Friday, April 15, 2016

Barking at the Rain

Quito laying on his blanket this morning amidst the various wet items laid out to dry that got soaked in the storage area under the couch.
   
About the time I went to bed last night, Quito started his nervous panting.  The ‘scared’ season has begun.  If you don’t have a dog that’s scared of thunder you won’t understand.  In so many ways this dog is fearless. He’ll bark down anything, and step in and protect the smallest and weakest of the crowd. Don’t believe me? Just act like you’re chasing a toddler in front of Quito, and you’re going to find a growling dog between you and the toddler.  He will protect if he even thinks you mean to harm in the slightest way.  But when a thunder storm moves in, he quivers and shakes and starts to pant like crazy.  Yes, I do have a Thunder Jacket for him, but I had left it in the church, and I was too tired to go out and get it.  I tired petting him, and talking to him telling him it’s gonna be OK, but nothing was working.  I crawled into bed, and for the first time since I moved into the camper, I swear that dog was about to jump into bed with me, if he could have done it.  He did manage to squeeze around the little storage tower next to the bed, (believe me, it’s a very small space) and got so he was right next to me on the floor.  When it started to rain, he started to bark.  I actually found it comical. Poor dog was so terrified, and he thought barking at the rain pounding on the roof was going to stop it. I finally got him calmed down and he curled up next to me on the floor by the bed and went to sleep. This spot of course is only about 12” wide, but maybe the tightness of it all made him feel a little more secure.
   I awoke, from the little sleep I did get, to feeling rather cold.  The furnace again, running but not working.  It’s been this random problem, where it will start, but not fire, and just blow cold air.  The only thing I’ve found so far that ‘fixes’ it, is to get up, turn it off, and wait a minute or so, then turn it back on.  Usually does the job.  So as I got up to do that this morning, and was  walking through the camper, I stepped in wet carpet.  Yup, every spot that could leak, leaked.  My one spot I was suspicious that could leak, and where I had run out of roof sealer last time I tried to fix the roof, was soaked.  Thankfully everything in that cupboard, was in plastic containers.  All around my slide-out was also soaked.  The storage area under the couch soaked.  And of course everything in the storage area also soaked. Later I found both windows in the bedroom have leaked, and the carpets were soaked there too.
   I’m so thankful for the rain, as I know we need it so bad, but it’s looking like I’m going to need to do some repair work, on my tiny little camper/home soon.
   I’m not complaining, it’s just part of the adventure. It’s part of life. We can learn it’s useless to bark at the rain we can do nothing about.  It’s silly to be afraid of thunder which can not hurt you, but only makes noise.  We can also learn to repair the small leaks in our life, if left unattended, can cause major damage through out, and mold will set in and destroy. 
   Hope your day leak proof and thunder-less today!