Because my neighbour’s father is in intensive care in the north of the state, Mick needs someone to look after his dog while he and his partner, Caroline, do bedside vigil at the hospital.
“I hope he won’t be a problem for you”, I’m told as Mac gets dropped off at my doorstep.
“No problem”, I say. Besides, who could look into those brown eyes and not be seduced.
Actually, there have been several problems.
The first was yesterday when I was giving a serious interview for an ABC radio national program next to the Peace Pond and Mac started barking joyfully and splashing around in the water doing his best to upstage me.
The second problem occurred when I was at the beach throwing his stick into the water for him to chase and retrieve. Well, he got caught in a tiny rip and started being swept out to sea and just as I was wondering whether or not to go and rescue him a large wave (for Mac’s size) brought him in with head held high paddling furiously.
And last night, sometime in the wee hours of darkest night, probably 2:30 AM, Mac came into my bedroom to announce that there was a possum crawling on the roof: “Grrrrr, grrrrr”
Exactly what I wanted to hear.
The biggest problem, though, was having someone at your side all day trying to get you to play. “Hey, let’s go for a walk.”, “Here’s a stick to throw.”, “What’s hiding in this hole?”, “Are you still working?”
Well, all the above could have been a problem if my heart hadn’t been wearing such a big smile all the while. I can’t begin to express what pure joy these past three days have been with Mac being here. Spent the day hand digging another trench to lay more water pipe, but found the whole operation more enjoyable simply with Mac as company.
My neighbour was correct when he thought Mac might be a problem. Because there will be a big problem …when I have to give Mac back.
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