And, Universe. I Get It. Dogs Have Emotions, Too. But the Sighing and Whimpering. It's Just Two Days.

I'm heading out of town again, this time for TESOL, Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages conference in Atlanta, Georgia. I was asked last fall to be part of a keynote panel on teaching writing to refugee-background youth. I'm not familiar with their sessions or the layout of their professional discourse, but I'm ready and happy to be part of a new community.

In the meantime, Glamis the wonder dog watched me pack and I saw it in her eyes. She will be in great care with her friends Jake and Pammy, but it doesn't change the fact that this dog, more than any other dog, is extremely dramatic and emotional. She likes her routine more than any creature I've ever known. She freaks out when a snowman is built in someone's lawn that is new, or when garbage is out. She knows her world and that is what she wants on a daily basis...her schedule, her agenda, her timing, and her needs.

That's why the suitcase throws her off. She's been sulking all evening, and although I took her for a walk, and played extra hard with her, the drama wins out. She literally has been laying at my side whimpering and sighing (insert dramatic elbow and paw to the snout) with her sadness that she detects I'm going away.

I am going away. She will be taken care of. Still, she prefers the theatrics. It is something. I know guilt is self-created. I won't let her win.

Instead, I will catch my flight to Atlanta, present on Thursday, and head home on Friday. I'm treating this as a semi-mental retreat, too, where I can have the space to process all that has been going on.
I will bring the sighing and whimpering with me.

Hello, Atlanta. I'll be there soon.