the rain, the flood, the dogs

The last 10 days or so, it’s been raining like all get out. Nine something inches this month — normally in November, it averages about 3 inches. In this time of the great flood, Jen has been dogsitting her landlord and his girlfriend’s dogs, Pablo and Eleanor. With her dogs — Link and Jinx — and my dog Polly Jean, that makes five dogs in the house that I share with my sister, who thankfully is in El Paso for Thanksgiving.

The muddy pawprints and water has been very irritating. But it got cleaned up fairly easily, unless you factor in dog entry and exit and re-entry and re-entry and, “Oh what are you doing in the kitchen with the mop, Skipper?”

This is a shot of Jinx (left) and Pablo (right) looking much dirtier than cute. Or maybe it’s the other way around, I don’t know.

Jinx and Pablo love to play with each other.

And by play, I mean Jinx fastens his mouth to one of Pablo’s limbs and has an epileptic fit. Or Pablo clamps his jaws on the flesh around Jinx’s neck and makes these sounds like a drowning cello or like a Wookie’s battle cry.

All this is done under the careful watch of one Polly Jean, who may bark or scamper underfoot or disapproving, but never joins in. Always disapproving, always disapproving. That just wouldn’t be right.

And so, today I am thankful for many things. Even the recent company of five mud wrestling dogs.