You, More Organized: The Scene of the Crime

This is Only Dog. I figured y'all needed to meet someone new since Missy's departure.

He came to live here semi-on his own volition about three years ago. We figure he was dumped out in the country to find his way in the world. Well he found his way to our house. We initially named him Other Dog, because at the time we also had Dog/Dawg...

She wasn't the sharpest dog we've ever had. She was an in and outside dog. One afternoon I let her out for the one millionth time that day, and she never came back. Some 'thing' must have gotten her because even though she wasn't the smartest thing, she knew where her warm bed and food could be found.

The Kindergarten at J's school prayed for her return for at least a month. Several kids continued to pray for her return long after J had moved on. Just to prove that he had moved on... about a month after she disappeared J commented, "You know, I kinda miss Dog, but I don't miss letting her in and out all the time (a job that often fell to him, like changing the tv channel before remote control). It's fine that she's not here anymore. You know, Other Dog isn't really Other Dog anymore. He's really Only Dog." Well said.

There's the back story.

A few nights ago we heard an odd bark outside. We've come to know this as the 'skunk bark'.

It's a muffled short bark where Only Dog, I feel is saying something along the lines of "Hey that really stinky thing is back and you just fed me, but it's now eating all my food, but I don't want to make too big a fuss. Could you please come out here???? NOW!"

Sure enough, the empty bowl was a good sign, but so was the odor on the porch and the little black critter running off the porch. L went after it with flashlight and other necessary equipment while J and I watched things from the porch. J is quite the fan of the blog so he ran to get the camera... Nothing on this side of the ficus tree. BTW this tree has been in the family for 27 years this Christmas. Perhaps another time I'll tell you how it's been nearly frozen to death on multiple occasions.

Then we saw this, which doesn't come across very well in a still photo. But it is a wobbly flashlight out in the front field. I later learned L believed that he was running over the top of a rattlesnake about then. I would have done more than wobble.