Too hot and too long, yet somehow mood lifting

Yesterday I was crabby. I realized this after Fischer's third trip to timeout when he'd only been awake for 30 minutes. Hmmm, the problem might be me!! We skipped soccer and loaded up the jogging stroller with snacks, hats, sunglasses, water bottles, plastic bags (for dog poop), overdue library books and the kitchen sink. Then Fischer, Sophie and Kaia, and I headed out for a long run/walk to the library. Round trip - it is a little less than 7 miles. Well, what I didn't realize - is that it was 150 degrees yesterday! Whatever, I thought we were trying to have autumn! Anyway, all was well, I was hot and sweaty by the time we got to the library, but after a bathroom break and the four of us chugged our water bottles (well, Sophie and Kaia did more slurping than chugging), we were on our way back home. By now, I'm realizing just how hot and tired Kaia truly is. She is mostly black and pretty chubby and 10 years old. She was slowing quite a bit. As Sophie and i jogged, Kaia trailed behind. So i started walking too and gave her the last of the water. I just kept hoping that she wouldn't collapse before we could make it home! Plus, I kept thinking about this story my mother-in-law told about her dog that was running around playing at a backyard party and then dropped dead mid-stride! That visual was beginning to really worry me as Kaia's tongue grew longer and longer.

And then, she DID collapse! We were about a mile from home on a busy road next to a very long retaining wall. There was no access to the neighboring houses to get more water for her or to hose her down. There was no way to drag her home and I couldn't get her to stand up, let alone walk another mile in the sun. Across 5 lanes of busy traffic there was a neighborhood, but we were nowhere near a cross walk and I couldn't drag my 100 pound dog across that road while pushing a stroller and wrangling Sophie. What to do?

Much to the amusement of the passing cars, I pulled Fisch out of the stroller and tried to lift Kaia into it!! I had laid down the seat to make more room, but she didn't fit and she looked like a giant seal in there. Her elbows were pressing into the tray and neither she nor I had the strength to maneuver her into a more comfortable position. I had to lift her out. the fire department was near by... they get cats out of trees, maybe they get dogs off of sidewalks? No, no... we'll wait a little longer. Well thankfully, after a few more minutes I was able to coax her to stand and encourage her to walk the last mile home. Then I promptly plopped her into a cold kiddie pool. Sweet relief, for her.

For some reason after all of that sun, sweat, worry, and eventual relief.... I wasn't crabby anymore.