Today is the feast day of St. Francis ... the guy who prayed for not just people but animals so we think he's pretty cool.Turns out "The Blessing of the Animals" is something people do around this time of year in remembrance of him but we didn't get to go this year ... our moms said they were holding out for "The Exorcism of the Animals" and that wasn't on the All Saints calendar yet. But if I know my mom, it will be soon ... I think she's just about ready to try anything to keep Luna from tearing up stuff.
The only good thing about that is that most of my destructo-dog days are behind me and so she's in trouble a whole lot more than I am.
Of course, there was that incident the other night with the chicken bones in the trash can. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know ... if I've heard it once I've heard it a hundred times "chicken bones are bad for dogs ... they'll splinter in your stomach and poke holes in your insides and you'll be heading to Dog Heaven before you can say "Colonel Sanders Extra Crispy, please."
Whatever.
I think my mom Louise laid awake half the night listening for the sound of perforating innards but I'm just fine, thanks very much ... and if the truth be told, this was not the FIRST time I've eaten the dreaded chicken bones and lived. Not that I'm proud of it, mind you: but I'm an old dog and there are just so many "living on the edge" things left in my reach.
Which brings me back to Luna and her recent flurry of activity on the front porch. Don't know what possessed her to chew the seat off the patio chair that's been sitting in the same place minding its own business since she came to live with us nearly a year ago but one day last week it caught her eye and "whammo" ... shreds of chair were everywhere and it was a shadow of its former self. Which really bummed our mom Susan out ... she'd been watching one of those "makeover your house without breaking the bank" shows and got all inspired to move some stuff around on the porch, buy some new plants and get seat cushions to jazz things up a little.
Oh well.
I think someone told her to think of St. Francis and remember to keep her mind on things heavenly rather than things earthly but that wasn't exactly received as a helpful suggestion ... at that point the only heavenly thing she was thinking was how in heaven's name was she going to keep from Luna from destructing her decor.
More walks.
More trips to the dog park.
More time throwing the ball in the backyard.
And when all else fails ...
... more "time out" in the Gulag. (Then EVERYBODY can have a little peace!)
Speaking of which, I'm told that St. Francis is also remembered for his "Make us instruments of your peace" prayer and we'd sure like some progress to get happening on that so we can get our brother Jamie back here from Iraq because that's ANOTHER thing that makes our moms upset.
So here's to all creatures ... great, small and naughty. And here's to peace. And to St. Francis -- the patron saint of all those things. Amen.
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