Dog Days of Summer

I have been here and there for the last week. Milly and I headed to Michigan, sneaking past Mabel in a duplicitous exit. Mabel was distraught, though she was left in the fine company of Steve, Pat and Rachel. She extracted her revenge by helping herself to an entire blueberry pie. I am sure she considered staining the carpeting with it, but in the end, her gluttony won out. Her petulance has continued, despite Pat's efforts to assuage her by giving her pool rights and car rides. Rachel calls her the bakery fiend, as she has also polished off a loaf of bread and made a mad dash for some pretzel rolls that were on deck for lunch. Rachel's a gamer, though- she wrestled the rolls away, made a sandwich, rebagged the untouched ones, and was off to school. Some of Mabel's munchies are revenge; however, she is also rebelling at my efforts to slim her down before she stresses her 7 year old bones. In people years, she is getting close to my age, and I can warn her that most everything goes to hell. I am doing for her what I lack the discipline to do for myself.

My sister Jennifer, her daughter and grandson joined me in New Buffalo. If I ever needed evidence that the world is spinning double-time, I received it. Three years ago, Megan was a beautiful bride. Two years ago, she visited New Buffalo before her son, Mason, was born. Now she is almost eight months pregnant with #2. (a girl!) It was fun to unlock the memories of younger Janet, waiting for Mike to join Pat. In fact, I can remember putting Pat in his bike seat, and taking him to the park to confide that his "prince" days were numbered. He had no clue what I was telling him, nor did he talk well enough to respond. And me- I had no idea how the lock-step existence we had enjoyed for two years would shift into a lifetime of snippets and shifts. I guess that is why I loved watching Megan enjoy this precious time with her son- it is a gift that you cannot fully appreciate until it is history.

When they headed back to Detroit, Milly and I had some solitary time before Steve joined us. She is a Portuguese Water Dog by breed, but swimming is a lot of work for her. Mabel the Lab is such a strong swimmer that she has become a water taxi for Milly. Faced with the chore of swimming, Milly glides casually by her sturdy co-pet, and climbs aboard. I decided to teach her to swim in the lake- a great personal sacrifice, given her post-swim ritual of rolling and burrowing in the dune. She chased a stick on shore, and waded in to grab it, but she was more inclined to patiently wait for the waves to bring back her toy. This was frustrating, but I have to admire a dog that lets the universe do her work. After a hose-bath and a blow dry, Milly was permitted to bunk with me. Sand in my bed takes me back to the misery of sleeping bags on the beach at CYO camp in Michigan. It will not happen.... just like Milly's career as a Portuguese Water dog, assisting fishermen.

Steve and I merged over the weekend, and hit Stop 50 Wood Fired Pizzeria for the best pizza in the universe. Having missed me, Steve even green lighted dessert for me- a concession, as he is a dine and dash sort of fellow. I craved S'mores in a ramekin, flash melted in the wood burning pizza oven. Steve settled on a carmelized banana. Heaven.

Sunday Steve headed home, and I grabbed another bit of Great Lakes solitude. Milly had another swim lesson. She maintained her trepidation with the waves, and her love of the sand. The sunset was spectacular. Milly's shower and blow dry were followed by a HG TV marathon, ending at 3:00 am. Milly and I cleaned, packed and headed back to reality Monday morning with the Big Dog on the radio to entertain us. ( As my room mate, Milly received executive permission to travel in the back seat- a HUGE prohibition in Steve world, where dogs travel in the cargo area. She was so well behaved that I have purchased some sort of sling to drape from the front to the back headrests to house her on future trips, as well as a harness. Automotive accessories are also frowned upon in Steve's domain.)

Mabel seems to know she missed some fun days: she tries to be standoffish, but is compromised by her love of Kraft Singles. I can win her back. This week- a chunk of the family heads to Michigan. Mabel will surf, Milly will try to go tandem. People and dogs, stacked like cord wood, as Steve says. Stop 50 beckons. There will be more sand, less solitude. It will be precious and wonderful....though we may not realize this until we have the luxury of looking back.