Every Dog has his Day Indoors

"Hey dude, can you stop the rain?" That's what my dog asked me today. He looked so sad when I said "no" and slammed the door on his maw. Some dogs don't know how lucky they have it. They could be living with me.

Ok, so I didn't do that to my dog. MyUnwife will tell you: I'm a heartless bastard. The Grinch has more heart on his blackest day that I do on my best. Still, staring at the rain sopping pup-urchin on my back porch, I couldn't help but let him in.

Cosmo is an outdoor dog. That's our agreement. It's also our agreement that on special days as well as days of rain, snow sleet or loud noises, he gets to come in. He's my new partner, Cosmo and I are like newlyweds: we're still getting used to each other. Sure, we've lived together for 9 years, but he's more familiar with me as part of somebody else's couple. He doesn't know single Rob.

I don't either, but that's beside the point, I'm still getting used to Cosmo. I can avoid single Rob for now. Today was the first time I brought him inside (Cosmo, not single Rob), and he just sat down in the office while I continued my routine. He used to hang at my heel as I wandered the house—his nails clacking out his presence, his drool like bread crumbs retreating to where he's been. That's my dog. Now he's relaxed. Now he's laying on my carpet wondering why I move around so much.

I'm relaxing too. Rob's sense fear in other creatures. It worries them. Cosmo doesn't fidget like he's looking for place to leave a treasure, and I don't fidget because—well, for the same reason. It's a bond of trust. We look out for one another. See? Just like marriage. At least one that works.

Here's where I normally tell you how my marriage didn't work. I think you get my point. You and me, we're like my dog and I: we're relaxing with each other. I have posts and posts of how my marriage didn't work, you kinda have a picture of that by now. I could tell you how it did work, but well, due to the obvious conclusion of the marriage story, I don’t think you'd believe me now, would you?

Still there were things that worked right. Lately I've been thinking over something she said after she'd made the decision to leave. "We would have made good friends, except all the marriage stuff got in the way." I wish I'd known this earlier, it might have helped. It's a key philosophy difference that I never imagined. For me, it was "All the marriage stuff" that kept us as friends. It was that bond that made me want to share things daily, whether she wanted to hear them or not. It was that bond that made me love her daily, even on days when she made that difficult. It was that bond that I thought made us a team and not two individuals with coincidentally converging motives.

Without the "marriage stuff," I doubt we'd have held together very long at all. I told you, I'm a heartless bastard, I only have a few people I've hung onto for more than year or so. Right now Cosmo is my closest companion. He stuck with me through all the rain, so I bring him in from his rain. We trust each other and we're happy together.