Mangy Love

 We have pets. I guess I'd admit we're a pet family.

There... I've said "out loud." Sheesh, Glad I can finally admit it! ;)

Honestly I won't feel complete if we didn't have something mangy and flea ridden to feed and complain about. At this point,  Rugged Artist and I can mark our years of marriage based on Dakota, the husky mix. We valiantly rescued him from a shelter a couple of months after we were blissfully wed and he has survived suburbia, the country, 2 other dogs, and an assortment of chickens and guineas.

 Now lets skip to last fall, Autumn 2011. Around the arrival of Daniel, we noticed a particularly forgettable dog across the street. That quickly went from "oh that's a stray" to "he's fighting with our dogs again" to "Hun, I think the dog is running down the slide with the boys." Needless to say, He has been a permanent resident ever since. He even acquired a name and a collar as is fitting of all family pets. I dubbed him Charlie and his nick-name is slue foot.

 I can't pinpoint the time Charlie became our pet, but it was sometime after he waltzed into my kitchen uninvited one day and "marked" my bookcase. Folks, It was time to set some ground rules after that.
So today as I was attempting to plant flowers and barring my teeth at the deeply rooted weeds, I became quite bothered with him(no surprise there). Charlie has NO SENSE OF PERSONAL SPACE. He firmly insists on physical contact anytime your hand/face is within reach of him. I didn't need an excuse to stop pulling weeds, but I was happy to indulge the overly happy mangy animal for a bit.

 As I sat back on the porch and bonded with our my adopted pal, I realized we had no crazy birds nesting, no sign of a nest for that matter. Then it dawned on me. This full size puppy has always entertained us with his fascination with bees and birds. He is constantly chasing them at full speed. He has no clue he can't catch the bird perched high on a tree limb. He doesn't seem to mind the burning of a bee sting on his tongue either. Instead he delights in the chase. Through these simple moments ,he has run-off potential porch squatters, something I am QUITE happy to accept. I guess you can say he has earned his keep.

 I know one day soon his puppy-isms will begin to calm and the birds may return to bomb my porch. But for now his spastic tail and enthusiastic desire to be loved and to shower love on our children is thriving with force!

Charlie