Cold and Cookies

Cold

Cookies

Bitter sweet

this season is to me
Cold and wet on my nose
Chimes and Bells tinkle and go
Lights twinkle on the trees
Bitter sweet this season is to me
The cold bites and stings my toes
Carolers sing and the wind gently blows
I sit and listen, enchanted by the moons glow
Bitter sweet this season is to me
Bitter is the cold
Fresh liver and spice cookies are sweet to the nose
Bitter sweet is this season to me

Dark

In the chilly season the humans call winter, the sun barely shows her face.  To me this means that Beth and I have to venture out in the dark.  No matter how early in the evening it is, the dark just seems to change things.  Even humans act a little funny. Now my eye sight has not been tip top for a few years and I think I may be really starting to see the effects this has on me in such times.

For example; tonight Beth, Bailey, me and a few of our pack mates went for a stroll in the park.  This is always a good time and we get lots of running and sniffing in.  Maybe this time I played a little too hard and wore myself out or something.

You see what happened is when we got home I was so “tired” and it being dark and all, I got out of the car and started running for the door a big scary mystery object caught my eye.  I stopped to listen but I couldn’t hear it breath.  I took some big sniffs in the air and I could smell its identity.  This set off all the Omar alarms, and I knew right away that I needed to defend my Beth.  I put myself right between her and the big scary mystery thing and hulked myself up as big as I could go.  Growling and snarling my displeasure at this thing that was lurking in the dark by my house.

Well this of course alerted Beth who told me to shush.  Obviously she didn’t know the danger she was in.  When she got over to me she took the flash light out of her pocket and shined it on the beast. To my horror and her humor, it was just the tarped barbeque.  Well I guess one good thing has come from this.  At least I still know how to muster bravery even if I can’t see for beans.

“Walking with a friend in the dark, is better than walking alone in the light” –Helen Keller

Wind Song

Racing, Sniffing, Romping

To the winds song

Life is good, nothing is wrong

Come, play along

Splashing, Prancing, Fawning

Enjoying it all with friends

Standing side by side a shoulder to lend

A world to give, a life to spend

Always take the time to frolic

Sway like the tree

Come play with me

Racing, Sniffing, Romping

To the winds song

Life is good, nothing is wrong

Come, play along

By: Omar McDog

Halloween = Humility

So Beth has been measuring me for my costume for Halloween. For those of you who don’t know this is the time of year were the little humans put on costumes to make them scary so they can frighten the big humans into forking over all their candies. As if the little humans need costumes to be scary. Anyways, this year I am going out with my Beth’s favorite human and her little human this year and Beth says I have to get dressed up for the occasion. Well maybe I will get some treats out of the deal. I guess there is a pawsitive side to everything.

"Humility is like underwear, essential, but indecent if it shows” - Helen Nielsen

Rainy Nights

Sprinkles tinkle on the roof

Mud between my toes; Water splashes on my nose

Sitting under a tree; no one sits with me

The rain is soaking, chilling to my hide; I hear the birds cackle and chide

All because of my foolish game; here I sit in the rain

My lesson I will learn; she told me oh so stern

Outside I must sit until I go; dogs don’t melt in the rain you know

Sprinkles tinkle on the roof; at the door I’ll sit and woof

By: Omar McDog

"Learning by experience often is painful-

 and the more it hurts, the more you learn." -Ralph Banks

Princess Ebony

Gentle kindness and felicity you always bring
When I smelled you first, my heart did sing
I will miss you when I play with ball
Your absence is felt by all
Always will you, our first princess be
So alone you have left me
But on your journey you must go
I will see you again someday; I know

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too." -Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

Everyone Loves Dogs (deep down)

We had to work this morning. And what a beautiful day it was. Beth got us out of set up so we got to sleep in which was nice. In my line of work you meet all kinds of humans. You get humans that are clean and shiny like my dog bowl after breakfast, you get the kinds that look like they work hard and have never been forced to take a bath. We have old and young, men and woman, happy humans and grumps. The most important category to me would be the dog lovers, the dog toleraters, and the “if you don’t look at them they won’t see you because dogs are icky”-ers.

For the most part my patrons love me. In fact on this very same morning I got a whole piece of bacon to myself. Talk about the dogs life. Anyways, sometime you will get the occasional person that comes along and just plain doesn’t like dogs. Well on this same day I got to meet just such a person.

The woman who came in was a very fragile older human who was using a cane to help her get around. I normally will loupe over for a good ear scratching when someone comes in the door; and as per usually I did just this. When I got there she turned to the side and shoved her cane in my face. Odd behavior for a human but she did. So knowing that she obviously didn’t want me to approach I sat right where I was and waited for her to come to her senses and see how cute and friendly I obviously am.
It felt like I had waited a very long time and still she refused to even acknowledge my existence so I decided to get my schmooze on. I started doing ever trick Beth had ever taught me. Still nothing. Saving the biggest crowd please for the last, I started to tell this woman a very lengthy story about my life.

Finally she turned the Beth and said, “what does your damn dog want?”. Beth told her that I was just telling her a story and that I was getting to the good part. Right then I let out the saddest whimper I could come up with and killed over like a dead dog, holding as still as possible. The woman stared at me in disbelieve. After what seemed to be an age she let out the loudest old human cackle I had ever heard. When the cackling finally died down, the woman reached down to pat my belly, and said well a performance like that deserves recognition dog or not.

