Buddy's absence is very disorienting. The house is so quiet; he's not here constantly chattering on about everything. Sometimes I catch myself listening for his bell. I miss the licks on my nose and cheeks, how he would pull my face into his with his paws, how he would grunt and purr while I cradled him in my arms. I miss his presence in my life. Thankfully, I still have Annie with me or his loss would be totally unbearable.
Wednesday and Thursday were taken up with a visit to the dentist, errands and trying to cheer Annie up. By Thursday, she was starting to come out of her depression - somewhat. By the time we were ready for bed, my brother and I felt Annie had perked up a bit. And then it happened. At 3 o'clock in the morning, I came awake with my heart in my throat. Annie had let out 3 unearthly howls in her sleep.
My brother's room is at the other end of the house but in no time he was up and at my bedside. Annie was still asleep. He spoke to her and Annie's eyes opened but Artie said she didn't look fully awake. We each mumbled some soothing words to her then went back to bed.
Both of us spent our Friday thinking about what had happened. Discussing the incident that evening, we figured she dreamt of Buddy, calling out to him in her sleep. It was damned eerie. Dogs left alone will bark or howl to call their family members to them. Annie's part Beagle and although she doesn't howl, being an incessant barker, we are convinced she was calling Buddy.
The backyard security light was getting a workout Friday night. Around 9PM it came on yet again so I decided to check and there was the possum making his way across my backyard.
Artie grabbed the camera and shot another series of photos but he wasn't feeling well so the pictures weren't up to his usual standards. I guess the possum will be a regular visitor from now on. This makes a total of 2 Saturday nights and 2 Friday nights we've seen him. We were hopeful he would return again Saturday evening but he didn't show up. I guess he comes through once a week.
After much discussion, we decided to name him Pat Possumwaite. Pat being a good, solid non-gender specific first name (we really don't know if the possum is a he or a she) and Possumwaite after one of our favorite actors, Pete Postlethwaite from The Usual Suspects.
You got me thinking about opossums, so I've been reading about them. Their favorite food is fruit. Maybe that is what "Pat" is hoping to find in your yard!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=gkofwx2liHM&feature=endscreen
Quite possible. If Pat found anything back there is would have been leftovers from Buddy and Annie. I put what they leave out for the strays. I just remembered! The tree in the photos is a white mulberry tree. Pat's probably anticipating the summer crop.
DeleteThanks for the video, it's adorable.
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