It's Friday

The day is about over and we had salad and a Winn Dixie rotisserie chicken for dinner. It was mom, Holly and me. Holly sat below the table to receive finger fed chicken. She doesn't bark, except when she's watching at the front glass door and observing criminals and intruders passing by on the street, a neighbor who steps out of the house or the children across the street playing in the yard. She guards us , our house and our yard like a built in alarm system. To divert her from guard duty, I still have to take her outside and I think she will be ready to snooze for the night. When she goes out she likes to sit in the car, like she is going some place, then she gets out and comes back in the house. Her sister, Black Berry, is still at the vets for a bacterial tummy infection and Holly searches the house for her all through the day. She shows separation anxiety since she is away from home, away from her owners, and now she doesn't know where her lifelong companion is. When they are together, they play, sleep together, kiss each other, tumble and wrestle. Holly talks with her eyes, she tries to tell us she's worried, she's sleepy, she's hungry and she wants to talk. She's got terrific body language. The most touching example was when we took her to the vet's office to pick up Berry but the vet decided Berry needed to stay longer for further care and observation. Holly seemed to know where she was and why. When we came back, without Berry, when she was next let out, she went straight to the car, looked up at the car door and stood erect, putting her paws on the door and looked pitifully into your eyes. Her owner has called a number of times from Alaska using the cruise shipboard phone, and it costs him $10.00 a minute to find out how his dogs are, especially Berry. Mom decided Berry needed to stay with the vet until she was totally well and able to eat and drink on her own. We had a bad last weekend when she quit eating for 48 hours and we tried our best to force feed her as Howard had suggested we do. She is a stubborn little ball of fur and she would clench her teeth shut, and prying her mouth open was like torturing her, and that's what she thought was happening. We toughed it out for the three day weekend and then Monday off to the vet. By that time, she was quite listless and unresponsive.

Mom has informed my sister: "Don't, please, get a dog for Nancy for her birthday." Nancy says "get a stuffed dog instead."

The shuttle goes tomorrow. With this ideal clear weather, I think it will be a nice launch. Mom is trying to collect flowers to put into a vase to display on our kitchen table. Mom got a gardenia and a pink tea rose for the display.

I had an afternoon nap. There is absolutely not a cloud in the sky, and the temperature is in the 80s. So much for a quiet, restful, no crisis day. The photo above is a picture of the New Smyrna Beach Utilities Commission administratives offices downtown, from whence originates our continued air conditioning, power, computer connection, water, trash, garbage and recyling trucks in two time a week pickups. An important service center that provides a restful afternoon nap because everything is working.