I Met A Dog Who Wasn't There

Tonight I am sharing something that is strange. It might put me at the top of the list for those soonest to go to funny farms, but I still need to write about it.

Chauncey has been very independent since we moved here. He may sleep with me, or he may sleep in his own bed, or even on the living room couch. I know when he is with me, because I have to life him up onto the bed. Also he has learned to bark whenever the dogs upstairs bark. I don't know why he does it. Maybe it just seems like the right thing to do. After all dogs are the best socialize-rs and teachers of other dogs. But, whatever his reasons are, it is annoying and loud. His shrill little bark comes like an echo after each of their deep ones.

When I am in the bedroom, I often see him sitting in the hallway watching me. Usually it is just out of the corner of my eye, because I am in there doing something else like making the bed, or folding clothes. Twice now, I have seen him, or thought I did, only to remember that he is outside in the yard!

Today I was taking a nap in the afternoon, something I do frequently if I am too tired. Chauncey was in bed with me laying right up next to my legs. I woke up and thought I saw someone disappear into the kitchen and heard a garbled whisper, "Shshh, Gramma's sleeping." I thought it must be Barbie and Lennon even though they have never come in without calling first or knocking and waiting until I open the door. I jumped up and ran out to the kitchen, but no one was there.

Then I realized that Chauncey was still in bed with me and he hadn't barked, or jumped up, something he does automatically if someone knocks, or opens the door.I opened the front door and my big plant holder had been knocked over, my spider plant was on the ground and my table on the other side was knocked over by the plant holder, breaking my little white statue of a fairy riding a turtle. I think of her as my Venus de Milo on a turtle and am sad to have her in so many pieces.

I thought maybe Barbie had heard the crash and come down to check on us, so I called her and she said no. She heard the crash, but that was all.

It was probably Pumpkin, the cat who knocked things over, but the rest must have been a very lucid dream.