Snuggling with Kevin

 My goal today was to get Kevin's truck towed to the Honda dealer and have a new key made.  Anything else accomplished today would be extra credit.

I went to bed early Friday night.  It was the second of three bitter cold nights below 29F, residue of a massive cold front that started in New Mexico and moved northeast toward New England. Both Gretchen and Sweetie were cold once the sun set.  I snuggled under the weighted blanket and quilt to get warm, and must have just fallen asleep.

The night ritual is complete when Gretchen jumps on the bed with me to get close. Sweetie can't jump up on the bed anymore, so she seeks refuge on Kevin's old robe on the left side of the bed on the floor. This robe still has his urine smell on it.  That smelly robe is now her new bed and I've left it on Kevin's side of the bed since we moved into the RV.

Kevin appeared in my dream, looking handsome as he was when we first met, with his thick brown hair and stocky built.  He was laying perpendicular to me, reaching over me to snuggle with me, holding me tightly.  It was a lucid dream and I even told myself that this could not be real.

It wasn't a long dream at all.  The main focus was a young, healthy Kevin hugging me.  He then disappeared and I awoke fully from the dream and found Gretchen snuggling on top of me.

***

The rest of the day went well.  Gretchen, Gretel and Sweetie got a two-mile morning jaunt around the block.  By 10:30am a towtruck came by to hook up Kevin's truck on a flatbed, then drove into town to the Lawley dealership.  Getting a key made ($160!) took an hour.  I met up with Steve and he invited me to his place so he could change the oil on the truck.  It had been a year since the oil was changed and Kevin paid a few grand to get the truck checked over.

I brought Gretel along.  She gets along with Steve's dog.  I walked her around the RV park, logging in 1.3 miles along some rather nice and semi-permanent RV lots on the south side of the park.  It was clear out, 52F and nice for walking.  Steve had changed the oil and checked on the brakes in the time I walked the route.

Back at the house later in the afternoon, I got more trash bags filled with debris.  But tonight, out of character, Minnie followed me around the yard.  Despite her strained pace, she wobbled fast and even barked at me.  What was up with that?  Minnie is usually quiet and obedient, coming when called.  Did she have something to tell me, to show me?  She even pushed her way out the front door, which is very unusual.

I managed to keep the other dogs in the back of the house.  I would let her hang out in the front yard, but she still wobbled beyond the yard and out into the street.  This was very odd behavior for Minnie.  Perhaps she was just tired of hanging out with the younger dogs and wanted a break.  Instead of putting her back in the house after her sniff-around, I let her sleep in the truck.  She happily jumped into the cab and spent the night there.