Heard rustling in the dark. Checked the clock. 230am. Listened. Thought it was Gaby at first, as that is her usual Bathroom! Mom! time. But the step was too heavy and there was the clinking of dog tags besides. That meant King.
Turned on the light to find him staring at me from the bedroom doorway, and told him to lie down. I didn’t want to let him out because I suspected he sensed an animal in the yard, and I really didn’t want to deal with a barkfest in the middle of the night.
Then I saw that he was licking his lips and swallowing, licking his lips and swallowing. Oh hell. If I didn’t want to have to break out the heavy duty floor cleaner, I needed to let him outside.
I let him out, and he immediately started chomping grass, that frantic rummage I remember so well from his severe gastritis days in mid-2007. There isn’t much of the long stuff left, so he darted from one spot to another, pulling at whatever blades he could find. After a minute or so of this, he ran around to the back of the garage. I grabbed my coat and went after him, braced for sounds of retching, and rounded the garage just as he started barking at the rear gate and sniffing the fence line. He ran back and forth for a bit, trotted back to the deck, took a long drink from the ever-present water bowl, then stood by the back door and waited for me to let him in. I debated, since the prospect of mopping up a really big puddle of half-digested grass lacked appeal, but let him in anyway. He waited by the bakers rack for a snack, which I declined to give him, so he returned to his bed and settled in, grumbling a bit as usual. After a few minutes, the sounds of soft snoring emanated from his corner.
It took me a little longer to get back to sleep. I feared that the gut bomb would hit and I wouldn’t get him out in time. But the snoring continued, and I must have relaxed because the next thing I knew, it was 7am. Found nothing untoward in any of the rooms. Fed everyone. King and Gaby are now dozing in the living room, Herself on the couch and HRH on the dog bed.
I still don’t know what happened. I think King’s stomach adventures are so indelibly etched that any hint of tummy rumbles or heartburn panic him and drive him to the grass. But it settles quickly, so he then goes about his business and leaves me to wonder WTF??? At 230am, when the mind tends to wander.
Damn dog.
My Black Friday shopping consisted of quick trips to the local grocery store and drug store. The grocery store was almost empty–the produce guy told me that it will remain slow until late next week, and that folks are told that if they have any vacation time left, this is the time to take it.
Today, work. Dinner will likely be the beef veggie soup. At some point, I need to tweak the holiday lights. They stayed on all night, which means the timer didn’t. It’s cloudy. 50s, with a cool-off coming. I don’t mind that the decorations are lit since they brighten things up.
