Been distracted by chores and errands today and I didn’t get to enjoy the pretty day from my porch swing perch. I did watch the sky canvas, sketched spring blue and dotted with white wispy clouds, for a few moments, sitting in my purple yard chair while Penelope took a sunbath. The songbirds were happily singing around the bird feeders. Saw some raccoon paw prints colored yellow from the pollen on the porch bannister but nothing has been disturbed. The quietness of the street was overcome with chain saw motors for most of the morning and afternoon. Four maple trees were cut down from the yards up the street. I’ll miss them this fall. Those trees were the first on the street to put on their yellow and red fall leaf cardigans.

My little pooch Penelope had to go have a check up with vet brother today. She occasionally finds a piece of trash in the yard or sneaks a crumb from the trash can and eating “whatever” she finds always turns her into a Canadian goose. She goose honked last night several times like a croupy baby waking me up. We both tossed and turned all night. Vet brother gave her a shot so she’s on the way to wellness, shedding her goose feathers and turning back into a dog.

Penelope gets so excited when I say car. Brother’s vet clinic is the only place she goes on a car ride. She loves the girls who work at the clinic. When I got to his office she jumped into the back seat, dancing around in excitement, and got her retractable leash wrapped around the seat and console. I actually thought I was going to have to get one of them to come out of the office and help me untangle her. When we got inside we had a brief wait and I felt like I was with a toddler in the pediatrician’s office trying to keep them from the germy toys. This little house dog is a spoiled diva.

When I was a little girl, we always had a yard dog, sometimes two of them. Yard dogs could eat anything, had cast iron stomachs, never got sick, never wore a flea collar, knew how to avoid cars, and were kind enough in their old age to take a walk in the forest when they were near death. I don’t think my daddy ever bought a bag of dog food. Our family hardware store had a Purina franchise but there wasn’t any Purina here at our house. They ate our leftovers and thrived. They were loved and petted, enjoyed bird hunting, trips to the family farm, rides on the hay truck, and were perched on the porch with us at every opportunity.

Dogs have such soulful eyes, their love and devotion radiate from their eyes. “A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself,” Josh Billings. Dogs are faithful loving friends and help disperse the loneliness of living alone. Proverbs 12:10 says, “The righteous care for the needs of their animals.”

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” — Anatole France