This morning, Sparky came into the bedroom to hide in the closet. He was concerned about something.
Sparky isn’t the type of dog that smells cancer or sees dead people, so if he is disturbed, it’s usually for a mundane reason. From bed, I could see that the weather looked sunny and clear. That left the possibility that Sparky had taken a shit in the house.
It’s with some trepidation that I must get out of bed this morning. I don’t know what I’m going to find, but Sparky has something to do with it.
Lying in bed this morning, I heard Sparky’s clickity nails on the hardwood floor as he came into my bedroom. He stopped, so I grabbed my phone to get video because it’s going to be something.
He is probably not looking for my wallet or car keys.
First guess, it has something to do with the weather or his digestive system.
After the computers are shut down, the lights are turned off, and Sparky has gone out for his final wee, I like to put him to bed. Since Sparky is a free man with agency, I could just bid him good night and put myself to bed. He can take care of himself, but that feels ambiguous.
With family in town, we had a cook-out at my house. We get reacquainted as the young ones form new bonds. Looking at it like that, a little girl crying in the rain is an opportunity. It certainly doesn’t mark the end of the party.
That’s what he says, but during storms, Sparky gets a little manic. He grins like a dope and pants like he’s ready to give birth. Sparky keeps that up for the duration.
I thought a blanket fort might take his mind off of the storm.
Sparky likes novel experiences and tolerates my little experiments.
Sometimes I don’t feel like playing, and just want to wander around the internet. Problem is, Sparky is certain that I am interesting and fun. He is too adorable to be denied.
Sparky wants to play Juneteenth Charadethes.
Do we have to say it like that?
“Yup”
Sparky explains that for Juneteenth Charadethes, you have to act out a notable Black character. Sparky went first.
The way he was licking his chops, I had a pretty good idea.
On Morning Edition, NPR was talking about Juneteenth. It’s a big deal. They predicted that highway traffic may be reduced because everybody is off for the federal holiday. I was going to go to Aldi today, I should check if they have reduced hours.
Since Sparky is half Black, I wanted to do something special, but NPR was vague on the Juneteenth traditions. Breakfast in bed is always welcome and appropriate, so I went with that.
On a motorcycle, even a routine drive to work is fun. Being gone since Wednesday, I needed to mow the lawn, so Sparky came out to make it fun.
His first idea, was to walk along the retaining wall to sniff out chipmunks. It looked a little dangerous, but Sparky is a free man with agency, so he can decide for himself. He is pretty graceful, so I wasn’t worried.
On the border between the woods and the lawn, near where I planted the tree, I saw this. It looks like a coyote or hawk got hold of a skunk, and tore it up. Lucky I found this before Sparky did, and unlucky if there is a skunk family in the neighborhood.
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