Comfort and joy

The kitchen smells like vanilla (there was a big spill and lots of swearing) and soon will smell like cookies. I am keeping a low profile in order to secretly sneak some cookie dough before I get chased out of the kitchen. Meanwhile in the corner of the same room the three stooges, I mean my three half-brothers, are at it again. I don't know if they are too dumb to know someone else is already sitting there (they seem a little weak on physics) or if they like each other that much. But in this holiday season of being grateful for small blessings, I am glad they aren't hugging me like that! Merry Christmas Eve!

Usurped

There is a rule of parenting that reads thusly: When small children are in the other room and they are quiet then they are up to no good.

My human cousins were over last night and though they are nice enough (they play with me and give me treats and even lie under the table with me while the adults are eating) they do get into mischief. Even more than some little red dogs. So it may come as no surprise to you that these two sneaked off and pretended to be me and wrote in MY blog.

Anyway, here we are enjoying a holiday meal by lying under the tables waiting for scraps to fall. Well, that was what I was doing. I think they were just being kids.

Waiting

It was a boring day! All my Person did was cook, cook, cook. All I did was wait, wait, wait! Finally after the day had mostly gone by my Person had other Persons over. And who did they bring?! Two Little People. One was small and the other was large. The large one's nails on his teeth were different colors than before! I noticed he was wincing while he bit the crust of the tasty pepperoni pizza. Me and the Little People played and when they went to eat at the table I sat and waited patiently. Maybe I did beg a little but not so much because last time I begged when the Little People came I was yelled at by my Person. After a while I got bored and went to lay on the couch. The big Little Person came over and we played a little bit. Then the both Little People left and went to the box and were pressing buttons that made words appear on the screen. Right now I have retreated to the couch and am sleeping. I suspect the Little People are still on the box. sigh. I have grown to dislike this box. I hope I get a walk tomorrow.

Better living through walking

Today started out right: a walk almost first thing. Someone has been a little stressed lately and though I constantly try to lead the way toward a better life, Someone seems rather resistant. Everyone knows the best way to start a day, and therefore the best way to live your life, is to go for a nice walk with a nice dog in the morning before you turn on your computer.

This morning I prevailed. I like running around at night. Don't get me wrong. I turn wild and spooky and all rules of polite leash walking are suspended in the dark. But a morning walk is so beautiful and leaves you full of hope for the day. So you have to come home and pick up the little pieces when you get back, at least you walked and heard the woodpeckers call and the nuthatches crab and you have seen the crows set off on their morning reconnaissance missions. You've seen the peachy morning light glowing on the rusted-out structure of the bridge you walked blithely under and that the spidery vein of open water in the Mississippi has expanded and that the river's icy coat has broken into floating islands of gray in the shining black water.

And, if you have walked to the right place, you are returning with a muffin in a little paper bag to share with your little red dog when you get home again.

Greener and greener

There is no picture because quite frankly I am moving too fast to be captured on film or whatever is inside my Person's camera these days. And this is why: Lat night I had my pal Adric's assistance once again and together we got into the Christmas presents. Someone is missing a Christmas present but that's their bad luck. What is important is that I have discovered an alternative fuel source - Legacy Chocolate cocoa mix!

Well, I was full of action all last night and all this morning and all afternoon too. This evening I raced through my walk, sniffing fast, prancing fast, and barking fast at other dogs in the dark. I ate my supper fast and then ran in the dark yard from fence to fence as fast as I could. Who knows when my tank will run dry?

Who needs ethanol? Maybe we should try some Legacy in the car.

'Til you drop

Can you believe it? I spent most of my lovely day off (like all of them are) shopping! Little did I know what was going to happen when I was invited along in the car.

I love car rides and they often mean Adventures. But I do not know of a single adventure that involves yarn, and certainly not books or even gloves. I am a little red dog and my adventures involve my nose and my feet. Whatever can one do with yarn?

We started a round of stops and at first I did what any polite passenger does when the Driver runs into a store, promising as usual "I will be right back!" You move over and keep their seat warm! The number of stops grew higher and that be-right-back promise seemed shy of truthfulness. So I decided to withhold the seat warming niceties and stay on my side and work on keeping my own seat warm instead. I worked up a pretty chilly glare to to give my Person as well.

Finally she wore out and we stopped for a refreshment. I scored half a pumpkin bar and once again learned the value of being the object of guilt.

At last this hellish trip ended and I got out for a woodsy walk as the sky turned the color of the pumpkin bar I had eaten and the snow glowed in the last light. My nose and feet were happily at work - nothing needed from some store. This was more like my idea of Adventure!

Beauty in a catsuit

The little red menace is out walking so I thought I'd tell you of my day. It has been thus since early this morning:

For a long while I sat on the radiator top, until my nose grew pink and my ears did as well and I could have been called Pinko instead of Pico.

