I thought it was just a myth that dogs buried things.

I mean, you see the cartoon dogs burying bones all over the place, but I've had and lived with many dogs over the years, and I've never known one to actually bury bones.

And yet GB tells me Oscar is digging a hole by the back property line. A pretty big one, by his gestures. I have this image that I'm going to come home and just find the dog rope leading down into the hole, and a strangled dog at the other end, deep inside the earth, digging his way to China.

But no, it's raining miserably, as it is wont to do in April (can't wait for those May flowers!) and poor Oscar is soaking wet and in his doghouse. So I unleash him, let him run into the house, and then go on a search for his rubber kong/bone. It's black rubber, stereotypically bone shaped, with holes in the ends to stuff dog treats in - this supposedly encourages chewing on the toy, rather than furniture and other belongings. And it's missing. There I am, running around the yard, looking for his toy, and it occurs to me that I also don't see a hole. I see a patch of dirt, where it looks like a hole may have been filled. But I see no hole... and no bone.

But then a quick little squat (we're still housetraining a bit) and a yell from me (and Aslan) and Oscar is hustled outside. Or would be in theory, except that the leash was out on the step, and it was raining hard enough that getting Oscar out required bodily force. I actually had to carry this 50 pound dog out to the yard, where he quickly found a spot, did his doggy duty... and didn't want to come back in. So then it became a canine version of "Singin' In the Rain", me running down the road yelling at the top of my lungs "Oscar! COME!" and Oscar sniffing and marking everything in sight.

But he is back now, much to the cats' chagrin, and we'll have to figure out what to do tonight, as the rain is just miserable, and I think even GB won't have the heart to push him outside.

It's not even a pretty spring rain. It's that rain that turns the whole day dark, no matter what time it is. The kind that takes what would be a lovely spring day into cold misery. It's the soundtrack of every broken-heart movie scene. Oh, how I wish spring would arrive here at last!!! I know there are positive things about rain - I even quite enjoy it, frequently. But oh, I'm ready for brightly colored blossoms and melodic birds chirping and warm sun shining - SPRING!

Thoughts for the Day:
John Updike - “Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.”

Unknown - “If you want to have the rainbow, Then sometimes you're gonna have to deal with the rain.”

Unknown - “On a gloomy, rainy morning, it came little eight-year-old Tommy's turn to say the blessing at breakfast. 'We thank Thee for this beautiful day,' he prayed. His mother asked him why he said that when the day was anything but beautiful. 'Mother,' said he, with rare wisdom, 'never judge a day by its weather.'”