Just thought I'd share a light-hearted story.  Over the summer, we ferret
proofed our backyard so the boys can play outside without leashes (with
supervision, of course).  Wasn't really that difficult because here in CA
we tend to block wall ourselves in (I think we do this so that we have
somewhere to take our fuzzies without F&G seeing us, although we do watch
for helicopters over our house).  I remember being amazed at the sight of
no backyard fences when I visited relatives in Indiana years ago, so being
all fenced in would probably be a strange thing to behold to some of you.
Back to the story.
 
Play time in the back yard has gone from a treat or an adventure to an
everyday RIGHT.  On work days we get up at 6:00 a.m. and at 6:05 the three
boys are lined up at the sliding glass door ready to start their day.  I've
had lots of time this summer sitting in my sand chair strategically placed
so that I can keep an eye on the three of them when they scatter in
different directions to think about a lot of things.  One thing that kept
running through my mind was what are we going to do when it rains since
they now believe they have a RIGHT to play outside every morning.
 
Got up this morning and to my surprise, it was raining.  Not a heavy rain,
a light rain, but it was raining and it was wet out there.  Boys are lined
up at the sliding glass door, sorry guys, it's all wet out there, you don't
like to get wet -- three furry bodies in the flat ferret, we are bored with
life position.  Okay guys, see for yourself.  Open the sliding glass door,
they bound out onto the patio, onto the pool deck where it's very wet and
they all stop and look at the ground in shock.  I open the sliding glass
door all the way so that they won't run into it when they scramble back
into the dry house.  Then three furry faces look up cuz they're getting wet
from above, too.  I stand aside so I won't be in their way when they run
back inside -- they begin a weasel war dance that is so filled with joy and
exuberance that I now believe all prior war dancing was really their
version of rain dancing and now the drought is finally over!  These are the
same ferrets that do an elaborate backwards skip and hop dance to avoid
getting their feet wet when a human is dumb enough to leave a glass with
liquid in it within their reach; the same ferrets that believe a bath is
ferret abuse.
 
They are dancing with so much passion that they slide onto the pool's
safety cover which they believe is a giant ferret trampoline.  What does a
giant ferret trampoline turn into when it rains?  -- a giant ferret slip
and slide.  The slipping and sliding sent them into another weasel war
dance that lasted until they were thoroughly soaked at which time they
decided to check out the elaborate tunnel system they have been working on
in what used to be the flower bed.  Imagine their joy when they discovered
that not only could they move dirt out of the tunnels with their paws, but
the dirt stuck to their entire wet bodies -- another dance frenzy.
 
I toweled them off, I did not bathe them.  They have already had a bath
this month and I didn't want them to report me to the list as being a bad
ferret parent.  They know I have never posed for pictures in the nude, but
I have been known to swim in the pool in the nude, and I do wrestle with
them and they are small ...but never in the nude.
 
Posted anonymously to protect the innocent in CA
 
[BE]
[Posted in FML issue 2860]