Poor pitiful Paddy

On a happy romp a week or so ago...no hurt paws here.

I am not sure who was more pitiful, Paddy with her cut paw pad (say that fast 3 times "poor pitiful Paddy's paw pad") or Scruffy who was desolate while Paddy was at the vet.*

Yes, Paddy spent the weekend at the vet for treatment of her foot and a bath. Who would have thought a bath could go so wrong? As frequent readers know, we avoid loud noises with Paddy. She has her thunder vest for bad storms and fireworks. During storms and loud holidays Paddy stays inside - an attempt to muffle the noise a bit.

But a bath? How could a bath cause stress? The problem was not the bath, but the blow dryer!

Paddy returned home with topical and oral antibiotic and a palm-sized bald spot on her haunch where she chewed off the fur during the blow dry.**

So we are on a schedule of meds and shorter walks.

Yesterday we walked only to the top of the steep hill. The traffic noises and brilliant sunlight - right in our face - convinced us to retreat and try an earlier start.

Today we were up and out of the house by 6:10.  It is calmer at 6. And today there was no visible sunrise (so no sun in our faces). We were "socked in." The fog was as thick as I have seen it here. Visibility was, maybe, 50 feet.

I wore a flashing light arm-band to make sure we had some visibility and the four of us headed to the park. We saw a house cat resting in a yard, but not much else.

Oh, running man was in the park. We might not have seen him as he was dressed all in black, but he had on white gloves that gleamed in the dim light.

I love the look of the park in a blanket of fog. The lights create false constellations along the horizon.

I am reluctant to walk in the park in fog. Perhaps I watched too many spooky movies as a child. Just the word "fog" brings up visions of  dark cobble stone streets and the sound of footsteps right behind you.

The click, click, click of dog steps on the sidewalk are so much less threatening.

As we turned for home the sky was turning from grey to blue, but the fog still held to the ground.

We headed home past the kids waiting for the school bus (Am I crazy or is it a bit nuts for kids to be waiting for the bus at 6:45 a.m.?). We needed to get the recycling out and grab a cup of coffee.

No photos from today - darkness and fog - use your imagination!

NOTES:

*Scruffy is generally a happy creature. With Paddy gone he would greet me at the gate, his head and tail down - such a dejected look. The tail would wag, but not too enthusiastically.

**Paddy does chew when anxious, but usually it is a naked tail we find.