Wednesday, March 24, 2010

What would Nellie do?



Good evening folks. Its raining tonight and our plans to head to campus to watch an outdoor screening of the Blindside were foiled! Bummer. We will just have to rent it when it comes out on DVD.

I went on a run last Sunday with Nellie and thought to myself: "I wonder what Galveston is like to our animals?". It was a beautiful afternoon and we were on our usual course. Nellie, our pitbull/greyhound mix, was a gift from my cousins before we left for Texas. She has been such a joy to us. Shes full of energy (sometimes too much!) and is a great Galveston dog. Shes short haired, so shes a good fit for all the hot weather. and she LOVES to run on the beach. We take her down atleast once a week and she goes nuts. Digging holes, running after other pups and enjoying some freedom off the leash. Her only hesitancy is around the water. She's not a fan of getting wet. Our first effort to give her a bath ended up with us on the floor covered in soap and her zipping around the house trying to stay out of our reach. We have since invested in a hose for outdoor washdowns. :-)

Both the cat and the dog have been on the island for 3 straight months. We head to the mainland from time to time for shopping or some treks into the city. But these two have hunkered down "island style" big time. I am learning the best routes for evening walks. There are so many dogs in this town!!! I often head towards campus and have found that Market street is "dog walkers hell." There are about 5 houses in a row just before the library that each have dogs. The minute Nellie graces them with her presence it is a slobber fest of smelling and barking and attempts to nip at each other through the fences. And then theres always the lovely chihuahua at the end. Barking her head off even after we round the corner out of sight. No more Market street for Nellie. I have little doubt that the scene from the road of us trying to just make it alive down to the end of the block is a sight to behold!



Harley the cat seems to like the island too. She has the rule of the attic and spends most of her days hiding amongst our unpacked boxes and guest area. The dog won't go up there and taunt her if we don't accompany her so the cat really has a palatial space up there. From time to time she graces us with her presence (she's such a CAT!). She's also gotten quite sneaky and has managed to crawl out of the house on a couple of nice days when we had our back door open. She's a smart kitten though...she knows where her next meal is coming from and makes it back within a couple of hours.



Alls quiet on the island front as of late. I am looking forward to a visit back home over Easter. Unfortunately Andy cannot join as he doesn't have class off. It will be a nice break for me though - theres a little guy back east that has started crawling. I've got to see it with my own eyes! :-)