My humans recently decided that I need more exercise and adventure to help me go to sleep every night. A little pup like me has so much energy that when it gets to be bedtime, I can't help but howl and whimper in protest. So Allison, murmuring again and again "such a little baby," has been making sure I get to try new things every day. That'll give me lots of good things to think about so I can fall asleep.
On Sunday my family brought me to a place called Colts State Park. I'd never seen so much sparkly blue water before! Nevermind the tangy, salty smell of the rocks, the many trees to wander through, and the yummy bit of hamburger I nipped up from a plate left behind by another family! I got to trot along the water (the "bay," Allison calls it), and I even made some new friends. A group of human-pups leaped around, petting me and lowering their faces for licks. Aroooooooooo! The sun was going down and making the water all glittery, and I was soooo happy to romp.
Gotta say hi to my fans. Woof!
Feeling wolf-like atop a rock looking at the pretty water.
View from the pier.
Then after some lazy time yesterday in the backyard (my humans read books and planted vegetables and painted things, while I gnawed my rawhide and trotted around), today meant a new road trip. Allison, Rachel, and Suz brought me to a place named "Wickford." More water, lots more boats, and a chipmunk here and there. We had lunch outside on a great big stone table near the North Kingston Library (I even managed to coax Suz into giving me a piece of ham), and then walked around Wickford.
I had to help Rachel decide which way to go. Pups like me are great with directions. Yip!
It was just after a stroll down Main Street to sniff peoples' gardens that I saw the ghost....
We were wandering through a grassy yard with tall, rounded stones sticking up everywhere. Allison called it a "graveyard," and Rachel occasionally shrieked at me to get off the stones because "YOU'RE STANDING ON A DEAD PERSON'S SPOT!" Apparently this was one of the places where humans put the bodies of those humans who have gone to heaven. The stones mark the spots and have names and designs on them. Like this:
Anyway, I saw this wavery, shivery figure in the graveyard. Naturally I started growling. I yowled, I barked, I rawred. I let this strange being know it wasn't going to hurt my family. It just looked at me and then vanished. Harmless. Or maybe I imagined it? My humans were confused, their sight different from a dog's sight. They couldn't see the ghost. In any case the moment went by, and we headed off.
Now that I'm home again, I'm still kind of anxious about bedtime. When I told Allison, she pulled out three new books. Two about bedtime and one about four friendly ghosts who have an adventure. Here they are:
Llama in Pajamas by Gisela Voss, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, is a simple but cute story about a baby llama (kind of like a horse and a sheep put together) who tries to avoid bedtime and his pajamas. This book for human pups has paper flaps for little paws to lift, following the baby llama's hiding spree. The ending will make human-pups giggle (though at last the llama does fall asleep), and the water color style pictures are sure to satisfy. Great for human pups from baby to kindergarten - and best for bedtime! Ruff! Two paws up.
This book, James Stevenson's We Can't Sleep, tells the story of a grandfather's adventures. Grandpa knows Louie and Mary Ann can't sleep; he remembers when he couldn't sleep when he was their age! So this funny human tells the human-pups his great tale of dragons and icebergs and flying chairs during his own sleepless night long ago. Until at last they fall asleep themselves. Two paws up for this comical book and its comic-strip-style pictures. A favorite of Allison's, this one! Best for human pups PreK-K.
Jacques Duquennoy's The Ghosts' Trip to Loch Ness is my third recommended read. Four very friendly ghosts take a trip (like my trips with my humans!) to the Loch Ness (a big lake in a place called Scotland). In search of an equally friendly monster, the ghosts take pictures, go fishing, and sail around the lake - assisted by MacGhost (and his two Scottish terriers). But they keep missing the monster. Until they return home and look at their photos, that is! Another simple yet unique story with lovable characters. Two paws up and a tail wag for this one; human-pups of the littlest sort will love the ghosts. For more of their adventures, look for The Ghosts' Dinner, The Ghosts in the Cellar, and Operation Ghost.
There is certainly more to life than it seems at first. Ghosts and bays and bedtime stories. You just have to pay attention and see it all as part of life's adventure! Funnily enough, I'm beginning to feel kind of sleepy. *BIG PUPPY YAWN*
Good night and good dreams,
Sam I Am
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