Phew! What a week I've had: A long trip to Gram and Grampa's house, lots of family around (the better to adore me!) and Turkey to boot! Then, Mom tried to take in a neighbor's dog...just keeping him company for a few hours she said, but I know it was really a test run to see how I'd respond to an invader in my territory. Well, I showed him...and her! Hopefully, I won't have to fight for my own bed again anytime soon!

Now, It's the last day of November and warm here in Boston. I'm hoping for a long walk tonight, if my Mom ever gets home from work. Look at how the roses are still blooming!


I know they look a bit faded, but really they were stunning! More when I get back from my walk....

Licks,
banba

PUPPY PRISON

For those of you wondering where I've been, well, I've been in jail. That's right, I did three whole days of cold, hard time without benefit of counsel or trial by jury of my peers.

For reasons still unclear to me, my own Mother locked me away AND LEFT ME at puppy jail (they call it a "pet resort"--HA! Who are they trying to kid?). Confronted with such treachery, I, of course, did the only thing I could to fight this injustice and went on hunger strike.
OK, so I had my own private villa with a sliding glass door (so I could keep an eye on the crafty guards). My cell had just a single cot (no mattress!) with some warm wooly thing on top. The TV in my room had no remote (the nerve!)--All Animal Planet all the time! Yeah, the guards took me out for exercise four times a day, but their schedule wasn't regular enough for me to plan an escape. Just when I thought I had figured out their routine, they forced me into the interrogation center and tried to bathe a confession out of me!

As they washed my face, I came close to breaking...I felt so bad that they came close to getting to me...
Just then, my Mom came and bailed me out. I'm still not so sure I trust her, but it seems she had to leave me to go to some conference or something. She brought back some pictures of giant white and black rats that she thought I'd like (yeah, right). She said she visited a zoo, which I think is just a minimum security animal jail. Mom is acting so strange. I mean, why lock me away, then go to see some giant panda rats in some southern hoosgow?

One thing I must remember from this experience: When the blue bag with wheels comes out of the closet...RUN!

FALL LIGHT

Summer pleasures have gone away
But Autumn keeps the blues at bay
Al last the sun is not too hot
Look at all the pep I've got!

How can a puppy girl be dour
Standing 'neath a Fall sunflower?
The trees turn yellow and red and gold
Warm sweaters guard against the cold
At Football games, I jump and cheer!
Put me in coach--I have no fear!
The stands are cold and wait for crowds
I'll run and weave then take my bows
We'll win! We'll win! I guarantee
I'll kick 3 points like Adam V*

The air is cool and crisp and light
The moon is cold and bright at night
Mom says the snow is coming fast
But I think this year the Fall will last
Tuckered out from leaf pile jumping
I take a nap and keep on slumbering
Mom rubs my belly and brushes me
Then softly sings: Go, Go BC!!!

[Editor's Note: I haven't had the heart to tell Banba that Adam V was not resigned by the patriots this year. He's a Colt now. Sigh.]

Two Days After the Night Before

Well, Halloween was apparently a great success.

I don't remember too much:
It's all a haze of little kids in scary masks or
gauzy dresses and wings and
the blinking light, always with the blinking lights
(Editor's note: Banba wore a puppy "blinker" (OK, two)
on her collar Halloween night,so that
she would be visible on that dark and windy night).

I have to admit, I was looking good in the Skeleton costume
That's me, with my back to the camera--Guarding the candy!

Mom took me around to my friends houses

(Toby's folks even took a picture of me!)
so all the other dogs could see me dressed up.
Even my beloved Cammie saw me in the outfit.
Thankfully, she didn't laugh
She just chomped on her tennis ball.

By then, I wanted out of the costume,
and kept begging people to pull it off me
But they all just laughed and told Mom I looked cute
Hey, I was choking in that thing...it was tight, restricting...
I'm like a costume claustrophe...
And people just laughed
And took pictures.

Toby's folks weren't the only ones to snap a photo of me.
The little kids, who I stoically let pet me,
pressed their masked little faces into my fur
as their folks snapped their picture with the famed Skeleton dog.
OK, it was nice for a while to meet and greet all the little kids
(and let them adore me, if they wished)
But after a while with the "Trick or Treat" and the blinking light and the
glowing jack-o-lanterns and all those strangers asking for candy,
I was dizzy.

I spent yesterday sleeping it off, and
I'm going back to bed again as soon as I hit the last.....

Zzzz,
Banba