Day 213
Last night I was awakened, from a sound sleep, by a noise I couldn’t quite figure out. I laid in bed, knowing it was coming from upstairs (near me) but couldn’t get my head around what it was … and rightly so … because I’ve never heard a 90 pound lab trying to break into a shower stall before. Mobes was panicked.
I had sprayed bleach cleaner in my shower earlier so there was no way I was going to let the dog in there – so, I draped a towel from the cabinet to the vanity and made a quasi-tent/fort for her to sit under … closed the blinds, turned off the nightlight … and there she stayed hunkered down, in a heavy-breathing panic. She usually does this when it’s thundering out but it was perfectly calm … so, I didn’t get it.
I sleepily made my way back to bed and felt asleep immediately only to be reawakened, a mere 6 minutes later, by the loudest clap of thunder I’ve heard in a long time. Okay – that explained the dog!
We’ve had t-storms, on and off, for the past few nights. They come and go, are fast moving and accompanied by a few moments of torrential rain. They are scattered around the area – one neighborhood getting deluged, the other getting but a drop – are never forecasted and seem, lately, to come at night. Last week I lost power for 10 hours. Tonight I lost power 3x for less than 20 minutes each time … just enough of a pain to have to reboot the clocks and computers and tv.
And then there’s the panicked dog to contend with.
In between storms last night I came downstairs to check windows and to let the dogs out. It had stopped raining and since I was up – why not take the opportunity to let them out, as I know too well what a panicked dog can do to a carpet. Mobes and Gertie went out and Mobes was done in a flash and practically ran into the house. Odd, was the thought that crossed my mind. And while Mobes practically flew into the house, walnut-sized brain Gertie was out in the yard hopping around on her hind legs barking at the sky. Of course, I’m thinking (at 4:30 am) … get in the house you big weirdo! Before I could call to her, again, the skies opened up and big, fat drops pummeled to the ground … soaking the dog who then high-tailed it into the house! Weird … was she barking at the rain? Could she tell something was about to happen?
I love thunderstorms. I thought I’d love them here … as I did in Colorado … except the difference is that here they are upon us before I even know they are coming. In CO I could watch them descend on us … the clouds would form over the mountains in the distance and then they would swallow the mountains up, peak by peak. I could watch the lightning show for almost an hour before it would be upon us and it was always lovely to watch … day or night. Here … the storms come and go before I can really enjoy them. It’s just a lot of wind and noise and rain.
But soon, these thunderstorms will be over and traded for snowstorms. I can regain my bathtub (there is a dog bed in it now as Mobes is in the tub so often) … and the area under my desk won’t have a quivering mass of lab under it either. All too soon I’ll be the one hunkering down and using the tub and the dog will be sitting outside on her mound of snow in happy snow-dog bliss.