Java

Java, originally uploaded by carriemcm.

I feel a bit bad admitting this, especially while looking at the picture above. Nonetheless, there are times when I think of opening my front door and bidding farewell to my beloved german shorthaired pointer, Java. Today was one of those days. Like her innate ability to track birds, she seems to have an innate ability to drive me insane.

It started this morning on our way back from our morning walk. As we climbed the three flights of stairs to the apartment, she spotted a bird sitting on the second floor landing. She stalked it until it flew away, and then she watched it fly down to the first floor stairs. I coaxed her up to the apartment, but she wasn't too happy about that. The bird was right outside the door and she knew it. For about an hour straight she paced between the front door and the patio door whining. That lasted until...

I decided to hard-boil a couple eggs. She adores eggs and was in the kitchen before I even had them out of the cardboard container. The next forty-five minutes were a combination of whining, pacing, jumping up to the countertops, and finally begging for the finished product. There's nothing that annoys me more than dogs begging for food.

Next up was the toy pile next to my desk chair that seemed to grow exponentially as the day passed. Working from home is both a blessing and a curse because to Java this means I'm available to play all day long. Soon it wasn't just toys she was bringing me but washcloths, dust cloths, flip flops, shredded kleenex and paper towels, and a potholder. My apartment looks like a tornado blew through, or at the very least, a two year old toddler blew through.

The whirlwind of activity lasted until about 9:30 tonight. In between there was also the barking jag at some perceived noise outside the door, standing on the arm of the couch staring at me while I ate dinner, and pulling my bath towel around the living room. But she finally crashed. And when she did I fell in love with her all over again.

Today I narrowly avoided it, but tomorrow if you see a brown and white dog whizzing by you on the street chasing after a bird with a smile on her face, you'll know I crossed off #156: let Java runaway from home.