D.E.L.T.A. (Don’t Ever Leave The Abode) VARIATIONS

WHAT’S GOING ON?
If you listen to the news this pandemic will never end. Since early 2020 we’ve been feinting and weaving around this COVID crisis. Complying with masks mandates and travel restrictions and social distancing and vaccines your favorite traveling partners have “survived” all and yet mainstream media has us remaining on “high alert!” There’s now something called the Delta Variant. Delta at this point stands for Don’t Ever Leave The Abode!

At the risk of sounding like a knucklehead conspiracy theorist…ENOUGH ALREADY. We’ve gotten vaccinated and we’ve already traveled a couple of times, once to Jamaica and the other to Virginia Beach, with nary a head cold. Maybe we are fortunate relying on dumb luck? But, we have friends who are currently traveling to Greece and next week Janet’s family is traveling in from England. It will be the first time in nearly two years they will be together. Sure, this deadly virus has killed a lot of people, but science and medicine have stepped in and helped in curtailing this global menace. We were supposed to be through the worst of it and now, DELTA!

ISLAND BEACH STATE PARK, NJ

Well, my take on this matter is we can take our vaccines and live healthy lives and enjoy our allotted time in this Garden of Eden, or we can live in fear and sit in the dark wearing masks and peeking out the blinds hoping no one will come knock on the door.

Me, I am looking forward to our English family finally coming to visit. We are renting a house for a week at the Jersey Shore.

Of course, for them to return home they’ll have to pass a barrage of tests, before they get on the plane, and once they return home there are more testing requirements

Everything though is changing weekly as restrictions are jiggered as the “variants” dictate, so who knows what the requirements will be in late August when they return. I just know that the ROI on their traveling here is well worth the “danger!”

Thanks for reading

Love Janet and greg

© 2021 by Greg Dunaj

THREE DOG NIGHT ON THE 4TH

BECAUSE ONE IS THE LONELIEST NUMBER 

While you are all out there celebrating the birthdate of our country, frolicking in the ocean, jumping into the pool, swilling beer and grilling brats, your favorite worldly wackos are sitting home watching dogs. The best part though is we are HAPPY about it. In addition to our own dog, we are watching our neighbor’s two pooches while they flounce about at the Jersey shore for the week.

SHAMBALA

We are dog lovers though and helping out our neighbor is no problem for us. Indeed, it’s a little like heaven having all these dogs, but we get more out of it than the pleasure of being foster parents because when we travel our neighbor watches our dog.

BLACK AND WHITE

Now, we’d like to think our dog is much easier to care for as she’s a little loveable mutt and their dogs are big knuckleheads! They come with a lot of instructions! But we make up for it by dumping our pooch in their lap often!

WORK RIGHT TO LEFT

I CAN HEAR YOU CALLING

We definitely get our daily steps in with all the required walks. There’s the early pee walk, the after-breakfast poop walk, the afternoon pee session, the early evening pee session, the poop session whenever nature calls walk. Then there's the afternoon running of the younger dog at Ursinus College to tire him out. There's a lot of walking!

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

This isn’t the first time we filled in as foster parents for the dogs. The first time for us was overwhelming with the litany of instructions. We dutifully followed them and it took us a nearly 2 hours. We are getting better. This morning’s routine was a svelte 45 minutes.

ONE MAN BAND

Each and every time we have the dogs we wonder how our single parent neighbor does it? Janet and I are tag teaming here and we’re just not that efficient.

Actually, compared to the morning giddy-up the day goes much more smoothly, and we have time to plan our next trip. It all works out for both parties in the long run. We both are assured our dogs are in safe homes and receive much love whenever the travel bug bites either of us.  Case in point, we won’t even consider attending a fireworks demonstration tonight as the big guy, an elder Chocolate Lab, paces and cowers with the noises and we will remain home to comfort him.

JOY TO THE WORLD

So, our holiday celebration is different than yours. We give willingly of our time and affection and we will be all smiles with our neighbor's return, but we will be glad when the week has ended.

I just wish we could rename one of the dogs Jeremiah.

Thanks for reading

God Bless America

Love Janet and greg

© 2021 by Greg Dunaj