Maggot Mouse

I know, doesn't that title just scream for your atention?!

I think I've mentioned our family cat in the past...  You know, the one who doesn't have a name, doesn't know how to purr, and apparently doesn't know how to say, "No" to the neighborhood Tom.  (Yes, we're expecting kittens any day...)  That cat, currently being called Floozie, is good at her job.  Her job being, of course, keeping the mouse population under control.  She's a hard worker, probably underpaid, but exceptionally skilled.  My only complaint is that she loves to leave proof of her good work for my inspection.  I know, ick...  Anyway, we have encountered a new problem...

Enter, Lola...

Lola is not such a dedicated worker.  She loves to chew on expensive shoes, steal toothbrushes, and nom on decorative pillows.  She is definitely not pulling her weight within the family, and aside from the Cute Factor, she has relatively little to offer.

To counter her lack of contribution to the household, she had taken a new tack.  Instead of actually doing anything helpful, like fetching me a Diet Coke, she is trying to steal the cat's thunder.  The cat leaves a mouse for my inspection (acceptably discarded in a remote region of the yard)...  Lola discovers the mouse...  Lola brings the mouse to my very doorstep...  Lola tries to bring the mouse into my house.  I do not appreciate this new direction that Lola has taken.  Lola must drop Maggot Mouse immediately!  No, Lola!  Not in the house!  No!  NO!!!  Lola is FIRED!

Can someone come get rid of Maggot Mouse?  Mister???  Please???

Lola: Flies

I'd like to introduce you to the Incredible Flying Lola.  

Faster than a speeding bullet.
More powerful than a locomotive.
Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound.
Not a bird! Nor a plane!  It's our Super Hound! 

Note:  this is not the typical positioning of her ears...

While you are contemplating the outstanding agility and overwhelming talent of this beautiful specimen, let me regale you with her latest endeavor.

Lola is part Beagle (note the cute face and floppy ears).  While we adored her upon sight, it's only been since getting to really know her that we've come to appreciate her unique talents.  Being part Hound, she loves to sniffle everything.  (Big surprise, right?)  I think she could find her way home from the moon if she had anything to scent along the way.

But it's the Shepherd part of her that is proving interesting.  Being a shepherd, Lola likes to herd things.  She likes to round up the toys, the boys, just about anything.  But I was surprised at her attentiveness to a new endeavor last night.

I watched Lola for several minutes last night.  Her behavior was curious, and I worried that her mental health was on the wane.  She wasn't chasing her tail (she hasn't one...).  She wasn't baying at the moon (she is more of the quiet Aussie temperament).   And yet, her actions were quite puzzling.  Lola was walking circles around the chair in my bedroom.  Around the chair, over the legs of the lamp, along the front of the chair, and back around to the corner.  Over and over she did this.  The only respite from this curiously circuitous course was a brief interlude during which she would gaze at the window.

After several minutes of this strange behavior, I understood what she was doing.  Lola was gazing, not at the window, but at a fly on the window.  And her repetitive path followed the fly from its landing spot on the window to its migratory finale at the light of the lamp.  I'm convinced that Lola thought she was herding the fly.  From the window to the lamp.  From the lamp to the window...  Around and around they went. 

I pondered the magnificence of this simple, yet concentrated effort.  I wish I could instill that same stick-to-it-ive-ness in my children when it comes to homework...

April Snow

It's April, and the forsythia is blooming in the valley.  The tulips and daffodils are shyly peeking from their beds.  There are kittens and bunnies and little, blue birds...  But this month that (at least in my mind) typifies annual renewal is still aslumber in my neighborhood. 

It snowed last night.   It wasn't a howling, pelting, winter snow.  Instead, it fell quietly in the night, settling into cracks and crevices...  Muting the sounds of the night, and dampening the usual activities of nature.  The dense white carpeted everything, obscuring the fine lines of the landscape.  The thick whiteness gathered in the crooks of limbs.  It lay where it fell, not swept into drifts, but rather accumulating where it alighted.

Lola enjoyed the spring surprise.  Without the wind to torment her, the downy ground cover made for a joyful morning out.  She explored the newly fresh backyard.  She ran and bounded, jumped and chased.   Her enthusiasm unhindered by her cold, damp surroundings.  I wish The Buddies were still on Spring Break.  This is the perfect snow for building a snowman and for launching an attack of the snowball variety.  I hope there's enough snow left by the end of the day for one last wintry outing.

Of course, with my luck, there will be plenty more opportunities for fun in the snow.  This is, you may recall, the land of Perpetual Winter.  We may find ourselves snowed in at least one more time before the Fourth of July!