Have you met Fred?

He started out as my mom’s dog – my favorite of mom’s twenty dogs. My Oklahoma visits to see them made my trips. Then, mom went into assisted living and could only bring one dog. She picked her favorite little chihuahua and the rest of the dogs went to new homes. Luckily, Fred came to mine. Probably, because I BEGGED my husband with every fiber of my being. It being a super hard sell as we already had a THREE dog rule and only added a third because I convinced him dog number three is a Cat (and since dog three doesn’t bark, it wasn’t a complete fib). But Fred, oh dear little Freddy, he makes four. Four throws off our favorite number – three. And three is such a special number to us for many, many reasons – three tens (our wedding day), three girls (our kids), and our three dogs.

Now, it is four. Funny how different a number sounds. Three sounds like weeeee! But four is so much sterner and harder on the tongue.

But guess what? Averey makes FOUR in girls. So there number three, take that.

The next four is our anniversary date in 2014 – it’s NUMBER FOUR. Four in FOURteen. I like that.

And what I am saying is four is not a bad number. Not a bad number at all. Because number four brought a very unexpected bundle of precious fur to us. Fred changed our number. He changed our lives. Him, with his joie de vivre doggy ways.

I love him more than I should. I favor him, a little, and I adore him – a lot. He gets me. He gets life. He just rolls with it. He is the coolest, happiest little fella I have ever met.

And Fred? He made a big change coming to our house too. His world was the kitchen/dining room. That is where my mom kept him when he lived with her. One room is where he slept and played. She didn’t take him outside, or on walks, or in the car (not the last few years anyway).

And Fred, well, Fred likes to go. He likes to walk, but he LOVES to ride. He is all about paws out the window, head stretched out, and hair whipping in the wind.

So my dear number four – also called buddy, pumpkin pie, stinky boy, fuzzy wuzzy, mister, pumkin lunkin, furry monster, and cute lil’ fella. Here you are in all your doggy glory for all the blog world to see.

This is your ride.

Freddy’s ride.

Start the engine,
give it some care.
As long as it goes,
not a second to spare.

Wind in the willows,
wind in my hair.
A sniff of the world,
and see if I dare.

Heart thumping wild,
mind on the brink.
I am the beast,
who cares what they think.

Raring to go,
raring to live.
Locked up no more,
I got front dibs.

A pocket of sunshine,
a wing, and a prayer.
Riding so sweet,
like I’m already there.

I am Freddy the Mighty!
Can you hear my roar?
Fearless and flying outside your front door.

**This post inspired by Freddy’s love of car rides and his photo being picked as a feature for Ellenburg Photography’s Project 52.

You go Freddy, you go.

That’s my boy!