Sparky woke me with his awkward shuffling at the base of my bed.  It was “Oh-dark-stupid”1, but I got up to check on him.  He didn’t need to go out.  Sparky would not go out.  

I went back to bed, and Sparky laid down like that.

Sparky would not go out.

When I had gotten up, I turned on the dim light in the bathroom.  When I invited Sparky to go pee, he wouldn’t move.  He kept doing this.

I naturally assumed that Sparky had embarrassed himself by having taken a shit somewhere.  Probably where he was looking. 

I turned on more lights to search.  It would compound Sparky’s humiliation if I accidentality stepped in it, and I’d have dog shit between my toes.  That’s bad all around.

Nothing was found.

At this point, best case was an approaching storm.  Maybe I saw distant lightning, but it looked pretty clear outside.

When I went back to bed, and in the dim light from the bathroom, saw Sparky guarding the door, I took the hint.  Something is happening.

You’re thinking Uncle saw, Good Boy, and now he’s jumping at shadows.

Well Sparky is a good boy, and it would be disrespectful to ignore his concern.

Seriously though, it’s not prudent to disregard the abnormal behavior of animals.    Let’s go to DEFCON 4.

Lying in bed, I didn’t hear any strange noises.  There is no reason to get out of bed, and sweep the house.  Shit, now that I’ve thought of it, I’ve got to sweep the house.  I’d look like a jackass if something was actually amiss, but I had been too lazy to check. 

I checked, everything was fine.  I have my phone, fire extinguisher and other protective items close at hand.

Sparky remained where he was, watchful and in his defensive posture.  Maybe he was playing dead to fool a predator.  He should rethink that.  Laying spread out on the floor, Sparky looks too fat for any predator to pass up.

Well I’m not going to sleep now and I wanted to see how the bathroom sentinel photo came out.  This is a new phone and it was quite dark.

When I booted up the computers, the South-West camera showed something with antennas or spindly legs.  That didn’t help my mood, but at least it wasn’t tentacles.

No, I wasn’t jumpy or preparing to go outside to shoot holes in my gutter.  Camera spiders are quite common and not a concern.

I was checking NOAA weather just as Sparky came out to join me.

It seems to have been thunderstorms and the danger has passed.

Now that I’m up  and have had my coffee, a couple of eggs and some corned beef hash would really hit the spot.

1 “Oh-dark-stupid” Is military fun for an early morning, like, in this case, “Oh-four-fifteen”