Bacon, River and a New Lifevest

Callie loving her new lifevest!

Sizzle. Sizzle. Pop.
The scent is unmistakable.
Even the dog waits hopefully.
She always does.
She knows a treat will 
     encourage her to sit obediently,
     offer a paw of accordance,
     and gently take - or sometimes
     snap from the air - the piece
     of bacon.

When my daughter asked if
I wanted any, she mentioned 
it in code: B-A-C-O-N.
As if the aroma wouldn't soon
give away our secret.

She cooks in her swimsuit;
t-shirt and shorts covering up the 
intention for our afternoon.

We are going to the R-I-V-E-R.
But, like the treat, our Callie girl
will pick up clues.
     The water sandals,
     the stack of towels - she always
     claims the driest one, eventually
     marking each one with wetness, 
     mud and sand.
     The beach chairs
     and, of course, snack bag.
All of which she feels entitled to.

Today she will tolerate a new
contraption. The twins bought her
a lifevest. She already gave a look
of embarrassment when they exictedly
tried it on her. A floating coat for a water dog - 
a dog whose ancestry saved humans
from water catastrophes. 

But she is a 21st century dog,
     with traveling water bowls of her own
     and rolls of poop bags that fit so
     conveniently into her latest harness.

All this equipment will pile into
     the car around her foam bed
     that lives in the back space.
No, we won't W-A-L-K there;
     we have too much stuff.

Adding a W-A-L-K on the same day
     we go to the R-I-V-E-R
     right after she eats B-A-C-O-N
     would simply be too much excitement
     for one day.

But, I suppose we could even it out 
a bit by giving her a B-A-T-H
when we return.
Though she pretends not to like them,
and will pace and avoid for a good
four minutes in mental preparation,
inevitably she really enjoys the 
     pampering and
     afterglow of shampoo and
     coconut oil to soften her coat.

Her joy is evident when she jumps onto her
     blanket on the couch,
     rolls around to finish drying off,
​     and plays with her T-O-Y. 

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