This is usually My Beloved's burden (recall that earlier post about me trading 3/4 of duties for grocery shopping?), but he is swamped with work this week and I, devoted wife and selfless soul that I am (hack! cough! sputter!) gladly stepped up.
What's the big deal? We live on only 1/3 of an acre and the house takes up a third of that. I'll tell you what the big deal is: we have an electric lawn mower. It might as well come with an "I'm a bleeding heart environmentalist" bumper sticker because no one in their right mind would buy a CORDED electric lawn mower. The coordination, planning, and grace required to navigate the obstacles one might find in a suburban yard like, oh, say a tree or a lamp post whilst trailing 20' of electric cord is not to be underestimated.
When My Beloved came out to "coach" me for the third time, we heard heavy panting and the tell-tale sound of dog chain jingling behind a stand of trees. With little prompting, out popped a full-grown bulldog/pitbull mix and his sidekick, a 1yo brindle pitbull mix puppy. Neither was wearing a collar, but the adult had a choke chain on. The poor things were dying for water. It was a typical, brutal Pennsylvania summer afternoon with stifling humidity and hazy sunshine. We brought them onto the porch and gave them ice and cool water, and promptly called Animal Control.
They were clearly well-loved dogs who got loose somehow. I couldn't squat down to pet either of them without getting a face full of slobbery thanks. And when Animal Control showed up, the puppy jumped right up into the car like it was his favorite thing to do.
As has happened before with other dogs, these dogs didn't make me pine for Scout because they were so unlike her. But it made me think she'd painted the dog equivalent of a hobo sign for "Dog-loving Humans"somewhere on our fence. I hope those two find their way home, soon.*
*Many of you will respond to this and say we should get another dog. For the record, we are not getting another dog. Full stop. Period. Yes, we would both love another furry family member, but we travel frequently for long periods of time and work obsessive hours. We can have this conversation again when we retire. Thank you for your concern.
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