Naughty and Nice

Time-The first day of Christmas vacation (December 20th, 9:30 am, to be exact)
Location: Lucy’s house, in the dark…

(Being that it is our first day of Christmas break) We all enjoyed a slow, relaxed, beginning to our day. Rain pitter-pattering at a quiet, steady, drenching beat was filling up the low spot in our backyard (lovingly know as the family lake). The children were quietly playing video games, and Lucy was nestled at my feet as I sipped my first cup of morning coffee.

Then it happened! Flicker, flicker, and poof! No more lights. No more TVs and no more computers. Jolted out of my serene state by the grandchildren screaming, “Nemaw, what happened to the electricity?” and Lucy barking to go outside for her morning business, I took the opportunity (during the lull in the rain) to let out the dog and call the electric company.

Minutes later, I glanced out the back door at the dog, who was sitting on the back porch, soaked in mud halfway up her body. “Oh no! Lucy, you didn’t?!?” I exclaimed. It had just dawned on me that Lucy had taken the opportunity to go splashing and mudding in the low spot of our yard (AKA-the lake)!

With no electricity, and my naughty girl covered in mud, all I could do in utter shock was exclaim, “Oh Lucy….Oh Lucy…Ohhhh Lucy.” With a polite wag of the tail, she seemed to say, “What mom, isn’t this nice?”

“Yes, Lucy. This is so-o-o-o nice.” (Sarcasm, is not lost on me) “You do realize that if I bathe you, I can’t dry you. We have no electricity and the hair dryer won’t work,” I explained. Blink, blink, wag, wag, was the only response I got. I think she was saying, “I am just a dog, mom.” …and with that, I grab a towel (white is the only color we own) and proceed to wipe chocolate colored mud from the feet and legs of my long-haired, golden colored dog. I finally decided, after creating a tye-dyed brown towel, that removing all of the mud was truly an exercise in futility.

“Ok, you silly, naughty, girl, how about a nice, warm shower when the electricity comes back on?” “Woof, woof,” she replied. I guess she understood that!