I posted the Betty covered with snow and the Tibetan prayer flag pictures at the same time [on Facebook].
If any likes were to be given, I expected the Betty covered with snow picture to get the most. But I was wrong—the Tibetan prayer flag picture is way more popular. Betty is not even one year old, yet her stardom has already passed its peak. I guess the “fame is fleeting” adage has claimed another victim. I tried to be gentle when I explained that retirement was now her best option, that a comeback attempt would drain her treat reserves, but all Betty wanted to do was to play with her rubber chicken and have me chase her around the holly bushes in the snow. As her co-manager, I’m supposed to be concerned with the bottom line, but Betty only cares about her art.
Carol and I were sitting in the living room when Betty started whining at Carol. Thinking that Betty needed to go outside, I put my coat on and coaxed Betty to the backdoor. Betty was not happy about this, but I threw a treat outside and she couldn’t resist that. I had to use the old ‘pretend to go to the front yard’ trick to convince Betty to come down off of the deck and into the yard, but this just pissed her off. She moped around for a few minutes and then climbed the steps up to the backdoor. Going outside was not what Betty had in mind when she started whining.
We went back inside and into the living room and discovered that Carol had gone upstairs. Betty leaped into Carol’s chair and spent some time getting all comfy. She gave me a stare which said, “You stupid human, this was my demand,” and settled in for a nice nap.
Carol came downstairs and tried to reclaim her chair, but Betty wasn’t about to move. But every superhero has a weakness, and Betty’s weakness is treats. Carol tossed a treat onto the couch and Betty was forced to vacate the chair. Betty finished the treat and turned around to see Carol now sitting in the chair. The only way Betty could address this terrible injustice was to give Carol the basset hound glare for five minutes and then the pathetic basset hound mope for an additional five minutes.
It seems clear to me that the chair is Betty’s property. Carol is playing a risky game sitting in Betty’s chair all the time. All that basset hound glaring and moping aimed her way can’t be good for Carol. I’ve been trying to devise a compromise solution, but there is no compromise in basset hound.
I thought the snow we had would make Betty put her sunflower stalk destruction project on hiatus, but I forgot that stubbornness is ingrained in Betty’s breed. I watched her find the snow covered stalk she’d been working on for the past few days and proceed to rip it to shreds as normal. Winter might be the off-season for most landscapers, but Betty doesn’t buy that wimpy it’s too cold stuff.
