Well, you certainly can't fault her for trying!

Lucy the Dog is a jumper and a cuddler. Every morning I am awakened by her kangaroo hops by the side of the bed and the comical sight of her rising into and falling out of my bleary field of vision with her tongue sticking out. She has decided that she will set the clock by which the dogs are released into the backyard for their morning constitutional and subsequently fed. In the last few weeks she has learned that she can leap into the bed and attack me from a much closer vantage point. I have countered by throwing my arms over her and forcing her to lay still in much the same way I used to make Betty the Beagle chill out when she was a younger dog and I slept in a bed that was much closer to the floor. Lucy the Dog has discovered that early morning cuddles trump the urge to romp about in the backyard so this is a development she has taken to with alarming speed.

Like I said, Betty used to climb into bed with me as well in the early mornings but those were the days when I slept on a futon and not the gianormous mattress rising seventeen feet off the floor that forms my current bed. I suspect that the view of Lucy making the leap recently, though, has awakened Betty’s own deeper memories of early morning spooning (hey, I lived alone for a long time, okay?) and warm blankets and quilts. So, the other day Betty decdied to try and make the leap again and regain her hold on puppydom and snugglier times.

Only instead of a triumphant rise above the edge of the bed my poor beagle instead went SPLAT right into the side of the mattress. I’m not sure which was worse; the thud as she hit the ground or the look on her face when she realized that she just was not going to make it. It was one of the saddest things I’ve had to witness in a really long time. It’s kind of like as if I had tried to do a high jump that would have caused me no problems in the past and was in the midst of heroically vaulting over it when a shoelace got snagged just under the lip of the barrier and I ended up with my sweating face buried in the dust.

Don’t shed too many tears for Betty though since there have been positive strides made by my little beagle. For one I’ve noticed Photogal lets Betty up on the couch far more often than she used to (Betty was banned from the furniture when we moved from my place to Photogal’s house) and I’ve also noticed that Betty seems to get some more positive attention from Lucy the Dog…provided Betty isn’t trying to actually sit on Lucy like she has in the past.

So shed a tear for betty the beagle’s fading youth but let’s also give her a hand for finding ways to leverage he shortcomings into even greater strides as far as her complete control of both me and Phtogal is concerned. Smart little beagle…


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What the –

Admit it, Tony’s sudden appearance on 24 took you by complete surprise too, didn’t it?

Feel free to discuss this stunning turn of events with me tonight at Ten56 in between killer tunes and nice, stiff drinks!