Desert Dreams: a blog by Marcy Mary

I’m trying to find a sunny spot to have my morning nap. But the sun is being capricious. I admit I did like basking in the sun in the desert—first, warming my back, then turning on my sides, and lastly, my belly. Heaven!

When I was indoors, it seemed that at almost any time of the day, I could find a lovely sunny spot to bask in. Being outside was even better, as I could drag my desert-motif Tommy Bahama bed with matching blanket around the patio until the sun dipped behind the mountains. If I were human, I would probably have a perfectly even tan. But I am already a glorious auburn all over. Eat your heart out, two-leggeds.

But the warm sunshine is not all I miss about the desert. While I met many new friends from both the animal and human kingdoms, I miss my new canine friends the most. There are three that pop into my mind.

Jasper is about my size—maybe a bit taller. (No comments about short legs, please). He has black-and-white coarse fur that sticks up in tufts all over, and his eyebrows are great furry arches over his nice brown eyes. He’s a Monkey Terrier, and for some reason, he cannot stand Dad and will rush at him, barking wildly. 

The first few times we met Jasper, Dad was wearing a red shirt. Madge, Jasper’s owner, said he must have had a bad experience with men in red shirts. So Dad wore a blue shirt, and Jasper still couldn’t stand him. I questioned Jasper about this, and he said that at his age (around eighty-seven in human years), he likes who he likes—and he didn’t like Dad, no matter what color shirt he wore.

We soon discovered that Jasper didn’t like any men, but tolerated women and was very sociable with other dogs. He even shared his treats, and right now I could use a treat. So I miss Jasper.

My other two friends are Blackie and Blondie, two Labrador retrievers: one black and one yellow (as you might have guessed). These are clever dogs, almost as clever as me. They have trained the golfers to give them treats and allowed me to join them. It was really quite excellent because there was a large variety of snacks, from dried salmon to beef jerky. 

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Blackie and Blondie also chased the Canada geese—breeding will tell—but then, they are Labs. One day, they chased Kotty up a tree, which was really quite amusing. “Marcy, tell those oafs to back off,” she hissed.

I admit I was tempted to let Her Royal Nastiness stay there all day, but I asked my friends to let Kotty return to her stinky lair …

Yes, I miss the desert. Many and various treats, warm sunshine all day, and Kotty up a tree.  What could be better?