STUCK IN THE HOUSE
(Like our dogs used to be)
By Sandy Pugh
I never thought about how our two Cockers felt being left in the house while I was working in the shop. My beauty salon was here at the house and I was with them for lunch and let them out frequently. But I wonder if they felt like they were quarantined all the time.
They didn’t even have each other for company because we had Lady first. She moved in when she was 7 and was with us until she was 13 years old and then a year later Lacy joined us when she was 4 and she was with us until she was about 12.
Their favorite time was when we went to town. They always went with us and they both loved to ride in the car or truck. When we asked them if they wanted to go, they would run in circles and would bark and try to hurry us along.
Now it feels like that for us…….it is the highlight of the week when we go to town and pick up the grocery order. Sometimes I feel like jumping up and down and running in circles when my husband wants to know if I want to go, just like he used to ask the girls.
But we don’t get to stop where we used to buy gas and drinks now. It was the best part of going to town for us and for the dogs. We were spoiled because before the pandemic we could go in and get a coke. Now they won’t let us bring in our cups for a refill and I am not going to touch the cups that anyone could have touched getting their cup for a drink.
So the best part of going to town for both the cockers and for us, we can’t do during the Corona pandemic. We don’t go into any restaurants and just do drive through and eat in the car. But the cockers would have loved getting to go with us now and have bites of our burgers or some treats we’d take along. And they loved to drink their ice water out of a special cup.
I know the girls would be unhappy not getting to go to the rest homes to do their therapy work for the residents, and the residents would have missed them during our quarantine. I also wonder what they would have thought about us being retired and home all the time with them. Did they enjoy their time alone when we were at work or did they miss us as much as we miss them now?
I don’t usually mind being at home and not getting out often, especially in the winter when it is cold and icky. But during this pandemic I am getting stir crazy since we CAN’T get out of the house because I am so prone to these viruses. But there never has been a virus, in recent history, which has been this hard on people and caused so many deaths, so we are staying home.
I have read 7 books on the tablet and watched hundreds of hours of TV. I also have 10 stories laying in the tray organizer on my desk waiting to be sent in. Some are complete, some almost ready and some just started. I usually work on a story about a month or 6 weeks before I think it is ready but I am way ahead of schedule now.
The fact that we have had so many days of cloudy or rainy weather during this quarantine does not help and makes me even more stir crazy. But I bet there are a lot of people that have been in self quarantine and also hate the gray days. It has been a long time since the first of March when we started staying home and away from almost everyone.
If this was a normal virus that comes around in the winter and we have it for a few days and then it is gone, I would not be afraid to get out and about. But with this Corona Virus we are both stuck in the house, just like our dogs used to be. To contact Sandy: [email protected]
