Happy New Year!

It is a pretty day. I woke up to a couple of inches of snow. It was cloudy then, but the sun has taken over the blue sky and chased away the clouds at least for the meantime. It is 24°, an uninviting temperature. It is also the high for the day. I’ll be quite content to stay home and watch the day pass through the windows.

I won’t clear off my car because of the cold and because I have no interest in clearing it. I have no obligations, no appointments until Tuesday. I hope by then or even sooner I’ll have the energy to attack the car. I know I’ll have no choice.

I live with 3 pets, two dogs and a cat. The dogs had a rocky start and some scary fights. I got more injured than they though Nala had a drain and the cone of shame. They have not fought for a long time. Henry will growl at Nala every now and then as a comment on her unacceptable behavior, and she knows enough to stop. They sleep beside each other and Henry often rests his head on her stomach. She just sleeps.

Henry is my protector. He growls and barks at anything he sees or imagines as dangerous or needing warning to keep away. If it is a frantic bark, Nala will join him.

When I was a kid, our boxer Duke was fiercely protective of the four of us kids. Even if we were playing with my dad, Duke would put his mouth around my dad’s wrist and just leave it there until he unhanded us. I remember once during a storm Duke barked fiercely, scarily. We opened the inside door and saw a guy walking in the rain and the wind. If we hadn’t held Duke, he might have gone through the screen at the guy and started barking at him and scaring him. We knew Duke wouldn’t hurt the guy but that guy didn’t know. It was easiest to hold him and shut the door.

My dad always said not to stop my dogs from barking. He called them my DEW line. I should thank and compliment them he told me. My father never heard Henry. He was never confronted with a dog who sounds ready to tear you apart. But Henry is mouth, a constant mouth sometimes. He is standoffish with company in the house. He’ll even get friendly. Nala is always friendly. I get to a breaking point and physically quiet Henry by patting him and distracting him. It always works. But he can still drive me crazy.

I have no expectations for the new year. The possible outcomes, short and long, seem to be still maybes. I’ll never understand that. The damage so far has been widespread, targeted. It has to stop. I would love some hope.

This entry was posted on January 1, 2026 at 2:33 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.