FOUR LEGS BEAT FOUR WHEELS, EVERY TIME

Thursday, 9:00 AM.  33 degrees F, wind w, light with a few stronger gusts.  The humidity is 61% (much better for my joints), the barometer is at 30.30 in., trending up.  The sky is cloudless as the January thaw continues, and it is clear enough to see the outline of the iron ranges to the east and south east. It was a soft, orange dawn in a light blue sky, the channel waters a greenish aqua.
     A life-long resident of Bayfield said the other day that one never really notices the days getting longer until the January calendar gets into the double digits, and I think she is right.
    Buddy is usually very polite, at least for a dog, so I was quite surprised the other day when he very pointedly (pardon the pun) stopped to lift his leg against the rear tire of a parked vehicle, a Subaru Outback.  Normally I would not pay much attention to such an event, but I got to thinking about it and have come to the conclusion that it was a conscious act of derision, or perhaps contempt.  I don’t know if dogs think exactly in those terms, but their thought processes and opinions can be pretty obvious at times to their owners.
    But why would he feel that way about, of all vehicles, a Subaru?  I have concluded that he has seen a particular Subaru add on TV once too often, as have I, and has taken serious exception to it.  The add shows a Subaru and its driver going through some years of life and its various stages, starting out with a man and his girl friend in the car,  accompanied by a puppy.  The puppy eventually grows into an adult Labrador retriever. The scenario continues thence to add a child  in a car seat and an old dog. It is all very charming, except that the add very obviously ranks the car above the dog as a loyal friend and companion. The add said in so many not so subtle words that the Subaru was the man’s best friend, not the dog (It really doesn’t say anything at all about the woman or the child).  The add along with its sappy music ends with the words, "It's not every day you find a companion as loyal as s Subaru," and finally,“Subaru…it’s what love is all about.”
    Now Subaru makes a good vehicle and it has many loyal owners.  But I share Buddy’s opinion of the add, and would advise the automobile company  to deep-six it posthaste, as no man worthy of the name is going to love his car more than his dog.  When it comes to friendship, four legs beat four wheels, every time.