A Fob of My Own

The other day I was sitting on the couch and looking out the window as the leaves spiraled to the ground and covered the grass and sidewalk that my parents recently raked.  It got me thinking…

(different day, same locale)

But then I had enough of that and decided to reminisce about a good time I had not long ago at the expense of my parents.

On this occasion, Mom was in the car getting ready to leave and Dad was doing something useless – taking out the trash, pulling weeds, whatever.  Anyhow, as he passed the car he noticed the frunk was ajar.  So he asked my Mom if there was something she needed to get out of or put into this compartment.  “What?”  (That was Mom)  “Why did you open the frunk?”  “What?” (that was Dad) “I asked you why you opened the frunk.”  “Huh?” (Mom again).  “Could you just close it so I can leave?”  “Huh?”  (Dad) “Why did you open it if you needed to leave?” “I didn’t open it.” (Mom) “My keys are in my bag on the passenger seat.”  “I didn’t open it…” (Dad) “…I don’t even have my keys on me.”  “This makes no sense.” (not sure who said this first since they said it roughly at the same time).  “Just close it and I’ll go.”  “I’ll just close it so you can go.”   (again about simultaneous utterances – you can figure out for yourselves who said what).

All this time, I was sitting in the window with my Dad’s key fob in my mouth – which incidentally can open the frunk.   Sammy was sitting beside me just rolling on his bed, beside himself with the humor of what was going outside…and knowing I was responsible.  Of course I had to give him the play-by-play since the old guy is just about deaf (Note: my recounting of events to Sammy – and in this blog are and were totally accurate).

Dad closed the frunk and headed back inside.  I was dutifully chewing a bone and Sammy had completely composed himself so the old guy (Dad in this instance) was unaware of the fun we were having at his expense.  He looked over at his two little angels and smiled at us with adoration and gave us some complement like: “good puppies” – and possibly tossed us a treat before he busied himself with whatever he was going to do after coming back inside.   Sam and I just sat in the living room exchanging knowing glances as we remained silent as Dad went about his business.

Finally, he was done with his chores and was ready to leave himself.  Wallet…check.  Jacket…check.  Baseball hat [it was sunny out and his scalp is somewhat exposed nowadays]…check.  Doors closed…check.  Dogs inside…check. Car keys….hmmmpf.  Car keys?   Check pants pockets…nope.  Check jacket pockets…nope.   Check counter top in kitchen…nope.  Check desk top…nope.   Double Hmmpf.

“Sammy!  Tempi!  Have you seen my keys?”….no response.

“Seriously guys, do you have any clue what I did with my keys?”  Maybe a snicker slipped out.  He stopped and looked over at us but we had regained total control of our composure.

“Where the *&%^ are my keys”.  He was wondering about kind of like he did tonight when he was on the phone with a customer service guy at our bank and was looking for his iPhone (which happened to attached to his ear).  In this case, his keys were not on his person but the vacant, lost look in his eyes was the same.  I rolled over to get a better look at what he was doing which accidentally exposed the key fob that I had been hiding underneath my hindquarters.  Then he looked again in my direction and saw his keys…and I saw the light go on in his eyes as his two neurons formed a synapse and the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

“AHA!” said he, “It was you who opened the frunk!”

-Key fob       Before Me:                                         After Me:

Boy did Sam and I have a good laugh over that.  In fact, during the rest of the day if either of us did an impression of our Dad looking for his keys or finally figuring out where they were and how the frunk got open, we would both just about bust a gut laughing.   Is there anything better than a truly good laugh?  Well aside from steak of course.  Or fish. Or a good bone.  Or a walk in the mountains off leash.  Or a road trip with the pack….Well it is up there in great things.   Just saying.

The Tempest.

By the way, I might go into meteorology.  As you may recall I said recently winter was coming and then this happened a few days later:

Well, maybe that isn’t the best example as it is hard to tell in this photo that my toys outside are totally frosted over.

Here is one with some snow on the ground in the background…totally Sammy’s time of the year!

Trust me, he was totally grinning until the camera came out.

 

 

 

Little Pink Corvette

Okay.  I can already hear many of you thinking to yourselves that I screwed the pooch with my title and it should be either

1. “Little RED Corvette” by Prince
2. “Freeway of Love (The Pink CADILLAC Mix)” by the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin*

Well, I just have one thing to say to those of you who went there:

you need to give a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T to THE Tempest!

You’ll see what I mean in a second when you see the pictures of me (in a sentence or two) in what I thought was going to be my new ride.   Sam and I were on our daily morning walk when I spotted this gem of a vehicle on the side of the road – apparently abandoned – alone, amazing, and alluring.  And all MINE!  Sorry Sammy but this vehicle was made for a hot young gal like me.  If you were caught in it (even the passengers side) people would no doubt think you were having another one of your mid-life crises.

