In my younger days I wanted to drive tractors, not the old jalopy kind with no cabin and a canopy of hessian for a roof, no siree. I’ve taken on the slip, slop, slap message, and I have excellent skin and hair so I’d hardly go for the old-fashioned trac-tor and risk a skin cancer. No, I’m talking the state-of-the-art, big wheeled, GPS navigational system with air-conditioning, plenty of grunt with some new-fangled thingy being pulled behind it. There is a reason I was born this decade! I can see myself sitting up there in one of those cabins. Kicking back, letting the tractor steer itself. Such a past-time is particularly attractive with summer coming on, but in lieu of this dream of mine ever happening I’ll have to stick with a refreshing swim at the end of the working day.

So it was yesterday that us dogs meandered along the creek bank enjoying the fading light and the cool breeze. Spot #2, painful individual that he is (all yap and attitude, typical of a teenager) got lost. Jill and I were quite concerned, firstly because HELLO how could you possibly get lost walking along the edge of the Whalan Creek! And two, this was going to make us late for dinner. But, ever mindful of being the mature canines, the ones who were in charge, we set off looking for him.

Trees, stubby bushes, lignum, goanna’s, black ducks and kangaroos. We startled them all and if the truth be told we got a bit side-tracked playing chase for half an hour or so. Then we found him, well his tracks anyway. A minute later the little ferreter appeared from the scrub.

Of course I should be saying we hugged and then chastised with a lifted paw but actually I was more intrigued with what I found on the river bank. An old bottle, washed up by a flood no doubt. I sniffed and scratched and peered inside to see if there was a message, and eventually sat patiently waiting for Nicole to come find us. Spot #2, suddenly filled with gusto, told me to rub it. Personally I think the youngsters got a bit too much of a vivid imagination, but I waited until Jill and junior were walking away and then considered giving the bottle a quick paw-pat. Nope, I changed my mind. After all I was by myself and you never know…