I don’t know if it’s a sign of the tumultuous times in which we are living, but Bobbi – the younger of our two Golden Retrievers – has been spending an awful lot of time all by herself in our downstairs bathroom. Most often Kathy and I will be sitting in the family room, with Ellie at our feet, when one of us will realize that Bobbi is nowhere to be seen. And nine times out of ten, we will find her in the position you see in this photograph, lying on the floor on the bathroom, nose towards the back corner. She just lies there motionless, as if asleep. And why she does this, we cannot imagine. (It’s surely got nothing to do with the view.) And what is especially odd is that she will make her way into the bathroom even when the light is off and the door is mostly closed. It’s as if she seeks out this bit of hermitage for herself, as a way of getting away from the rest of the world and from us.
What’s so weird about that is that Bobbi is usually a very rambunctious, friendly dog – and spends lots of time snuggling with us. In fact, as I type this blog entry, she is laying at my feet. In fact, she is laying on top of my feet – one of her very favorite places to be.
And yet, it is as though she gets into these moods when she has to get away from us . . . and away from Ellie . . . and chooses to lay by herself in the dark confines of our bathroom. Does she feel safe there? Warm? Relaxed? One of the inescapable frustrations of owning a pet is that there is no way to know for sure just what they’re thinking. Whatever Bobbi is thinking as she leaves us for this self- imposed solitary confinement, I hope they’re pleasant thoughts. And I’m glad that at some point she finds her way out of there again and back into the heart of our family, where she belongs.