Driving Happiness

If I am having one of those days when I can’t make any humans happy I can easily turn to my sweet dog Shay Shay and make her happy. Now she is not one of those smiley dogs who are always happy to see you. In fact she is really quite reserved. But even in her Lange introverted way I know one thing I can do that will make her jump for joy…take her for a ride in the car.

Given a choice Shay would rather go get in any one of our cars and drive any place. She would prefer to sit on the lap of the driver which I will not admit to letting her do, but just being in a car in any seat makes her happy.

I am thrilled that winter is coming to an end, but for Shay the impending hot weather means fewer car rides and certainly only ones where Russ or I may just be dropping Carter off somewhere and coming right home. Perhaps she can still go through the drive thru dry cleaners with Russ where she always gets not just one, but two milk bones. It is so funny how much she loves those dog biscuits in the car. We have bought the exact same brand and she turns her nose up at them at home.

Shay seems to have a good internal clock and comes and sits by the garage door around the time for me to go pick Carter up at school. She does not always get to go, but that never stops her from sitting by the door and looking at me with a pitiful please take me look.

I can remember a time when I was little and all I wanted to do was ride in the car too. One of my earliest memories was when I was about three years old. My dad had a black Corvair and I was playing in the car while it was parked in our driveway in Dayton, Ohio. I put a penny in the lighter and started the car on fire. I don’t remember getting out of the car so I’m not sure if the fire started right away, but what I do recall is being sent to my room and my punishment for starting the fire was that I was told not to look out my bedroom window at the fire engines. I was mostly upset about losing my penny.

I know the car survived because I also remember being five years old in New Canaan and having to push the car down the slight slope of our little street so my Dad could pop the clutch and get the car started. Pushing the car was not so much what I remember, but my Dad yelling at me to jump in the moving car once he turned the engine over was very memorable. I guess I was too short to reach the pedals and that is why I had to do the pushing.

Now that Carter is learning to drive she too loves to go in the car as long as she is driving. I can hardly wait until she gets her real license so she can do all the errands and drive Shay Shay around. Although I will not miss trips to the dry cleaners I wonder what I am going to do to make the beings in my house happy?