Jersey loved going on adventures. Whether it was a trip to the dog park or a trip to the beach or on a hike along the riverbed, she would be the first one in the car. She loved to go anywhere in the car. She knew it would lead to an exciting place where she could be off leash and explore to her heart's content. She even loved to go with me to the store if I had to. Even though it wasn't that far and we would only be gone for a few minutes, she'd be wriggling and waggling hoping to be invited along. We'd pull into a parking space and I'd tell her I'd be right back. Most times, another car would have pulled into an adjacent parking spot and she'd start barking that loud, scary bark that told people to stay away and don't even think about coming close to the car. She'd be telling people "this car is mine and mine alone." I'd be walking away from the car, knowing I could have left the doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition with the motor running and wallet on the dashboard and the car would still be there when I came back.
When I would come back from running my errand, she would always be sitting in the driver seat, her head visible above the steering wheel, getting ready to throw the car into gear and drive away. She'd always pliantly move out of the seat when I would get back. The windows would be slobbered up, nose prints and spit left behind where should would have been looking out. There where even a couple of times I could clearly see the outline of her face left behind. It looked like a miracle image similar to the one imprinted on the Shroud of Turin. It was obvious she had been pressing her face against the window, looking for me to come back so we could move onto our next adventure.
She also had an independent streak. She'd prefer to be left alone when we where home. When we would watch TV in the evenings, she would spend time on the couch looking at us, her eyes half drooping closed as she thought about falling asleep. There would come a point though when she would get up, shake and leave the room to go upstairs and flop on the bed in the guest room. There were various places around the house she had claimed as her ownn, where she couldn't be bothered by either Tellie or Alexa or I. One of these places was the guest bathroom.
If Alexa and I had to go out would briefly show interest asking where we were going or what we were going to do. When she realized she wouldn't be coming with us, she would turn away and pad off to one of her favorite spots, looking for all the world as if she couldn't care less if we came back or not.
It became a regular practice when we would come back that Tellie would be waiting at the door for us, ready to say "Hello!! Where have you been? I wasn't sure if you were coming back!"
Most times, Jersey wouldn't be with her. We'd have to go from room to room to try and find her. We'd be left scratching our heads when there wouldn't be a trace her anywhere. Anywhere. It was like she disappeared.
We'd be thinking "What the heck? Where the hell is she?" It would be then we'd notice the door to the guest bathroom was closed.
It was probably mounted on its hinges crooked because the door would close by itself if it had been left open. It wouldn't latch unless there was a wind blowing through the window which would slam it shut. From the inside though, if you were a dog and didn't have opposable thumbs to turn the doorknob, one wouldn't be able to open the door.
Nine times out of ten we would find her sitting on the bathroom floor, behind the closed door in the dark, patiently waiting for someone to realize where she was and let her out. She would have wandered in looking for some toilet paper or to sniff around the base of the toilet. (Dogs are known for doing disgusting things.) She never scratched up the door, frantically trying to get out, she never destroyed the walls trying to dig a hole in an effort to get free. She knew that eventually someone would open the door. She would always get up and walk out as if she didn't have a care in the world or look bothered that she may have been shut up in a bathroom for up to a couple of hours at a time.
She always did her own thing in her own way. She was sure that the door would always be opened and that it would shortly be time to ride in the car or get stuck in the bathroom once again.
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