Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Let Us Prey




Once in a precious while, after patroling the perimeter night and day, after sniffing up cubic tons of smells, after listening for creatures who might be peeping, creeping, or leaping a quarter mile away--something at long last happens.

It was this past Thursday. Both dogs sortied out from the porch to bring down some intruding rodent who threatened our way of life from his hiding place inside a tiny hole in the flowerbed wall.

Neither Mark nor I ever got a visual on the interloper, so praise be the keen senses of our canine response team (CRT) who not only alerted us to the danger, but put themselves bodily between the attacker and our homestead (fearlessly protecting our vast supplies of kibble and Cheesy Bacon Snax).

Actually... full disclosure... Gracie soon relieved herself of that duty, heroically volunteering for Guard of Cocktail Appetizers.



But not Rose. No, ever vigilant, she held her position, monitoring the enemy stronghold, poised to throw herself upon the foul beast, should he dare to make a run for it. 



Rose gave every moment of her outside time that day to this vital work. That said, Rose's afternoon also involved long stretches (and yawns) in the loving arms of air-conditioned comfort. 



Refreshed and recharged, she would trot back outside to her post where she doled out more silent intimidation (confident that the critter in the stone wall--feeling the same commitment to his job--had clocked back in for another shift of quivering and quaking).



So the next time my work gets to feeling fruitless or thankless, I'll try to access my inner Rose: I'll do a top-notch job for as long as seems reasonable--and then step away for a nap.










4 comments:

  1. I love this story. Our dear Rose working to keep us safe!
    Please keep up the wonderful writing!
    -me

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think we could all benefit from the same advice!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Let us prey! Hahaha. Your dogs are beautiful. Charlie likes to monitor the rodents, too :)

    ReplyDelete

Be engaged, but be nice.