Feb 11 2026
I
don’t mind Boots. He just curls up
quietly against my belly and stays put. But sleeping with
Desdemona can be a
bit unnerving. She snores. Sometimes she gets little bad dreams
and scratches
me, too. But hey, I get to come in out of the cold and sleep
with Aunt Ada’s
cats on her sofa, and a guy can tolerate a certain amount of cat
snoring for
that.
I was glad when I heard Aunt Ada puttering in the kitchen
because I knew
it was time to get up. After she let me out, she fed me, and let
me tell you …
that kibble was just as good this morning as it was yesterday.
And then she
petted me, called me her dear Billy, and let me out to do my
rounds.
Don’t let anyone tell you being the official town dog is
easy.
Nossirree. First, there are the kids. Me and Martin, the
crossing guard, have
to see them safely across the street and to school each morning.
Must be band
day, because I see a lot of instrument cases. Martin gets smiles
from the
children. I get smiles AND ear rumples, so what do you think of
that!
Once those kids are safely across, the time is pretty
much my own until
the final bell rings in the afternoon. That would be after I get
snacks at the
back door of the Mule Barn and after my nap curled up against
the brick wall of
the drugstore downtown. You ever notice how those bricks hold
the sunshine in
them? Better than that white wall on the newspaper office.
This is a good day to stop by the Rest of Your Life
retirement home and
check on Pop Walker and Mabel Adams. Oh, I make the rounds and
check on
everybody, of course, but I have to admit those two are my
favorites.
If today is band day at school, tomorrow will be sale day
at the sale
barn at the edge of town. That’s when the men bring their dogs
in from the
ranches to look at cows. They yell and talk funny. Not the dogs,
of course.
Getting your sniffing up to date is always a good thing.
Love,
Billy
--0—
Brought
to you courtesy of True Tales
of Alaska, by Slim Randles. Now available on the
internet.