May 6, 2018

White Dog stretched out in the living room's premier spot and sighed in total bliss. All around the house others of the White Dog Army found "sweet spots" of their own to mark the beginning of a unique summer routine.

Before bed last night, Steve announced that he was going up on the roof this morning to clean and assemble the evaporative cooler. The coming week is expected to have hot temperatures and he did not want us to be uncomfortable.

Swamp Cooler Day, as it is known here, is celebrated as one of the most important rituals of this half of the year. The WDA follows from ground to ladder's legs as Steve goes up and down to make the necessary connections, to hose off the pads, and scrub off the unit after unwrapping it from its winter tarp. They sit in the house and listen to the footsteps on the roof to gauge progress and position themselves beneath ceiling vents waiting to feel the first wafts of cool air.

All cluster around as Steve finishes on the roof and comes inside. He turns the thermostat full blast to test the system. Heads cock at the sound of the water being sprayed on pads inside the unit and noses lift upward as the fan kicks on.

The entire house breathes the first breath of Summer. "Ahhhhhh!"

As Steve goes around inside the house to open and check each delivery vent his followers decrease. Some pup drops out of the ritual at each vent stop, claiming THAT spot as a personal choice for the rest of the Summer.

Eventually it is just Steve, surveying a house that looks like this:

 with that HE collapses into the leather chair, stretches his legs out, tilts his head back, duplicates White Dog's sigh of bliss.

Bring it summer! We are READY now!