Last weekend Kindra and I went glamping, as I have since learned it’s called.
Glamorous camping, which is an oxymoron if ever there was one.
It was fun. Kindra booked us a night in a secluded air conditioned tent near Blue River, north of Tish.Yonder tent also had electric lights and a refrigerator, chairs and easy access to nature. My inner redneck rebelled at referring to such creature comforts as camping, but hey. The next morning I was well-rested and my back had no complaints about the mattress.
So, consider this my recommendation to go glamping if the opportunity presents itself.
The trip was so spontaneous that we couldn’t get Martin’s Bordetella vaccine in time to board him, so we added him to the guest list for a minor fee.
Martin is a dog of integrity who takes pride in his work and there were a lot of bushes and stumps and whatnot that needed marking, so he was a busy fellow.
He was a marking machine, but somewhere around bush No. 48, I noticed he seemed to be running low on ammo, as it were.
We brought him some bottled water, but he lapped only once or twice and would have turned up his nose at the remainder had he known that’s how humans show disdain.
He’s 10 years old and has lived his whole life drinking our well water, so it’s only natural he would develop a taste for it.
“I don’t know what this is, but it’s not what’s in my bowl at home,” I am pretty sure he thought.
So, over the course of a warm night and a really hot day, he drank very little water.
And became dehydrated. And then got a bladder infection. Which necessitated a trip to the vet. Which cost $400. And requires him to take pills for two weeks. Poor guy was in sad shape when he got to the vet’s, but he’s in the finest of fettle now and has been drinking and peeing like a Roman fountain.
If we ever again take him glamping, or even plain old redneck camping, we’re taking him a gallon or two of our well water and making sure he chugs it.
It’s either that or budget an extra $400 to get his bladder back in shape.
Frankly, I’d rather spend that much money on barbecue or some extra camera film.