SQUEEZING 48 HOURS INTO A 24 HOUR DAY

How does one manage to do that? I mean squeeze double what needs to be done into the amount of time at hand. I wish I knew.

With warmer weather here, Annie spends a good part of the day going in and out between the house and the back yard.  Already her tummy freckles are showing as she spends her mornings sunning herself. On the other hand, there's Orphée grappling with the dilemma of whether or not to venture outside once again. It's funny but he never wanted to come into the house. He would gaze in the front door but never quite venture too far. When he finally moved to the hallway, he designated my apartment off-limits and never looked back. To the outside that is. Now that he is part of the family, staking claim to his personal areas for food, water and play he's adapted very nicely to apartment living. Orphée will walk to the back door, crouch down, put his nose to the crack and smell the fresh air. After a few minutes he does an about face then runs off.

Another ritual he's developed is to follow me to the front door. Inevitably he gets underfoot; I have to be extra careful not to step on him and if I go out he lies down against the door until I come back. This isn't a jail-break as you might think because Orphée will look at me then scurry back into the apartment once he's satisfied I'm not heading back out again.

He's taken to lying around in main traffic areas, the end result is Annie is constantly doing an about face to stay out of his way. They now share my bed but still aren't to the point where they've become snuggle buddies. Unquestionably, Annie is still very wary of Orphée. Observing this reticence on her part to walk past him, I was determined to discover why. It didn't take long to get my answer.

Defending one's territory and food is a big deal in the wild - a primary issue of survival. Orphée chases Annie if she comes near his food and water. My big 40 pound dog runs from him like a scared rabbit! Artie has taken to refereeing all such incidents and we are seeing a bit of progress but all of this has blown away any house schedule we've had. All I know is no matter what's going on I'm needlessly interrupted.

Now if I could just invent a 48-hour day. If only...

Two excellent reasons for a 48-hour day.