Then I moved to the floor where I lay gently on my side and cooled down.

Then I moved to the radiator until I pinked up again.

And then I moved to the floor.

And so on.

I do not lead a life of restless ambition like Adric, nor one of fear and uncertainty like Ollie. And further yet from the child-like dog who has been with us for these two years. I understand that life is sweet unto itself and we tend to make our own misery. And so I rest and enjoy the heat and cool, the slow passage of time and the light that changes to dark and then light again. It is all one. And so am I.

Crumbs

My Person was a hysteric yesterday. She had computer problems. And she couldn't see that my needs are always greater than that little humming box she supplicates to and then swears at. I didn't get much attention though, I will tell you!

As the day wound down and I slumped into doggie despair of ever having fun again, my Person took off in the dark and left me alone with my half-brothers. (I am trying to be more charitable about them since they had the great misfortune of being born cats.) I chased them around the house for awhile, hoping my Person would come back for me. But she didn't. It was then that Adric, the wiliest of the three, jumped up on the kitchen counter. And he did the nicest thing! He pushed half a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread off the cutting board. I watched in awe as it flew gently through the air and landed at my feet!

The disappointments of the day were soon forgotten as I busied myself with my prize. I ran about the house with it in my mouth, this prize chunk as big as my head. I nibbled some in the living room, I gnawed awhile under the dining room table (how appropriate!) and then I took the remainder and off I went to the bedroom. I burrowed under the covers and discovered the pleasures of eating in bed.

After my Person returned and we retired for the evening, I continued to clean the many chunks and crumbs which had lodged in the tangle of sheets and blankets. My Person muttered sleepily, "Quit licking the bed." Finally she got up to examine things. As I stood and tucked my tail, she groaned "What did you do?" But exhaustion trumps curiosity it seems and she crawled back into bed and was soon sawing logs again. I scoured the bed for evidence until almost dawn and took a little snooze time myself. By morning you'd never know what had happened. In fact I think my Person has forgotten completely about it. She wonders why I am a little nicer to Adric today and she wonders why he keeps banging his pinhead into the new loaf of bread on the cutting board. Well, I am not going to tell her why and neither is Adric.

Ready and waiting

At the ready is this little red dog. Unfortunately being prepared doesn't mean anything happens. Still I await. Maybe for a Person who will throw my lovely but now beakless loon toy about for me, maybe a vicious mail carrier attacking the mailbox, maybe for a Siamese cat to roll on the ground at my feet. Maybe for an early dinner.

My Person is waiting for the temperature to climb above freezing. And we were both waiting for some sunshine and we were prepared, and we got it. This may not be cause and effect. Cause and effect is when I pounce on Ollie and he squeals and pats me on the head with his claws. Cause and effect is when I press my nose on a leg and the back door soon opens. Cause and effect is curling up in an ball on the couch and then being asleep. Maybe all my waiting will cause an effect in my dinner dish.

Asleep in a wheel

What else can you do when it is frankly Siberian outside? Though I love plunging into fresh snow, this current crop is getting a bit stiff and I wouldn't mind snacking on a few blades of fresh grass. But that is a long ways away. Walks are becoming too fast as I am dragged along willynilly by my monolithically suited up Person. This weather has rendered her about as personable as a speed walking sleeping bag. Not much stopping to admire the solid gray sky today!

Maybe tomorrow the sun will shine and I will uncurl from this little red circle and soak up some solar power.

Making my own fun

I got two new stuffed toys - a Loon and Meadowlark. Both sing when I bite them and I desperately want to go out and bury them in the backyard and save them for spring. They are that wonderful. But the ground is beyond frozen and my Person won't let me bury things in the yard. Not big pieces of toast, or a wild rice bratwurst that I won after it fell off the plate, nor a nice new bone from my favorite store and certainly not my new toys. She says "Enjoy them now." She says that is her motto. Maybe if she likes that idea so much I should bury it in the backyard for her.

I am afraid

Not of the dark, not of the cold.

Not of rottweilers, or helicopters or cars.

Not of hard work, getting dirty or getting lost.

Not of squirrels, or children or construction workers.

I am afraid of crossing guards.

Out at night

One of the benefits of being left alone during the day is the guilt that your Person develops. That guilt will build up and overwhelm her natural tendency to take a load off and instead she will play with you out in the Dark. Being out at night is so much fun, whether you are a kid at heart or a little red dog. Smells are more smelly, sounds are more intriguing. Mice creep beneath the snow on secret pathways and owls fly on silent wings. You can pounce and sniff and run and dig with abandon. The moon will light your way if there is enough snow on the ground and moving shadows are the perfect excuse for acting wild.

Go outside right now and look around. Pounce and sniff and look up at the moon - the stars will twinkle at you and you'll be glad to be outside in the Dark. And if you live where I do you'll be happy to go back inside too!

