“Remoted” – Day 507 (Thursday)

The rain returned today. Around noon, Winston went out to potty in a light precipitation. I went back inside to floss the lunch out of my teeth. The floss got stuck and shredded. It was really stuck and required scissors to cut and finally pull through and then a soft dental pick to clear. Hopefully, this isn’t the sign of another dental issue.

When I remembered Winnie was still outside, I went to the door. He was not outside the door and was nowhere in sight and the gate was open because the human (me) had not closed it. Since he lost his vision, I’ve generally been more careful about keeping him in the yard, but the floss and the rain had me distracted.

I bolted down the stairs into driveway and to the back yard, then into the street, whistling and calling his name. There was no sight of him and no jangling of his tag on his collar which is always a helpful location cue. Two guys were on the porch of the house across the street and I asked if they’d seen a little black dog. They hadn't. 

Winnie was wet but then he dried.

The rain was coming down harder. My shirt was wet, my hair was soaked and I paced the street. Suddenly, the guys pointed to my neighbor’s yard – and there was Winston, soaked and wandering. I got him inside where he shook rainwater all over the kitchen while I tried to grab a towel to dry us both off. I blow dried my hair and tried to blow dry Winston, but he wasn’t having it. My family once had a poodle that loved the blow dryer and any time she heard me or my sister drying out hair, would race up to the bathroom and throw herself on her back and wait for us to wave the dryer over her tummy. No matter how much I hope for it, Winston and Moose do not do this.

The rest of the day carried on like a normal workday until a late afternoon conversation with my sister. That is when the day derailed, skidded sideways, and flipped upside down. The lunchtime hunt in the rain that had been the crappy lowlight of the day was now a relative nonevent. Our conversation ushered in the realization that it isn’t just today, life going forward had just taken a radical shift. There are no words right now that aren’t a bunch of lunatic ranting and wails and swears between the bouts of tears, so it will have to wait for now.