Lucy's view

Life seems to mean I never know WHAT human I am going to be with. Cynthia disappears often, sometimes for days, and I'm often alone for a morning or afternoon. For the longer periods, I have Kim and her family... or Skip.

Cynthia and I flew from Michigan to Cape Cod about a month ago. I don't know if you have flown recently, but the seating sucks. You have to get into a little bag made of screening and it is too darned hot under the seats. You would think they could provide more headroom. I complained about the heat and headroom for the whole flight, but did they fix it? NO! I even tried some improvements myself (Cynthia had covered my prior work with duct tape) and ended up with bits of duct tape embedded in my hair. Anyway, this is why I am now here with Skip in his boat instead of traveling with Cynthia: air travel is just not worth it!

Being here started out kind of crazy. I mean, when I had Cynthia on the boat, things were pretty normal

...although I'm always a bit nervous when she catches fish: she just gets so excited I'm afraid that something will happen. And, of course, there were strange people and dogs,

but mostly people I knew... and I love the beaches, having grown up on Cape Cod.

But after Cynthia left? Well, things got kind of chaotic.

First, Peter and Alex and Rory (humans), Bailey (dog), and Margarita (CAT!) arrived. The little humans, Alex and Rory, aren't very well trained, so I had to hide until they learned not to rush at me and grab me. Frankly, I LIKE people... as long as they sit still and scratch my back (well, who wouldn't?), but even the nicest ones can hurt you if they step on you or kick you and it is SO hard to figure out their intentions when they are rushing at you! Bailey needed me to shout at him a few times before he respected me... although as time went on I realized his attacks were simply feints. Margarita fascinates me and she often stretches out on the carpet, eyes closed, where I can carefully tiptoe up and sniff her. WOW!

Then Paul and his little human, Sara, arrived. MORE scary new humans! *sigh*. Well, I got used to them, too...

although I still hide behind Skip or behind furniture if the little ones get too wild. But Rory and Sara are pretty great when they are calm and quiet and they cuddled and petted me a lot!

And when I go for a walk with Skip there are so many new people and dogs! Skip greets most of them, so they are clearly friends and I don't need to bark: thank goodness or I'd be completely hoarse! I get to sit in laps while we sail, too, and the people often scratch my back or my ears.

And, when we walk, some of the dogs are crazy and I need to tell them off, but LOTS are surprisingly friendly and calm and I get to say hi! I love saying hi to new dogs!

And I've been running on beaches with Bailey,

found a nest of dead rabbits, found squashed toads on the road, dug for clams and other stinky stuff, saw scary coyotes playing, and swam next to Skip on Monomoy and out to a sailboat when it was anchored near shore. And I have sat in SO many laps on the sailboats! And Skip cooks bluefish for me!

Things aren't perfect, of course. Bailey sometimes ambushes me and that is scary... or at least startling. Skip keeps taking me out to the sailboat when I would prefer to continue hunting under boats on shore for mice and other cool things.

And sometimes I'm just tired or bored, but that is not really a problem...

And Skip is not nearly as good off-leash as Cynthia is. SHE will wait for me while I check out interesting scents and, if I need to go after a rabbit in the bushes, I can be sure she will be right there waiting for me. She even makes sounds, calling my name, so I know exactly where she is at all times and this is great for my peace of mind. Skip, however, seems driven and just keeps walking. I mean, if I stop to sniff something and look up after a few seconds he will be down the street and I'll have to run to catch up! And I can only dash in and back when there is an interesting path into the bushes: Skip just does not let me relax and take my time when he is off-leash. Perhaps I should keep him on leash except when we are in areas I can count on him sticking around.

*sigh*. I really miss my Cynthia: I hope she'll come back soon.