I have laundry baskets, but they are holding plastic balls from the snack pit as the foam rubber continues to air dry.  Besides, this is about the most adorable sight to wake up to.

This is also a sign that we are getting back to normal.  It is Sparky’s custom to sleep in the closet on stormy nights.   I don’t know why Sparky thinks this is safer, his practice doesn’t seem to be grounded in principles of physics.

During thunderstorms, my grandmother used to lay on the floor, and put a newspaper over her head.  Sparky’s approach makes a little more sense.

My grandmother and Sparky would have been friends.  My grandma was always in the kitchen, cooking something with lard, and Sparky is nimble and not a tripping hazard.  Sparky is even the same color as her dog.  Trixie was a Boston terrier, and looked like this dog.

At the time, I didn’t really appreciate Trixie.  The bulging eyes made me think she was building up too much pressure.  If I ever get to name a stripper who has thyroid issues, I hope I remember Trixie.

Here’s a picture of my grandmother from New Year’s Eve, in 1985 or so.

Grandma didn’t give a shit about parties or New Year’s Eve, but you used to could dress up old people the way we dress up dogs for funny photos.  Here’s Sparky in his Easter Sparkidemus costume.

Nowadays, it’s not appropriate to rob old people of their dignity by decorating them for funny pictures.  We can use ChatGPT or Grok to make them look silly.  We can do that with dogs too, but it’s still a good idea to dress them up for goofy photos.  Dogs appreciate novel experiences, and usually play along.

At least Sparky does.  I will never not laugh at his ninja photos.