The lesson of the day: No matter what type of human people try and pretend to be, a dog always knows best and can play on their heart strings like a harp whose melody is full of love and kindness.

Morning

In the morning burning bright

like a fire in the sky

Big black nose in the air

Inhale, stretch, not a care

Light wind blows through my fur

Trotting along with her

This road so long and trite

By: Omar McDog 

Crackle, Pop and Boom

Oh joy, the worst time of the year. Not only is it hot as a boiled dog outside, but the humans find it amusing to shoot off those awful noise makers. I love to show my patriotism by wearing my honor our vets bandana; however, I see no point in honoring this countries Birthday by making it sound like a war zone outside, from dusk till dawn for the week before and even several days after. How is a dog supposed to sleep!

I think that it would be a much better use of our time if we just sang Happy Birthday, one time all together. Then we could follow it up with barbecued hotdogs and a big liver flavored birthday cake. Doesn’t that just sound dreamy? Well I think so, but until that happens you will find me here, under the bed with a pillow over my head. Disclaimer: I am not scared just very very concerned!

"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one." -Benjamin Franklin

Note to Summer

Dearest Father Summer,
I just wanted to send you a little note. I was worried there for awhile that you had decided not to come back from vacation this year. All that rain was really started to get to me. I mean the O doesn’t like the feel of rain drops on his beautiful fur. Also, the mud between my toes was getting really obnoxious, I know you probably have better things to do with your time than worry about me and my webbed feet, but having to sit by the door and wait for my Beth to clean in between each toe is lame. Anyways, I am glad you have decided to grace us with your presence after all. Now if you could turn town the heat just a little I will be the happiest mutt on the planet. I am sweating when I am in the shade of my favorite tree and burning my bald belly on the pavement. This is also not expectable. I want to thank you in advance for your time and consideration in this matter. Good Day!

-The O

Quack

Swimming as the humans say, Beth says I don’t swim I sink. So for a dog with massive webbed feet I am pretty terrible at the whole “swimming” thing. Bailey my sister on the other paw is a champ. So for many years now playing stick at the lake has been a cooperative game. She swims out to get it, and when she gets to the shore I steal it from her and try to claim all the glory. I do however love to splash around, as long as my paws are still touching the soil. In fact, I will stretch as far out as I possibly can with nothing but the tips of my toes on one paw still touching the earth, to try and reach ball.

The other day me and a pack of my friends were romping about at our favorite free range spot on the river. None of these young pups know the proper way to play ball and I was getting pretty annoyed with them. After awhile I just couldn’t take it anymore, they would go grab the ball out of the water and then just swim around with
it in their mouth. After one too many times of this stupid game I went for it. I ran and trip and stumble gracefully into the river after the ball. When my feet left the ground though something went wrong and my front half sunk with nothing but my butt and tail bobbing in the wind. And there I bobbed for a few very long (possibly a million) seconds until somehow I righted myself again. Then I started flailing around until my back paws touched the ground and I walked back to the shore. I think this swimming thing is going to take some more practice.

“Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.” – Michael Caine

My Love

Silky, Soft and Sweet
A joy that can’t be beat
Rolling, Digging, Sniffing
To sleep I start Drifting
Playing, Chasing, Running
You are simply Stunning
Fresh, Green and New
Grass how I adore you!

By: Omar McDog

The Return of the King

What an exciting day. My long lost friend has returned to the ranks of my house hold. None other than the infamous King Charles, or Chuck to his closes friends. I had not seen him for many years has he, (for lack of a better term) had been cat napped. The neighbor lady had decided that he was a she and that she would be living at their house from now on. This was a few years ago, right when Beth and I were moving to the Big Sky. The lady had grown quite fond of our fluffy friend and had asked if she could keep him. Now for those of you who may not know Charles has been with Beth since 1996. He was a stray that just started using the beagle’s dog door. A cat that smart has the right to have a warm place to go at night was the theory, so I am told, so he just stayed and became part of the family.
Anyways, back to the present. So the old lady next door wanted to keep him as he had been hanging out at her house during the day while Beth was at school or work and with him being as old as he is and not being able to break the little ladies heart she said she would let him stay. Her mom and dad lived next door so all the lady need do is let them know if he needed anything and they would comply. Her mom was still taking him in for his yearly check up and shots so there was no need for concern. Beth was also afraid a big move like that would be hard on our majestic yet aging king.
Well just the other day, the lady next doors daughter approached Beth and I while we were hanging out with her parents. She said her mom wasn’t doing well and would no longer be able to manage (please do not let Charles know that I am telling you this undignified new name) Miss Kitty, and ask that he move back in with us. Since we have moved back to the valley and have our own place again Beth jumped at the chance to have him back. So now he is back. And how I did miss him. He always loves to curl up in bed with me, and I love shoving my nose in his long fluffy fur.
However, I have grown accustom to some amenities that I forgot were not always mine with the King around. Example A: My favorite chair is also his favorite chair, and the king always gets his way. Example B: If Charles wants to drink out of the toilet, even if my nose is already occupying the bowl, I am to move. Last but not least by any means we have Example C: Laps belong to the King and there is no room for two.

"And love is love in beggars and in kings." Edward Dyer