Before Dad (who happened to be walking me) knew what was happening I had jumped into the front seat and hit the go button….nothing.  Maybe it was because I wasn’t seated properly – I’ve heard some cars nowadays require pressure in the drivers seat (and hands…or paws I presume…on the steering wheel)…nothing.   Then I looked  over to the passengers seat which was pulled way forward for what I had assumed was to make Snowy extra comfortable when we went out cruising the ‘hood – you may recall she has really short legs.   But this apparently wasn’t the case at all because someone had totally messed with electrical system in the car and given it is (was) an electric car this meant we weren’t going anywhere anytime soon.  Darn electric vehicles!

Now don’t get me wrong.  If I was to get one of these for Christmas (or my birthday that they forgot – by the way)…I’d be Pretty In Pink!

Or if a ‘Vette isn’t in my future I’d be willing to accept a Tesla…can you hear me now Mr. Musk?  Or Mom?  Or Dad? Or anyone out there in the blogosphere!

The Tempest

Footnotes:

* Others of you may have thought of Mr. Springsteen’s “Pink Cadillac” from 1984 but he – to my knowledge – is not royalty like the other two.

Small Things

Shortly after hearing about my new cousin and seeing pictures of her kissing up to my kin folk I decided I had better get back to Michigan and establish myself as the premier granddaughter.   In doing so, I actually met the new imp…the so called Snowy.  I will share with you a video of our recent “play-date” at our grandparents.  But first a story of our first interaction.   And for those of you keeping track, yes, Sammy was there also but he was too absorbed in some treat or what-not (likely also kissing up to MY grandparents).

So, the Snow-bird came over with my aunt and uncle but stayed outside.  Intrigued I was.   I patiently watched them through the front windows.  Obviously I was on full alert as I saw my dear aunt close to some potentially vicious creature unbeknownst to me…no doubt it was a dog but without the proper sniff test I had no idea the level of trust I should bestow upon this creature.   As I said, they waited on the sidewalk outside the house as my Dad/scribe put my leash on.  Boy was I ready to test this new canine.  Once we were all equipped in our pedestrian attire (for me a leash, for the old guy this requires shoes, a jacket and a hat) we were out the door and on the move.  When we finally arrived at where my aunt was standing I was shocked at how little the beast actually was – apparently looking out the window is like looking out a side-view mirror in a car…”things may look larger than they appear” – or something like that.

Anyhow, I got a good sniff of this youngster and immediately decided that with a little discipline and instruction she might be OK.  So I agreed that a short walk was in order.  Weirdest thing though is she didn’t give me a return sniff right away.   Once I squatted to relieve myself I all of a sudden felt tiny paws on my hips and a nose in places I wasn’t ready to have a nose.  Reeling around, I realized the little thing had no chance at a proper doggy introduction without the aide of a stepladder…something my aunt really should have thought about before our introduction.

Suffice it to say, me and Snowy are now best of pals.  Sammy, once aware that another dog was in his presence – which just so  happened to be the following morning – was none to pleased with Snowy…which probably is why we were all on leashes as we scarfed up our bony delicacies.

The Tempest

Winter is Coming

You may have noticed a lack of correspondence on my part.  Apparently the scribe already went into hibernation even though it is still autumn and the temperatures have barely gotten down to freezing around here.  If that wasn’t indication enough that it wasn’t time for him to pack it in he could have just looked up and seen many of the trees in and around our house still have their leaves on.  In his defense I suppose the fact that the banana and citrus trees are in the house is a clue that winter is coming.

Speaking of which, snow has already snow has already fallen in Ann Arbor but not in the form of precipitation, but as a 4 legged little thing named Snowy…named after the pup in Uncle Esteban’s favorite cartoon.  Apparently this little thing is my cousin.

And she already is moving in on my territory and maybe making me look bad…which admittedly is a real challenge since I am nearly perfect.

However, the fact that she is being so darn cute and snuggling on the LAPS of my grandparents while they are on their chairs (someplace I am not allowed) makes me very wary of this so called Snowy.  Any self respecting dog knows you grab blankets and cause trouble… not sit all cute and snuggle!

But I gotta admit that there is something in her look and markings that are just so…so…alluring.  She might just be OK after all…as long as she doesn’t try and show me up that is.  And such is the way of the first episode…  I will aim to be a good live mentor, and the next episode will frame the series.

The Tempest

By the way, my scribe was gone for a couple of days last week further delaying this story (and a few others that I hope to get out soon).  I am not willing to talk about all the things that may have happened in his absence but suffice it to say that I was glad when he returned so he could get back to work on my blog.