What we call normal

This morning in an effort to restore a little normalcy to our day, I put Lewis on his tie out so he could do his morning thing without having someone monitor every drop of piddle and poo. He's been calm and settled all week and if he gets hyped up, I could bring him back in.

This worked fine as I found evidence of such things in his usual spots in the yard (why is that the case I wonder). All the better because it was 6 45 am and this meant we could either go back to bed or lounge all morning.

The weather was tolerably cool and together we sat on the back porch enjoying some outdoor time that we have both missed terribly. I put in some laundry, made coffee, and sat.

Then came the obsessive licking.

Lewis's pads were damaged last week at an unnamed local dog boarding place on Gallatin Rd....and he has worn a cone head for the past week. After settling my anger at this pad condition ( and receiving a less than satisfactory response from the unnamed dog place on Gallatin Rd), I have discovered that this cone head has helped calm him a good deal. That and all the drugs he is on....

All of that to be said, without the cone head this morning, he began obsessively licking his front paws. Ignoring my warnings, he continued. I went inside to retrieve the cone head. I put it on him and with his usual pitiful brown eyed pout, he settled down. I read the paper...well FlipBoard, checked email, Facebook. Even read today's lectionary text. (Sing us one of the songs of Zion followed by cleaving one tongue to the roof of ones mouth)

And then, the squirrel appeared. under the bird feeder and within the cone head sphere of sight. Lewis bounded off the porch, into the yard...with the cone head on.

I think even the squirrel laughed.