Roxie is back.



 

The neighborhood dog that appears to cruise the neighborhood in search of a playmate made an appearance today--the first in several months.

 

I was doing some fall clean-up and seasonal transitioning this morning, which included taking the snowblower out of summer storage and putting the lawnmower into winter storage. In the process, I started up the snowblower just to make sure it was still operational. I would just as soon not let that trial wait until the first significant snowfall. I let the snowblower run a while. I am guessing that the sound of the engine attracted Roxie, who showed up in short order with a tennis ball and in search of a thrower so that she could live out her genetic drive as a retriever. I tossed the ball while attending to my chores.

 

Roxie still has the spirit of a retriever, but is showing her age. She moves more slowly than in previous years and even favors one back leg. In past summers, she would often appear shortly after I started the lawnmower, but not so much this year. Apparently she finds the snowblower irresistible. Maybe she spent much of the summer "grounded" and restricted to her own yard or doghouse, aka "room." Whatever the explanation, it was good to have company.

 

When I started up the chainsaw to clean up a deadfall from the neighbor's yard that found its way into our yard, Roxie quickly picked up her ball and moved on--a not so dog friendly noise, I presume.

 

This past spring, when I raked the yard, I found four tennis balls that Roxie had left behind during the previous winter. Once this past summer, she took one of those balls with her when she had come by to play. I suspect that it was one of the times she showed up with a stick, that she had liberated on her cruise through the neighborhood.  I still have the remaining three balls on hand, so if she shows up with a stick, we can switch to a ball. Good throwing sticks are not easy to come by, which means Roxie will usually show up with a piece of brush that she has pulled up somewhere. It is good to have a ball available.

 

Even without Roxie's visit, this morning's outside chores reminded me how much I enjoy outside work, especially when one is not up against some deadline imposed by other commitments or foul weather on the horizon.