Rambles of a day in New Hampshire

Today friends who have been out of the country returned and picked up myself and my two dogs to deposit us up in New Hampshire at my parents house. Oh they were willing to have us hang at their house too, to visit, but as we pulled up I explained I was going to need to sleep so just drop us off it'd be easier. The nice thing about my parent's house is there are only two steps to get to the door, there is a big front yard and they have wired up cords so that the dogs can be hooked up and more or less roam freely in the front yard. It's quiet there too. Sure you can hear the highway but that's different than the sound of people stumbling out of the bars at my apartment or the continuous flow of traffic through downtown. The stars are also amazing, perhaps because again, we are far from the city so you can look out between the trees and see each twinkling down at you. Don, one of the friend's says, "See that one there?" (referring to the stars) "Yeah." "That's Saturn," he says. "Oh, well apparently that's my planet as a Capricorn--I'm learning these things living in Western Massachusetts." He drops me off and I go inside to Chloe who's fast asleep on the couch--probably loving that this is her familiar place and then there's my boy, ready for snuggles, wiggly as ever. This afternoon we sat outside on the front lawn. Orion sat on my leg and let me comb him. Chunks of white fur littered the yard. "Well some bird is going to have a sweet hotel nest," I say. He stays snuggled close. My childhood best friend's mom stopped by for a visit and Orion slept on her feet, while also making sure to be touching me. Earlier, as I slept, he climbed on top of me and stayed, even as my body was going through it's usual round of spasms. All 65 pounds of him. "Thank you friend," I said because my body was so exhausted it was like it didn't have the energy left to even spasm and his weight seemed to slow them down. Not to mention, I'm just tired and it's comforting to have best friend dog giving you some "dog medicine" as my old friend use to say. And so now we decided to climb up to the parent's room, where surprisingly it's warmer then the downstairs. It's a bit sad because the last time I was here I was with Mom and she was making me laugh and I was getting a lot better and Orion would antagonize the hell out of her trying to sleep on her side of the bed, and I would laugh but now it's just he and I. He jumps up, fluffs up the blankets and passes out, feet falling over my legs. Chloe stays on the floor but that's always been Chloe's style, just like it was mine when I was a kid and had growing pains--Dad's bathrobe and the spot on the floor beside their bed--I swear that's why I can sleep anywhere, any surface. Anyways, it was a good day. It was nice to see old friends, really good to talk to my childhood best friend's mom about what was going on because she has a rough go of her own, and just because at one time she was like my own mom, letting me do screaming contests in her car, letting us draw all over her table. It was nice to sit on the deck and talk with the other friends about girl things and nice to come home to my dog who's just been kind of what I've needed lately. I once said I bought a lab because I wanted a dog to go hiking with, one that would swim, and one that wanted to be with me all the time. Orion fits the bill, but I especially like it when he seems to sense to tone down the two-year-old and step up with the dog perception.