Spring in the Park

Honest. There was a patch of blue sky on the horizon when I left my house for the dog park. The storms always come from that direction so I thought it would be fine. I swung by my friend Charla's house to pick up her little dog, Hanna. Hanna and Gracie are best pals. They are the Mutt and Jeff of dog world. Gracie, an 85lb chocolate lab, friendly, wiggly, and casual. Hanna, a 15 lb rat terrier, suspicious (at best), stiff and formal. Charla has been battling a head cold, so I thought I'd help by giving Hanna some much needed exercise at the park. Like I said, the weather seemed to be OK.

Our weather has been screwy so far this year. Far more snow than is typical for our low elevation valley. And just when we think we've seen the last, the forecast calls for more. We woke up this morning, with just a dusting of snow. It was gone by 9 a.m., but back by 11 a.m., and then just as quickly gone again.

I thought it would be OK.

When we got to the park, it was busy as usual for a Sunday afternoon. A very light sprinkle of rain had started. Nothing to worry about. In Oregon, you quickly learn to perform activities in the rain lest you spend 6 months locked inside. We headed into the open field.

Gracie chased her ball. Hanna chased Gracie. Then Hanna chased a few birds. Then back to Gracie. Then to me. She zipped, zagged and zigged around the field. Good I thought. She'll be nice and tired for Charla.

As we came around the back side of the field, the rain picked up. Hanna, a worried look on her face, glanced back at me. "It's OK," I said. Then tiny hail began. Hanna really looked worried now. The hail was piling up on her black fur. Her large ears sagged and her tiny nub of a tail tucked tightly under. She ran to me. "Up," she said. I scooped her up. Then the snow started. Sideways snow.

Meanwhile, Gracie strolled along checking her regular pee-mail stops and leaving a few messages of her own. When I looked back for her, the snow was covering her brown fur. She didn't seem to mind. She had her ball. That's all that really matters at the park.

I set Hanna back down and she took off for the car. As far as she was concerned, Gracie and I could lolly gag around in this cold, wet white stuff all we wanted but she was not going to. Gracie and I had to hustle to keep up with her.

We all scrambled to get into the car where it was dry and warm. I was soaked and both dogs were soaked. We had one towel to share. Gracie and I opted to let Hanna have the towel. She shivered and shivered until I got her dried off.

It was quite an adventure for Hanna. I bet she'll sleep really well tonight.