When I was a kid I loved bazooka bubble gum.
I know the taste didn’t last long and after a
few minutes it was like chewing a piece of tar – but the first few chews were
pure heaven. At least that’s how I remember it. I haven’t seen it in a while in
the stores and certainly not the 2 cents I used to pay for a piece.
So I was so excited when I went to the
pharmacy and saw they sold it in a small pack. I happily bought the pack and
put it in my car so I would have it when I wanted a piece.
I kept it in the little side pocket on my
driver’s side door and used it sparingly since it’s not easy to find anymore.
Buckeye loves to go for car rides. All my dogs do, but Buck really really loves them. In fact if
you just mention going for a ride you had better already be prepared to leave
with your keys in hand otherwise he practically knocks you over jumping with
joy. He just can’t contain himself. Once he is in the car he is calm (unless he
spots another dog or we are parked in a space – that’s when my goofy dog who is
afraid of a paper bag becomes the master protector of the vehicle- save that
for another story). I think that all the
jumping around, barking running back and forth to the front door to where I
have the leashes hung up tires him out. But the moment you mention a ride all
hell breaks loose in the house. He
starts jumping and barking I swear its the sounds of pure happiness in his bark
– it’s almost impossible for him to sit still long enough for me to click his
leash on. And when I get the leash on the other dogs he grabs them and drags
them to the front door also as if they forgot their way outside.
Well we all get loaded up in the car on our big adventure to
the post office to mail a package – living in Florida I never leave my dogs in
the car for any length of time – it gets too hot and they could die of heat
stroke in only a few minutes, a very painful awful death and these are my
babies. I always wait till the late
afternoon when it cools off to even think of taking them in the car. Even then I still take a second set of keys
to leave the vehicle running – no one is going to get near the car with Buckeye
guarding it.
All three dogs know there places in the car. Almost like
children knowing assigned seating. The
husky Zorro being the biggest (yes he is fat and overweight) sits in the back
with both sides of windows open and walks back and forth between the two
windows. Buckeye gets the passenger seat, usually sticks his head out
the passenger window letting the breeze hit his face and the slobber go flying
backwards sometime even hitting the husky when he sticks his head out the back
window on the same side – not very pretty by the time rides are finished. Munchkin is the easiest and most compact – she’s my 11lb
Pekinese who just sits like a queen on an orthopedic pillow wedged in-between
the two front seats covering what would have been cup holders.
It’s only a short ride but the dogs are so happy you would
have thought I drove them across country.
I get to the post office – leave the car running with air-conditioning
on, windows only open enough for them to get noses out, doors all locked and I
run in to go mail my package before they close.
I parked right in front of the big glass doors so I can keep an eye on
them from the counter.
That was quick; all finished now back to the car to drive
home. Hmmmmm something is weird usually
Buckeye greets me at the window all excited that I have returned to the
car. But he’s sitting in the back, the
very very back of the car, and lying down with his paws covering something and
his head on his paws. I go to the back
of the hatchback and open it up so I can see what he has because, he is
obviously hiding something – and looks guilty as sin.
I call him over, he gets up - but hesitantly which means the
darn dog knows he did something he shouldn’t have…. And there I see it my
bazooka bubble gum box shredded all over the back – the majority of the gum
chewed up and gone – bubble gum in the dogs hair and caught in between his
teeth, his breath smelled like bubble gum and his one ear was stuck to the side
of his head glued together by a piece he must have chewed and tried to get out
of his mouth only to get it stuck in his hair. Then I notice the other dogs who were both now sitting up in
the front seat looking at me and wagging their tails, mouths wide in a grin as
to say – mom it was all Buckeye, we didn’t do a thing, we are good dogs and
buckeye is a bad bad dog……but the two of them have gum stuck in their hair
also……l quickly pick up what’s left of the pieces of gum and the shredded box
and toss them into the garbage at the post office. I know now what’s in store
for me when I get home – I have to bath all three dogs and try to get gum out
of all their hair without chopping up with scissors, making them look like a
puppy punk rock band.
The entire drive home I kept picturing in my head the sort
of contortionist position buckeye would have had to put himself in and the
dexterity he would have needed to pull out the box of gum (without dropping
anything in the front seat) because it was stored folded over, in the side
pocket of my driver’s side door that actually sits low to the floor wedged in
between the door and the driver’s seat.
In order for him to get that he would have practically been standing on
his head upside down on his paws and somehow wedged his long snout down the
side of the driver’s seat to work the box up to the top of the pocket to
finally get it out and then had to dodge the other two dogs to get it into the
back of the car.
All this and chew the
gum and destroy the box in the less than 5 minutes I was in the post
office. The mental picture of him
achieving this made me laugh and shake my head.
And people wonder why I prefer to usually leave the dogs
home and not just take them for “only a short ride and it will make them
soooooo happy”…..ughhhhhhhhhh
