Hey! Do you mind?!

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m getting my deadline completed for upload to client newspapers.  I just put the finishing touches on a George comic strip.  Only one more to draw.

A funny gag just popped into my mind while scanning and editing the current comic strip on my Linux system.  So, I scribble a thumbnail while at my computer desk and need to move to my drawing table to sketch it out, letter, ink it in…in short, get it on paper in final form.

However, Gracie, my yellow Labrador, has decided that the very best sleeping spot in the entire house is right in front of my drawing table. It doesn’t matter that I have an old hide-a-way couch squeezed in just for her to lay on.  The couch is nice and soft and comfortable for the old girl. And she still has the legs to jump up and curl up.

Nope. Today, the floor space right in front of Mark’s drawing table. That’s the spot!

My studio chair has wheels so I can I roll from my computer monitor over to my drawing table. I roll back and forth.  When the chair’s not in one place, it’s in the other.  So, an open space next to me is a big invitation to Gracie.  She gets to grab a few Zzz’s and stay close to the guy who throws her a cookie every now and again.

When she’s not in the studio and sleeping underfoot, Gracie likes to lay down in the snow (in 14 degree weather!) and overlook the frozen lake.  Labs.  Go figure.

With Gracie, I couldn’t have asked for a better dog. Yellow Labs are, in my humble opinion, the best breed of dog. Period.  Labs love people.

Gracie is right on par with this trait.  She simply loves to always be around myself and others.  As my dad often says, “She’s a people dog.”

Yes, she is.

She’s also a “sleeping in front of  my drawing table when I’m on deadline” dog.