I realized Wednesday why The Prisoner lets Ember groom him! The same reason he begs for his brushings from me! The infamous undercoat.
Today he came up from the basement during one of Ember's crate naps, meowing, and jumped up on my lap, purring. I petted him, of course, and savored the feeling of being cat-mom for a bit. I even snapped a selfie of us.
When he hopped off, lots of fur remained behind! I'd been taking the fur off the deck after Ember's attentions and for some "senior moment" reason, hadn't connected that she's not really "tearing The Prisoner's hair/fur out". She's doing the same thing I do with his brush, releasing the undercoat for the Summer!
Speaking of the Prisoner, he's now on the list for medicalizing, with his annual exam and his rotation of vaccinations scheduled for the 26th of July.
Some things just keep taking away
Yesterday afternoon I got a message from my son about yet another loss of a Fort Hood wounded warrior, Logan Burnett. I met this young man in the first year following the November 5, 2009 shooting, while he was still recovering from the physical wounds. They gathered all the families of the deployed units, the wounded, and a few of the bereaved (those that wanted to be there). Since that time, more losses from the units have occurred but this latest one was like ripping the bandages off a partially healed injury.
I am, as are many of my friends from that group, grieving anew. And as a mother of a son who is at risk from the same pressures, it ups my selfish worries, even while feeling deeply for the parents of this young man.
Pray for all those who wear the uniform, please, and for the families that love them.
I went out onto the paver patio thinking I would read a bit, but encountered the FB posts of others in the group, and felt the need to acknowledge the loss... and then the sky began to weep with us, just a bit, and I came back inside.
Ember and the pops and booms
I swear she takes being a "gun dog breed" seriously. Overnight on the 3rd, there were a lot of pops and booms in the neighborhood. I came downstairs at about 10 p.m. to turn off the sprinkler system because it was predicted to rain from midnight to 4 a.m., and you don't need a 4 a.m. run in that case.
All was quiet in Ember's private den. The Prisoner was outside his luxury suite asking what was up, as this was while it was all doing its thing outside. 10 p.m. is when the big fireworks display across town was set to begin, and truly it is about "first dark" for the pretty ones. I went back upstairs to bed.
3 a.m. approximately, I got up to give Ember a chance to have a drink of water and to go outside if she needed. She declined. It was wet out there. So I put her back to bed and went back to bed myself until 6.
The biggest nuisance about 4th of July and Ember is that she's attracted to the debris! So our first morning walk got shortened as I had to pull her away from a particularly attractive bit that was not good for her. I took her out walking again around 11 a.m., this time while some people were actively setting off firecrackers. The screamers bothered her a bit, but the poppity pop ones, not at all. And let's be honest, most people in my neighborhood were very considerate when they saw that a puppy (or dog, as was the case behind us) was being walked by, and suspended their setting things off until we were at least a house or two beyond their driveway lighting place.
I was very proud of Ember for how she did on this walk. She responded well most of the time to my "leave it" cue, and once to a "drop it". Unlike the first morning walk when I had to physically drag her away from the nuisance.
Home again, she's down for puppy nap #2, and I'm taking a breather before I consider making banana bread. Yes, it's the time of year when bananas ripen oh, so fast!
Here's hoping you're all having a Safe and Sane Independence Day
Happy 4th of July whether you celebrate it as a holiday or not... a happy day is a good day!
And Life is good! Spark on.
