I sat down in front of the computer and looked at the empty screen wondering out loud to the two little dogs looking affectionately up at me, what are we going to write about today? Unable to respond in anything that I could understand, they just sat there with their big brown eyes looking doefully at me as if to say, “What the hell are you expecting us to do”.

I thought about it for a bit staring back at them and said,”OK, if you are not going to help, then I will do it on my own”. They wandered back to their chosen places of rest to sleep and I was alone to contemplate a blank screen and not to much going on with the grey matter between my ears. Then I remembered that Sandy and I had taken a trip yesterday to Bastrop Animal Shelter, the place where I was lucky enough to get her. Primarily, she needed a Rabies shot plus a couple of others that she was due. I couldn’t believe that it was 12 months since she and I laid eyes on each other for the first time. and had gone ahead with forging a beautiful relationship at least from her perspective. Me, I wait on her hand and foot along with Mikey, her buddy who also came from the same shelter. The two of them get along just fine with each of them taking it in turns to be the dominant partner. The reason for the trip other than for the vaccinations was so that I could get Sandy in to the groomers as like me, her hair is getting long and she is tangling up with all kinds of plant seeds and burrs and she complains bitterly when I try to comb her out. Time to get it cut short. Me, I will have to wait a bit longer before my trip to the hairdressers.

Bastrop is a nice little Shelter even though it is still a kill shelter. They try to move as many animals as posible to other shelters and of course adopt out a lot more. This is the one place where you can usually see a couple of Great Pyrenees brought in from the surrounding farms. They are put out with the farm animals to guard them from Coyotes and are notorious for wandering off from their task and ending up at the shelter. It is a long drive for me, close to 30 miles one way but worth it as they are a sponsored clinic and much cheaper than my regular vet. They only do shots and simple treatments and anything that requires surgery would have to be done elsewhere.

Their opening hours are very short so I had to get up early as they opened at 10:00 am and it takes me an hour to get there. They operate on a first come first served basis which normally is not a problem as there are some very interesting people in line. Under normal circumstances, we would all wait seated together in a medium sized waiting room with the overflow outside the door but in these troubled times, they had us wait outside. When I arrived at around 11:00 am, there were about ten or so people in front of me, some with more than one dog or cat. One guy had 3 three dogs, another lady had three or more cats in crates so I could not see the exact amount, many people had two dogs so I knew that we were in for a long wait. Normally , seated in the waiting room, there are some very interesting conversations going on with everyone putting in their five cents worth but outside, spread out as we were, the atmosphere was a little subdued. Besides, it’s hard to hold a decent conversation when you are wearing a mask because of the Corun-19 virus and are six feet away from whoever you are talking to. Not everyone wore a mask which I found a little disconcerting. There was a young couple, the guy with the three dogs, who did not. The guy was working the chewing tobacco real hard and spitting often which I found a bit much. Hopefully, the tobacco will kill any germs that he has and most certainly will kill him in later years if he keeps it up. Several other people did not wear a mask and I made sure to stay away from them by a goodly distance.

A couple of hours later, it was our turn and I dutifully handed Sandy over to the veterinary assistant and then waited around until they were through with her. In the meantime, I struck up conversations with the Clinic Staff as we spent an awful lot of last year together when Sandy was on her heartworm treatment regime from which she came through one hundred percent cured. They really are nice people. There is a lot to be said for a small town which Bastrop most certainly is.

We left home at 10:00 am and did not get back until 4:00 pm, a total of six hours of which two were for travelling but it was worth it not only for Sandy but also to renew my acquaintances with the staff at Bastrop Animal Shelter. The good news was that the Starbucks in Bastrop was open but had a long line so I drove on to the one off Hwy 290 in Austin. I at least managed to quell my thirst for a latte on the way home. We don’t need to go back for a couple of months when she is due for a couple of other shots including the one for anti-Rattlesnake venom. This is Texas after all…

Now, all that remains is to call the groomer and set up an appointment.

Written 5/4/2020