Finally left alone with my new family I got time to explore around the big red house on the lake by myself. One of the first things I learned was my golf balls aren’t very good toys to play with on a sloping yard in front of a lake. As Bubba explains it: there’s this thing called gravity, which makes the balls roll down hill and if you aren’t paying attention they roll right into the lake and sink. I wonder if some sunfish is enjoying my golf ball collection?

There are also lots of chipmunks and squirrels that come into the yard at the lake. I like chasing them around and have caught quite a few chipmunks. Missouri squirrels are awfully fast little tree rodents and tough to catch. I haven't given up though.

After a while of living with my new family on the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, Mamma and Bubba took me to see a doctor. It wasn’t really anything to write about. Except when the receptionist filled out all the paper work for my new tags, she spelled my name Clance. Bubba pointed out she spelled my name wrong, but the receptionist said since I was a girl, we should spell the name in French. It seems everybody had a good laugh about that, but I wasn’t so sure it was funny. I guess as long as they say my name right it doesn’t really matter though.

We stayed at the lake a few more months and pretty soon these things started falling out of the trees. At first they were just falling occasionally. These things are kind of shaped like tear drops with little beanie caps on top. Some are green, some are brownish and others are black. Bubba says they’re acorns. They sure are fun to play with when they first start falling. They bounce really well, but they don’t roll very far and you don’t have to worry about them getting away from you into the lake.

Bubba wasn’t real happy when they started falling, I didn’t know why at first but after a couple weeks they were no longer coming down occasionally and started coming down in a shower all at once. It hurts when they hit me in the head and they’re a real pain to step on. They made a big mess of the yard and Bubba was out every day raking them up. Soon it wasn’t just acorns that were falling but the leaves from the trees started coming down, which meant Bubba had to rake them up too.

Like I said I’m not much for work but I felt bad for Bubba so I tried to help by making a game of raking everything up. I started chasing after the rake while Bubba pulled it through the yard. Bubba kept laughing at me and saying “I was asking for trouble”. Well after a couple pokes in the face and very nearly losing an eye I figured out what he meant. From then on I just waited until Bubba made a big pile of the leaves and then I’d go and play in that.

Book I, Chapter V

If you want to be informed when new chapters are added or comment write to: ClanceTheodore@thegreatestdogsonearth.com