Thought-filled Thursday, Puppy-style

(Taken last fall when we were all "Up Nort',"

when she was not thoroughly pissed off at me.)

As I've been talking to the pup each morning and evening for the past two and a half days while Christopher has been gone (has it really only been two and a half days?), I've been feeling like it might be nice if she could answer back.

In fact, I realized that I've been putting words into her mouth, too. Or, maybe not her mouth, so much as her soulful eyes, which seem to have so much to say. Here are some thoughts:

We started on Tuesday night, while I was putting eardrops into her ears, with a look of "You're not doing that right. Dad does it better."

Yesterday morning, as I was also wishing I didn't have to get out of bed, I got "But you're supposed to be up already, so that I can have my breakfast before my 7 o'clock nap."

Last night, it was another full evening of her watching the door, waiting for Christopher to come home. She stopped looking at me, for the most part. I think she blames me for sending him away.

In fact, I realized this morning that I think she blames me for sending not only Christopher away, but also sending away my parents who had come to visit last weekend. You see, they left when we went out for a walk on Monday morning. And then, Tuesday, I drove Christopher to the airport on my way to work. I suspect she's sensed a pattern in that.

Tonight after I got home, she was much more active - "two hours of playing fetch and getting scratched before settling down" - active. I thought we were moving in the right direction until I tried to pick her up, roll her over, and scratch her tummy. She rolled her eyes as I tried to execute one of Christopher's standard maneuvers. Obviously I had done it wrong.

Maybe it's not such a bad thing that she doesn't speak, after all.