Rosie

Jazz and I went down to the edge of a little beach, while Big Jon and Rooph stayed up on the bank. Jazz walked right out into the cold water and sat down in the water right up to his belly button. I thought I would try it too. I edged up to the water and sniffed it. Can’t be too cautious about such things. It smelled OK, a little like frogs and turtles. I tested the water with my front paw. Holly Guacamole!! It was cold. Jazz never let on that it was wicked cold. I backed up a few feet. I looked over at him and he was just sitting there like he was on some island in the Bahamas. Not me. No way. Then Big Jon picked me up and put me on the root of a big tree that had a low branch that reached way out over the cold water. That was a little scary and kinda cool too. I was not on the beach anymore, there was water down below me that looked so cold and yet I was warm and dry. Cool! I walked out on the branch a little further and looked down. I could see my reflection in the water. WOW what a cute dog I am, even if I do say so myself. I tilted my head back and forth to get a better view; you know a touch of the profile. Well I slipped a little. I caught my balance but the problem was the further I went out on the branch the smaller it got. I was kinda stuck. I couldn’t back up because my hind legs aren’t as smart as my front ones. So I figured I’d just turn around on the branch. I slipped again but this time the branch was so small I didn’t have room enough to turn. So I slipped again. And then I slipped a lot and lost my footing. I fell right off the branch right into the cold water. OMG. I fell into the water and my head went under and the cold water went in my ears and in my eyes and I couldn’t see and I got water in my nose. It was awful. I was scared to death. Surely I would drown. My feet started running, except you know, in the water. I didn’t go very far except that my head came up out of the water and I could breathe OK. I actually ran in the water. Or maybe that was what swimming was. I was SWIMMING! I got to the shore all by myself. I was so proud. When I walked out of the water at the edge of the beach I shook all over from my head all the way out to the end of my tail. I was cold and a little shaken up. I stood on the beach and looked around. They were all laughing at me. I thought they would run up to me and hug me glad that I was safe and proud that I had learned to swim so fast. But NO, they all just laughed at me. I never felt so humiliated in all my life. Here I had practically drowned and all they could do was laugh. I wanted to sit down and cry. Then Jazz came over but instead of helping me he tried to bite me in the back of the neck and rough house. Like I wanted to play right then. What a dummy. I was freezing and soaking wet, barely alive and all he wants to do is play. Can you imagine? Well I don’t care. I actually SWAM. And I got out of big trouble without any help from those bums. So there, you guys. Months later well into the cold winter we went back to the same place. The water had changed to ice and I was able to walk right up on top of the river. It was wicked cold on my little feet, but not as cold as being in the water. It was slippery too. Jazz walked across the ice with tiny little steps because his feet slipped and slided. I walked closer to the ground so it was easier for me to get across the ice. Of course the big people didn’t walk out there with us dogs cause they were too heavy. I thought they were just big chickens. Cluck cluck, bawk bawk. A few days later we went for a long hike in the woods all along the river. Well sometimes the river was right next to us and sometimes the path veered off away from the river. Sometimes you could see the river but it was way below us because we were on a really big rock that stretched for a long way next to the river. They called it a ledge. Rooph and Big Jon sat down and Jazz went off looking for sticks. So I just went out on my own for a while. You know, exploring, Jazz calls it “splorin'. I loved the feeling of just running through the woods real fast. When I came to a big rock or a downed tree, I loved jumping over them at full speed. Wheee. It made me feel like I was flying. I love it when the wind goes by so fast that my ears fly straight back. I would take a long jump and straighten out with all fours stretched out like a jet plane. I felt so free and alive. WHAT FUN!! I kinda lost track of time and where I was cause I was having so much fun. Then I came whipping up on a great big rock. I ran up the steep side of the rock and took a flying leap right over the top. For a minute I really felt like I was flying. It was a great jump. BEST EVER!! I cleared the top of the rock by a mile, just flew right over it. I was so proud of myself. What a great feeling to be free and practically flying. Then something terrible happened. There was nothing on the other side of the rock… OOPS !