recognized where I had come from. I stopped the car by the side of the road in the shade of an enormous oak tree and ate my cheese sandwich and grapes. The total time I lost was 45 minutes! But finally I made it home. After talking to Mike I took a quick nap before dinner and was good as new again.
It’s a Wonderful Life!
Until next time,
Ronny