Peeing In The Rain

My new pup is finally getting the hang of housebreaking.  I know, you’re probably thinking:  “OMG, she’s gonna write about pee and poo!”  Actually, I’m leaning more along the lines of contemplating how routine things work well until conditions change.

On a normal day my new pup now marches right outside and does her business.  But if it’s raining?  Well then, it’s a whole different ballgame.  She sits down and plants her feet and refuses to go out.  I ask, I beg, I command.  Nothing.  She sits like Stonehenge: heavy, solid, unmovable.

In frustration, I pick her up, tweaking my back, and move towards the door.  My giant older pup charges us, nearly knocking both of us to the floor.  (He suspects this is a great new game called dog bowling…)

Being the Dog Whisperer that I am, I yell at the older pup and drag the younger one outside.  We stand together in the mud under the umbrella and she steadfastly refuses to pee.  I take her back in and begin my vigil of waiting for her to pee on the floor.

Seems many things in my life work smoothly until they don’t.  How we handle these challenges is a true test of our character and integrity, right?  (I certainly hope not.) 

There seems to be a particular and singular frustration when simple things that usually run smoothly run amuck instead:  the coffee filter clogs, the rain gutter overflows right over the most-used entrance to your home, the car window mysteriously slides into its’ cave during the worst weather and refuses to come back up, the AC in your car dies just as the weather turns unbearable.

I try hard to conjure up noble responses to these situations, but usually fail.  Give me a natural disaster, a medical emergency, an unexpected death in the family-- and I’m a rock.  But a clogging coffee filter completely unhinges me.  Normally I have a good and sometimes even exuberant sense of humor, but it seems to evaporate when the frustration is small and routine.

If you have any ideas for coping with the small things in life, besides not sweating, that is (“Don’t sweat the small stuff!”), I would love to hear them.  Please post your comments!  Meanwhile, I’m watching my pup pee on the floor!

Marianne Smith
Writer At The Ranch
Making You Look Brilliant One Word At A Time

http://www.writerattheranch.com
wordsmith@writerattheranch.com