What to do with all this snow

Can you tell what this is? One bison dog treat to the first correct answer. Oops - that would be me, Lucky Finnegan! A hint: this proves that even food-obsessed squirrels stop for some fun after a big snow storm. (One in which a certain Person got stuck more than once in her Whimpmobile and returned home late at night and Shattered. AND my supper was late because of it. Talk about Shattered!)

What is this?? It is a squirrel snow angel! You can make your own - if you are a squirrel - or a regular one if you are a person. I don't ever do anything undignified so don't go looking for a little red snow angel any time soon.

More snow

The world seems quiet and gentle. The snow is deepening on the ground and muffles sounds from the human world. As the wind blows you can hear a thousand tiny tickings as icy snow crystals hit the dry leaves that still cling to some branches.

Our snowy walk was fast and purposeful, on my part anyway. We were trotting quickly along and I was busy Sniffing, a large part of my job description. My Person was busy doing what she calls Creative Musing or Composing In Her Head, which I know is also called Not Paying Attention. Suddenly it was obvious that we had passed a street sign but on opposite sides. We had captured the sign post with the leash and could go no further. "Go the other way," my Person told me. I obediently trotted in a half circle around the pole until I faced the direction we had come from. The leash was shorter and tighter now. "No, the OTHER way," my Person exclaimed. So I trotted another half circle, pointing back in the direction in which we'd first become stuck. I was now nearly strangled by the leash. A passerby snickered. A little red blush crept across my face. What could I do? I realize that my Person is somewhat hapless but she cannot look to me to solve ALL her problems.

Eventually we got unstuck and made our way home, the snow falling thicker and faster all the time. It was a good thing we found our way out of our predicament. In this kind of weather if you stay in one place too long you'll turn into a lump of snow and not be seen until next spring.

The art of winter walking

This is me, waiting for my walk. As you can see I take this very seriously. No horsing around.

I love walking in the snow, so much so I can hardly just walk. I have to run, scamper, pull left and right, dodge and leap, all the while sniffing the delicious smells left by others and listening for the little creepings of little creatures under the snow.

Watching me go down the street with my Person is like watching an unusual dance. I run wildly ahead and she hauls back on the leash. She builds up a head of steam and passes me just as I slam on the breaks to sniff an interesting smell. She lurches forward at the end of the leash. At that moment I am a particularly well grounded little red dog with my four legs splayed and my center of gravity low. And at that moment my Person, who is rather too tall, usually has one foot off the ground and a look of surprise on her face. Then I leap forward and we begin again.

Sometimes she thinks it is funny and sometimes not. Low muttering accompanies the latter and about then my name changes from "Bug" to "Finnegan!" (How would you like it if your name meant something like "You are very bad!")

At this point is is usually a good idea for me to stick my entire head into a nearby snow bank and pull it out just as fast with snow on my nose. A big sneeze from me and my Person is usually in a jolly mood again. And off we lurch on our wintry walk.

Wintery world

It is snowy as can be outside. The flowers have turned into wintery seed heads that will help the birds make it through until spring.

My walk was long and cold but I sniffed out where the raccoon was hiding in the street sewer and I dug him a little air hole. If he suffocated I would have one fewer thing to bark at and that would be sad.

While we were tramping along one of my feet froze up. But I am a tough nut if there ever was one and I just pulled it up and hopped on three feet until my fourth was back in working order. I suddenly had a terrifying thought. What if one of my Person's feet froze up? She doesn't have feet galore like I do and I think she'd be pretty stuck! Yet another reason to be glad to be a little red dog and not a Person.

My Person thought that a long walk on a snowy path deserves the reward of some book-reading time on the couch and some hot ginger tea. Spare me the tea and I am not sure how she can read with her book on her stomach and her eyes closed. My reward for my walk was a peanut butter flavored biscuit and some couch time too. But I won't pretend to read when I have my Winter's nap!

First real snow

It snowed today. A lot! When I wasn't watching it out of the window, I was out in it myself. Only yesterday the ground was covered with crunchy oak leaves the color of my fur, and except for my flashing white feet, you could hardly tell what was leaves and what was little red dog. Today my feet blended perfectly with the snow and I am sure when I went for my walk I looked just like a windblown cloud of oak leaves hurrying down the path.

My Person was having some time keeping up with me. As usual, four feet are better than two, and I dodged and jumped and ran circles around her as she trudged along.

The birds are smart and knew a storm was going to cover up all their normal food with snow and so they came to the bird feeders and they ate all day long. My Person attached an umbrella to the top of the feeder pole, an idea she swiped from my genius auntie veecee, and the birds ate in a little pool of peacefulness while the snow fell all around.

There is a pool of peacefulness around my food dish right now and someone better make sure I get the same level of concern about my food intake that the cardinals and juncos and a lone white throat got today!