Tess

What About Me

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Tess

Ash is at the beach this week. It’s his fourth trip. I’ve never been to the beach. I’ve smelled the wild scent on Ash when he comes home and listened to his stories about sea monsters and rogue waves.

Ash has been on lots of road trips. He took his first trip when he was seven weeks old. Mom picked him up from his birth home in eastern Washington and drove three hundred miles back to Seattle.

Mom likes to take Ash with her because he’s no trouble. He settles down in the back of the car and goes to sleep. Ash has so much confidence. He never worries about meeting new people or staying in strange places.

I wish I was confident like Ash. I worry and dither and make a nuisance of myself. I pant and cry and pace until mom scolds me. Eventually I settle down, but the minute we stop I’m at it again.

Ash says we each have our place in this world. Some of us were born to travel, others to stay at home. When I first arrived at Asherpark I had no idea what to do.

Ash told me all I had to do was follow the house rules and I would find where I belonged. I got in lots of trouble at first. The fence wasn’t secure and I escaped a dozen times. I heard them calling for me to come back but I had to run as fast as I could. But run to what? Run where?

Mom and dad soon discovered that if they chased me down in the truck I would jump in. They started keeping a spare key in the truck so they could get to me quicker.

One thing led to another and soon I started going with my dad whenever he drove the truck. I go to the job site, on errands, to see friends. I became my dad’s best trucking buddy.

Since I never want to miss a truck ride, I keep pretty close to dad. We watch TV together. I sit next to him while he reads the paper. If he’s in the yard, so am I. We are together  constantly.

When I felt bad about Ash going to the beach without me, he reminded me of how I found my place at Asherpark. Ash said some mutts go to the beach, others stay home and watch their people. I guess that’s what Ash meant when he told me to keep on trucking. I will, Ash. I will.

 

 

 

 

Asher

The Good Life

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Ash

Sometimes life doesn’t get any better. Like when you’re at the beach with your little brother.

Me and Zag are having the best time at the beach. We’ve been racing around till we can hardly move. Yesterday we had four beach runs. We were silly with joy.

Zaggie is crazy about my mom. He wants to hang with us all the time. Last night Zag’s mom let him sleep with us. I let Zag have the bed with mom because he wanted it so bad. He jumped into bed and didn’t move all night.

This morning we got up at first light. We walked out the back door and down the path to the beach. The waves were big and noisy but it wasn’t raining. Me and Zag ran our fool heads off. On the way back to the house I spooked a big bird in the grass. Man, that was fun.

 

Zag

Zag’s mom was still in bed when we got back so my mom made us both breakfast. Kibbles and home cooked slop. Zag loves my mom’s cooking. We snarfed that up real quick and then lay down for a while.

Mom says my bark today is kinda lame. She says I didn’t put a lot of thought into it, I just rambled on about what we’ve been doing. But hey, I’m on vacation.

As soon as it stops raining so hard we’re gonna explore a new beach. How good is that?

 

 

Asher

It’s A Guy Thing

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Ash Sometimes life gets pretty boring at Asherpark. Oh, I do my best to keep things lively, but by late afternoon mom starts slowing down.

Maybe it’s because us mutts get her up so early. Maybe cause she’s always taking care of what we need and want.

But I hate being bored. Tess curls up on the couch and won’t play. Dad watches TV. Nellie disappears to her secret sleeping spot and Jack snores on for hours.

Mom would like to put her feet up and read, but that’s not what I have in mind. When she settles in on the couch I start prowling. Usually I bring her a sock, but she’s so used to that she doesn’t even look up.

Next I bring a shoe or boot. If it’s an old one she doesn’t care. If it’s a good shoe, she tells me to put it down. Soon I start circling the house looking for anything that will get her to chase me.

Once I found her tax return. Oh boy, that got her up in a hurry. A couple of times I swiped the remote for the tv, but it gets dad too worried so I quit doing that.

Last week my stepbrother Don was lying on the couch. He left his smart phone next to his leg and then fell asleep. I quick grabbed it and trotted over to mom. She whispered for me to give it to her. Not so fast. That was a way cool phone and I pranced all over the house showing it off. Finally mom got me to drop it on the carpet.

My favorite treasure is the cordless telephone. Lots of times I find one lying on the table next to the couch. As soon as I grab the phone mom gets after me. If I’m lucky my teeth will hit the redial button and I’ll call somebody with the phone in my mouth.

One time I heard mom apologizing to some lady friend. “Asher dialed your number by mistake,” she said. “Who was he trying to call?” the lady asked.

Anyway, you know us guys really like electronics, especially cool wireless stuff. None of the other mutts share my fascination with phones, so it’s a game that mom only plays with me.

Let me know if you want me to dial you up sometime!