Ah, the loveliness of spring yields to summer. Humans and beasts gather to celebrate the invention of air-conditioning.
That's how it's been explained to me.
Good Sweating to you, all. [That's me, sitting in the back deck heat...Dudley. It's OK for a minute, as I'm sure your human buttocks will agree.]]
I am the wander-up-and-win-a-home dog Dudley The Angel, a Border Collie/Chocolate Lab mix who found a home in southern Oak Cliff just over 15 decades ago.
Took about a split-second to secure the deal: I walked up, wagged my tail, said "hello" and I was in. No written entry exam, though I was, as are all dogs of my breeding, "ready to go!"
The family's oldest cat, Senior Office Cat William Powell, had to audition as a painter's helper to get a home at the same place. The guy who was painting, Larry, was no painter -- I passed the easy entrance exam. William and I have been pals ever since. He only had to purr. It's not easy for a big dog to purr, as you may suspect.
Now, for this edition I'm going to demonstrate the joys of this weekly feature's theme: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.
The truth is many humans are envious of sleeping dogs and napping cats. I don't blame them -- Do you have any idea how good it feels to stretch out on carpet, reach forward with
your front paws, extend your black legs, point your nose, perk your ears, breathe gently and burp after the evening meal!!!???? [DUDLEY ASIDE: Some of you human relatives will, but, then, of course, you are the burpy/sleepy relatives who aren't invited back for dinner.]
Here's the truth of the canine stretch, relax and burp experience: It is the deeply satisfying joy of existence whn done in a mannerly fashion. For exampe: It is much like catching a chunk of Mom's fresh-baked cake in the air -- she'd toss it with a wooden spoon and we pups would catch it before it could hit the kitchen floor. I think there's a guy in the baseball hall of fame who used to teach dogs how to catch "Cake Off The Bat," as the maneuver is called.
That poorly lit photograph shows Martha "throwing practice" for the little girl Lulu and me one evening as we worked on our style of grabbing bites of cake out of the air.
[EXPLANATORY ASIDE FROM SENIOR OFFICE CAT WILLIAM POWELL: At our house, we cats and yon dogs celebrate Summer by napping. And so does one of the humans in the house. The other human turns achieving slumber into a Psychodrama nightly. I'll testify. Regards, William Powell, Senior Office Cat.]
(LARRY EXPLANATION: I am an insomniac -- hot or cold weather -- and I am married to the opposite of an "insomniac" -- I believe that term is "Normalian." Or it could be "Slumberian." I'll lay awake later in the weekend trying to develop new names for a sleeper that I can copyright and make a bundle off of with my line of "Greeting Cards For Insomialand." )
[DEAR READERS: Please send photos and bios of your nominees for Let Sleeping Dogs Lie and Napping Cats Nap to [email protected] and we'll spotlight 'em in our long-running weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. Thanks for reading and contributing through the decades. Larry The Yawner Who Cannot Sleep or Catch Flying Cake in the Air With His Big Mouth.]
