Walking one black dog (under a waning gibbous moon)

Paddy "stayed over" at the vet last night...her paws banged up from her great adventure. She was down 4 lbs. and a little dehydrated. Other than that, she checked out OK. Still, I was unprepared to deal with "patient" Paddy and left her there.*

So Scruffy walked solo this morning.

It already seemed a fall morning. The temperature was in the mid-60s. The waning "super" moon was shining over our right shoulders, lighting up the way. Ahead, Orion was bright in the sky, the three suns of his belt in the straight row that helped me identify him when I first learned the stars. And I am guessing Venus was our star shining in the east (Yes, it was Venus. That always seems a good guess.).

Hunting season is upon us in a few weeks. Orion, the hunter, is my reminder. The sounds of fire will remind us in a few weeks. We are surrounded by areas where people hunt (especially dove) and, I suppose, sounds carry well here with little to block the noise.

It was an uneventful walk. We walked towards Venus and Orion and the park. We were early enough to avoid most morning traffic. And we have a week or so before the school buses start to run.

We saw a few cats and heard a few dogs on the way down to the park. Jane had her Jack Russell out in the yard on the way home.** She called him in so that we could pass unmolested...they are territorial little guys.

As we got to the house a small tuxedo cat streaked by the garage and climbed up the tree by the gate. Scruffy was interested in checking her out until DH brought his breakfast.

Tuxedo cat hiding in the tree - just peeking out under leaves in the middle of the photo.

Paddy will be home this afternoon. We will try a few long walks with Scruff this weekend, but will baby Paddy as her paws heal.

Good morning all.

NOTES:

* We are in the throws of our final craziest of weeks at work. I am frayed. Perhaps I should say MY final craziest of weeks as this time next year I will be doing something else...

**Why is it that so many in the field of psychology (at least in my experience) have Jack Russells? I was thinking about the people I know (or know of) with these hyper little guys and made the connections - Jane, my friend Pam P, and Frazier. I thought my sister's dog was a Jack for a while, and that would have disproved my theory, but that sweet pup only masquerades as a Jack - she (the dog, not my sister) is really a pit-healer mix.