the best thing since sliced bread

...that's how Murray views a trip down to the basement. As soon as he sees me bundling up my laundry, his tail gets to waggin', and he races me to the door, not wanting me to leave him behind. Acting as if it is a real treat to go down there.

The funny thing is, when I first moved into this old house, I had a fear of going down into the basement. But it was either go down there or have to take my clothes to the laundromat and pay to clean them, so I begrudgingly went down those steps week after week, the fear never really going away.

Then one day, while traipsing up and down, I saw this:



It inspired me to write the following:

The day was dreary...rainy, cold and windy. I had just come up from the basement with my laundry in my hand, doing my best to duck the raindrops. As I entered my apartment, I turned to close my back door and spotted this beautiful rainbow. It reminded me how often wonderful things have followed bleak times in my life, and that if we persevere, we'll get to see the rainbow at the end.

It also gave me a different perspective of the basement.

That's what looking at the world through Murray's eyes has done for me too. Seeing it so fresh...so new. I can't imagine my life without him now.

when something becomes a habit

I think Murray's been talking to Oscar (his doggie cousin). You see, Oscar has Mom trained now to take him for a walk around the neighborhood at the crack of dawn, every morning, even in the coldest of weather. Oh sure, it's good for her, I'll admit, but you know, there are days you just want to veg. He won't let her do that. And he's one persistent fellow when he wants something, so just to shut him up, you'll do it (I know...he's got me trained to do stuff too).

Well, I thought I'd outsmart Murray...train him not to expect anything on a regular basis, other than to go outside to do his business. But something must've gone wrong with my plan, or Oscar gave him a pep talk, because the past two mornings, Murray has shown definite signs that he was waiting to go for a walk. He stood his ground where IF we go for a walk, we usually take off from, and he just stared at me. And when I asked him what he wanted, he just smiled at me and wagged his tail. How could I say no to that?

So, why is it so easy for them to train us, but when we want them to do something simple, like roll over, it's like pulling teeth???