Such fun

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine how much time I would spend looking at a dog's ass.

Puppy ownership is a new thing for me. It has been years since I have owned a dog, and I have never owned anything so small (9 pounds) that still qualifies as a dog (she barks.) Dog ownership means going for walks. Lots of walks. Lots and lots of walks until the pooch is trained to do her toileting activities OUTSIDE the house instead of under the dining room table. Or on the living room carpet. Sigh. Good thing we have ready access to a carpet shampooer. Soon as the weather warms up, everything's gettin' a pretty thorough scrubbin'. Even the dog, if she hasn't straightened out.

But back to dog butts. As a dog owner, I find myself traversing the neighborhood now with my little dog at the end of her zippy leash, vigorously sniffing every inch of earth before her. I cannot read her intentions with all this sniffing. Is she smelling the tender shoots of green grass just ready to poke through to the surface and announce that spring is indeed here? Is she smelling the fading scent of a trespassing squirrel? Has she found a likely spot to do her business so we can go back to the house and get out of the cold rain? Or has she simply found something dead to roll in?

I cannot tell the difference in the sniffing end of the dog, but occasionally, if I look at the end that is not sniffing, I can get a hint that my shivering expedition might soon be over. I won't go into the various characteristics of dog butts that indicate various needs of the animal, but suffice it to say that I am quickly becoming something of an expert. Sigh.

So spring is approaching in the land of oz. I saw crocuses (croci?) on one of our several walks today, and Laura's brother reports that he got several nibbles while fishing today. It has now turned cold and rainy and is expected to stay that way for several days. No fishing for us for a while. Tomorrow we shall go junking again. Our friend H calls it "road shopping." I like that term. There is an auction tomorrow as well. I'd like to pick up an armchair that is not already beat to crap to replace the one the cat has shredded in the living room. Then we can put the old dead chair out for junk day.

Oh man - someone came today and hauled off the furnace that we had dragged out there the other day. That thing had to weigh 500 pounds, easily. Some guy and his wife came in a big GMC pickup truck, dropped the tailgate and rolled that thing right on in. Good for them. I can't imagine what they might do with it, but more power to 'em. We have that much more space to put out crap from the basement. Yay us.

It has been a down week. Perhaps things will look up tomorrow.