Following The Dog's Lead

  For the past two mornings, Mr. PJ has been a bit reluctant to do his morning business far down the hill.  We usually take a hike along the marsh edge until he comes to his favorite spot.  He then exits the path in a small clearing and does his thing.  Yesterday and today, however, he has stubbornly tried to go back to the Little Bayou House long before we get to the clearing.  He swerves, goes around me and tries to retrace his steps.  He just plain does not want to go down the path.  Later in the day, he has no problem with following the same route.  Now I am wondering what he senses just beyond the next curve.  Our hikes are early morn and darkness still lingers beneath the heavy oaks.  The path is lined with underbrush and vision is often obscured by both shadows and trees.  Is there something lurking there?  Is something just waiting for us to haphazardly walk into range?  I have no idea.  Both days, I have given in to his better judgment and we have returned to the house.  

  This morning's hike did have me a bit antsy even before we reached the "dreaded" spot.  I kept having the feeling that I was being watched.  My uneasiness coupled with that of the old dog, was enough to make me start really looking for the "culprit".  After a few moments, I found my "staring eyes".  A great blue heron was looking down upon us from a tall pine.  I figured it was his stare that sent chills up my spine but this was far from where PJ has his senses alerted to something unseen.  The heron was not the cause of the old dog's wariness.  Something else was just down the path!

  For now, I am thinking that the dog and I should wait until the sun rises over the pines before we venture too far into the dark path.  There must be a good reason for him to be hesitant.  Mr. PJ is old and not as steady as he once was.  While I know he would try his best to defend me from whatever "evil" lurks in the shadows, there is no need for him to be stressed.  Whether this unseen foe is a coyote, bobcat or some other "predator", tempting fate is not a good thing.  Mr. PJ will just get to sleep a bit longer on these upcoming colder mornings.  I am thankful for his alertness and for his stubbornness!  Good job, Old Boy!

False Sense of Security

  In life, it is easy to get keyed up over safety.  We all want to feel safe and secure.  We bar the doors, lock the windows, fence the yard and generally shut ourselves off from the world so we are not put in the position of being harmed.  Most of the time, we feel confident that we have put up enough barricades to protect ourselves from harm.  Is that a good thing?  Sometimes, we get a false sense of security from all of our alarms, surveillance cameras and locks. We get lackadaisical and lose our sense of awareness.  Perhaps all of these so-called safety measures have done nothing more than make us prisoners of our own insecurities.  Just a thought.

  This whole jumbled up bunch of thoughts rambled about in the head today as I took down yet another part of the fence around the rose garden.  There is not much use in having the fence anymore since we have no pups needing a closed in play yard (the old dog,  Mr. PJ, does not play anymore) and it literally became an eyesore.  I had removed one section months ago then got sidetracked so it was time to start again.  The gate, however, still swings on its hinges as if it is doing a great job of protecting us.  In reality, it is doing nothing.  However!  A few days ago, it gave a man a great sense of security albeit a false sense.

  Last week, a man came knocking at the front door.  He was hunting for my brother and had the wrong house.  It just so happened that he knocked at the door right next to the dog's bed.  Mr. PJ jumped up and proceeded to protect the house!  He took that bulldog stance, puffed himself up to look a lot bigger and stronger than he is and barked with gusto.  The man could see this ferocious watchdog through the french doors and was obviously a bit leery.  He stepped back to the gate and closed it behind him.  This was not the brightest move since the whole section of fence was missing!  Had the dog been let out of the house, he could have easily cornered the man behind the gate by merely going around the fence.  A false sense of security was provided by a gate...that had no connecting fence!

  So, while it is easy to lull ourselves into feeling that we have done everything we can to protect ourselves, we need to make sure it is not just a false sense of security.  Instead of hanging that gate without an adjoining fence, we need to just be more aware of our surroundings and learn to protect ourselves if need be.  Trusting a bunch of safety devices is sort of like trusting that fence that is not there.  It ain't happenin', folks.  It ain't happenin'.

The Watchers!

I cannot make the claim that my dog, Ezzy, is the best guard dog in the world. She is a wonderful watchdog but as far as protecting me from some imminent danger... ehhh..no. She has never grown up into a true dog.. she is a perpetual puppy. She is a full five years old and still plays like she is a mere pup. If you speak to her, she goes into a complete chaotic frenzy, and immediately starts to hunt for her baseball. Play! Play! Please, play! But as I said, she is a great watchdog. She can sit for hours "watching"! That was quite evident the other day. I came out the front door to see her gazing contentedly at boats on the Bay. She was so attentive to the boats that she was oblivious to her usual bugaboo.. the dreaded squirrel. Squirrels are usually her main focus. She chases them from tree to tree in a never-ending game. But not this time..she was focused on the boats. So focused that she had moved to the garden bench to get a better view. It amused me to see that she perched herself on the bench instead of walking to the pier. Yep..she is a fine watchdog! She can watch something until the cows come home!

Lately, I have become a "watcher" of sorts. It is much easier to catch the shrimp that are in the Bay, when you actually have a big school near the pier. Makes sense..doesn't it! Anyway, we have come to watching the seagulls to let us know when to head to the pier to catch shrimp. As a large school of shrimp makes its way into the Bay, the seagulls will follow. They dive countless times to feast upon this moving buffet..screaming all the while. (Occasionally, even the pelicans get in on the act!) When we hear this, we know shrimp are within range of our nets. Watching the water and its inhabitants can mean the difference of a full catch or an empty bucket! A little savviness can go a long way!