Hey Dad! Had a fun day at riverside park w/ Max & Poppy. Chased duck feathers & played in Retriever River. Ate steak & peanut butter at Fetching Deli. Great day, love being w/ u & friends in Spencerville! 🐾 Paws-up, “Dog’s Nickname”

Listen to the story here.

Early one fine Spencerville mornin’, even before the rooster himself had bothered to awaken the citizens of our fair, lovable little town, my curiosity already got the better of me. With the sun just peeking over the hills, I made my way to a place I rightly enjoy better’n any other – the city’s peaceful riverside park. Oh, watching them ducks, my goodness. Those new feathered friends of mine would unknowingly donate their fallen plumes, I’d somehow convince myself they were treats, and with an overwhelming sense of purpose, I’d pursue ’em with fiery dedication.

Though my stomach tend to ramble on as empty as the holster at the end of a long, long duel, I always have my trusty ol’ tennis ball to keep my spirits up. I’d often notice with just the slightest bit of apprehension, the way it spends its days ping-ponging between those ded gum trees, them trees never seemed to give a hoot. Well heck! That’s Spencerville for you.

It was another day like any other at the riverside park, population me, when Max and Poppy, you’d remember them, of course, sauntered into view. As usual, there was energy breedin’ between the pair of ’em. You’d think they were filled with gunpowder, my stars! Max, with his unconditional love seepin’ from his soft, puppy dog eyes, trotted right along. Poppy, on the other hand, dashed ’round like a hyperactive tumbleweed chasin’ some bad hombre’s tail. But don’t be fooled – in both their hearts there’s a yearnin’ for adventure, a hallmark of our marvelous Spencerville.

While Western Fawn Pug Palace shimmered like a mirage of mud-baked clay, our little posse made a pact to saddle up and ride on over to Retriever River for livelier prospectin’. Boxer Beach, though tempting, would have to wait out another long desert day. I could hardly contain my excitement. I was downright fixin’ on lungin’ at the water’s edge, tastin’ the liquid gold of Retriever River.

Middays found us sploshin’ and a-pantin’ in the river, havin’ ourselves an old fashioned, cooled down good time, before we decided it’s time to calm our fast beatin’ hearts at a place as strange as it was delicious: The Fetching Deli. My faithful friends and I wandered on over to the deli where Spencerville’s finest steak and peanut butter never failed to tame our wild hunger.

The sun hung low over the far off hills, whisperin’ that it was time to head back. What an eventful day it had been, filled with wonderful adventures and quality time spent with good comrades. We retraced our paw prints, settlin’ once more near the peaceful riverside park.

And as I’d gather the last, stray duck feathers of the day into my possession, my heart was full, filled with the kind of a peculiar joy that’s as wide and open as the wild Old West. Life here in Spencerville with my dad, my friends, and all these memories we’ve woven together, that’s what makes me the dog I am. For now, and for the rest of my doggone Spencerville days, I reckon that’ll suit me just fine.

The End.