Bad dog energy! 🐕‍🦺💨

We had a disaster this morning! 
Lady and Duffy had to go out to use the bathroom before we left for the dentist appointment. 
We know better than to let Lady out without a leash, but, you know, we’re lazy. 
It’s just a lot easier to leash Duffy, because he’s a runner and cannot be off leash, and let Lady run loose. Heron has Lady mostly well‑trained to stay in the yard and with her people.

I admit, it was entirely our own fault. 

Duffy was doing his business by the rosebush, and Lady had disappeared. 
Cowboy has his stupid broken‑down car parked in the middle of the front yard. 
It is huge, and you can’t see behind it or beside it.

All of a sudden, out of nowhere, this man popped up. 
It was the crack of dawn, and you don’t expect to see someone at the crack of dawn. 
But I will say that lately we are seeing more and more people walking, jogging, and riding golf carts at all hours of the day and night. 
We should have known better, but again, it was the crack of dawn.

Oh man, out of nowhere, Lady shot off like a rocket toward the road. 
She was barking at a man’s rear end, and he was dancing like Fred Astaire while yelling, “Hey! Hey! Hey!”

Badger was trying to drag poor Duffy toward the road so she could grab Lady. 
Duffy was having none of it: he dug in his heels and started barking too.
I heard the commotion from the living room and ran out the door, screaming at the top of my lungs, “Lady, Ladybird, Laddddy!”

Luckily, Lady came running back to the porch, looking for all the world like she was grinning. 
She was just proud of herself for guarding her territory from the so‑called big, bad man.

Cowboy insists we need to muzzle Lady and keep her on a leash at all times. 
He warned that if she ever bit someone, we could face serious consequences. 
Without homeowners insurance and with no vaccinations on record, the liability would fall entirely on us.

He pointed out that there are more children and new dog‑walkers in the neighborhood, and the risk of Lady biting a child or starting a fight with another dog is too high. 
He doesn’t want to face a lawsuit.

After that excitement, we headed to the dentist.

Even though I kept shouting, “The blue building! The blue building!” Cowboy insisted on returning to the old dentist, who, of course, is not located in a blue building.

To be fair, the offices are close together. 
The old dentist is in one parking lot, the next lot belongs to an insurance company, and the new dentist is located just beyond that.

We made it there in the end, after a little bit of yelling back and forth.

I wasn’t the one in the chair, but it looked pretty painless to me. 
Badger was in and out in no time. 
I just hope the insurance doesn’t drop us from this practice, because I really like them.

Of course we swung by Dutch Bros. 
Having both Dutch Bros and Dunkin’ nearby is rough on the wallet. 
It’s not quite strong enough to be real coffee for me, but it sure does taste good.

We stopped at the pawn shop to look at wedding bands. 
The fellow said gold is very high right now. 
A simple gold band was $300, which was funny, because our original bands cost $800. 
Brand new. 
From a jewelry store.

Mine? 
I just can’t get it on anymore. 
And Cowboy got his caught in machinery at work, bent it double, and nearly sliced it clean through. 
His finger was nasty for a bit.

I told Cowboy that if I’m going to pay that much for a ring, we might as well go to Walmart and get one that probably didn’t come from a corpse.
 I’m cheap. 
That’s just the truth.

I found a band and an engagement ring for $70. 
No, they’re not real, but they’re very shiny fakes. 
They’ll do.

I didn’t get to wear them home; they’re being resized. 
I’ve gone from a size 7 in 1990 to a size 8. 
When you turn into a whale, your fingers get chubby too.  🤷🏻‍♀️

When we got home, things slipped back into the usual routine. 
Cowboy looked after his chickens and then napped. 
Badger said she wasn’t feeling great and went to her room. 
Heron came back from E’s and popped in and out of the house.

Cowboy left for work.

The evening passed quietly.
Heron worked outside, while Badger and I watched a movie and then had supper.

Later, we walked down to the creek. 
Since the creek church was occupied, we sat at the horse church instead.

These new folks’ dachshunds came chasing after me and Badger, and the owners acted mad about having to grab them before they darted into the road, even though we were on the opposite side of the street.
There’s a leash law.
Put those furry rats on a leash.
And yes, I know, Lady tried to bite a man this morning.
I can still be annoyed.

Oh, and we stopped to gawk at a white crane… or heron… or maybe a stork. 
He was tall, white, and cranky, taking a dip in the cow creek. 
We tried to get a better look, but I swear he snorted and flew off twice.

When we returned home, Heron was asleep on the couch and Badger had gone to her room.
Time doesn’t mean much around here, but I’d say we’d been home about an hour, give or take.

A loud howl outside was strong enough to be heard indoors and woke Heron from a deep sleep. 
He ran outside toward Side Deck Neighbor’s house, where he reported seeing a man walking up the hill in an unsteady manner and carrying a BB gun. 
Unfortunately, the camera failed to capture the incident.

Heron said he didn’t see anything that looked shot. 
He figured maybe it was the man himself howling. 
It was getting dark, so we couldn’t tell if he’d gone after that biting beagle or one of my strays.

Imp came in for supper, but Skipper and Suzy Q are still missing. 
At least I know one of them is okay.

Thankfully, the evening stayed calm after that. 
I’ll check the camera tomorrow and see if the rest of my strays show up.

It’s our wedding anniversary today, but we don’t really celebrate; at least not in any big, fancy way. 
By August, we’ll have been together 36 years, though only 35 of those married.

My mother also passed away 17 years ago today. 
Hippie Aunt once said Mom wanted to be sure we remembered her at least once a year.

For us, both anniversaries are simply dates on the calendar, though I always take a moment to remember her.