Tuscon Bound

I am waiting for my flight in the Rapid City airport. I held off eating until I got to the airport because they "used" to have a full service eating establishment here. I have now discovered that the airport has replaced the full service restaurant with a half-hearted refrigerated sandwich shop. These are the same sandwiches you see in the local convenience store. Except the convenience store charges a reasonable price. These food souces wrapped in old bread are going for over $6.49 apiece! Well, got to walk through security.

Ashley

My dog Ashley passed away this week. She wasn't much of a dog. She only weighed 8 pounds but she had a heart bigger than she was. When it's a pet we all try to convince ourselves than "it's just an animal" and not as important as a person and in some ways we are right. But when we lose the ones we love (and I have lost too many as of late) holding a pet is a great way to grieve and being just 8 pounds makes it even easier. Ashley and me had a routine. Back when I owned a business she got up every morning and went to work with me. There was nothing so disarming as having your puppy sit in a potential clients lap. If a baby was present she licked the baby. If it was a small child, she sat quietly in the child's lap. The real payoff with Ashley is how she regulated my life. My whole adult life I was briefed to drive a different route home, don't frequent the same stores, meet with the same people or follow any standard pattern of behavior. When I left the government all that changed and Ashley was the force that gave me consistancy. Ashley was the "setter of routine". If I wasn't in bed by 9 pm she stood and barked at me because she was more than ready at that time. Every night Ashley slept beneath the blanket, but on top of the sheet, between my legs. In the morning, I would get up, put on my workout clothes and walk to the kitchen for coffee. Every morning on the same place, on my right leg, in the hallway, Ashley would jump up and put her paws on my calf pushing me into the kitchen. I would pour my coffee, get her a snack and head downstairs to work out. Ashley would finish her snack, come downstairs and bark for me to spread a throw blanket on the couch for her to lay on. In the afternoon when I got home from work Ashley and me would walk around the neighborhood finding places to pee. It was the same routine every day. I miss the routine.