The adage that people and their dogs look alike is debatable in our house. However, as Christmas day approaches, I find that I am ACTING like our dog Keisha in many ways. Here are a few:
Treats: Keisha gets a biscuit after her walks. She has a habit of going in the kitchen and staring up at the glass jar on the counter we keep them in, and then at us in clear communication she’d very much like another please. I am behaving the same way with the almond paste* I made this week. I keep going to the refrigerator and looking at it. Being an adult human with an opposable thumb, I also reach in, take it out, and “taste” it to make sure it’s just as good now as it was 15 minutes ago. This is proving to be not a good thing.
Sleeping: The holiday bustle and keeping up my swim schedule in the attempt to keep weight-gain carbon-neutral this year makes me need a nap every day at 4pm precisely. Just like our dog, I lay down anywhere and within seconds I’m out — perhaps snoring and woofing in a muffled way as I dream of all the things I can make with almond paste. If I don’t get the nap, I am apt to become growly.
Over-excited reaction to the doorbell: I’ve shifted to pushing “submit order” for most of my holiday shopping this year. The UPS delivery gal knows my gate code. We’ve been seeing a lot of each other recently. Perhaps should get her a gift. When the doorbell rings I don’t leap up and bark, but do bounce to the door and get that little “whoo” feeling on seeing the boxes and prance about excitedly.
Wearing odd clothes: Yes, the photo is our dog tolerating her reindeer hat. She shakes it loose after about 20 minutes – which in dog years is about the same amount of time that I will deign to wear my ugly Christmas sweater.
Heavy dog: Keisha’s super power is making herself weigh more than ten times her actual weight when she doesn’t want to move. I’ve adopted this strategy at the end of a busy day. Don’t try and get me off the couch if “The Crown” or “The Great British Baking Show” is on – or “Peaky Blinders” soon. I shall simply deploy “heavy dog” with Ghandi-esque calm. I plan on keeping this behavior past the holiday season.
The …Squirrel! effect is the final and most pertinent way I’m like Keisha in this holiday season. She loves going for a walk, politely sniffing at the pee mail and enjoying the stretch of her legs, and then… squirrel! You can see her spin out and lose any mandate except to Chase That Squirrel! That’s me these past few days. I’m usually organized and on-point, but this week I’m permanently distracted. Even with a list, my brain scatters at the slightest thing: I dart to and fro, sure I can catch the …Squirrel! Ooooo, Pretty wrapping paper. Ooooo Almond Croissants in the window of the bakery. Oh! Pop-up Ads from Amazon with MORE gift ideas. UPS is here, must say hi to my delivery gal and then hide or wrap the new arrivals…. Oh, the laundry… what did I come in this room for?
I need a biscuit.
*recipe in last week’s blog. It’s very good, but perhaps I should go taste it one more time to be sure….
