Pretty Sugar

How fast Sugar's fur grows! When she starts looking like a fat little sausage, I know its time to take her to be clipped. She loves to go, and when I turned in the opposite direction to run an errand before dropping her off, she cried and whined and scratched at the car window! Smart dog.

Too bad people don't come with some kind of automatic indicator of when they need attention! Oh, the outside grooming is easy enough to detect, but the inside stuff is much harder to read. Wouldn't it be grand if a person's face turned blue when they are sad and in need of cheering up? Or their fingers tingled when they are in need of a big ole hug! These are the kinds of things you can only know by really paying attention to someone and learning their norms and abnorms (is that a word?).

You can't really do that virtually or textingly (another new coinage?). You can't do it remotely or as you are passing through on your way to another meeting. You simply have to be with someone consistently to see the needs. And then of course, to know how best to meet them.

For all Sugar's cuteness with her new trim job, despite the colorful thanksgiving neckerchief she sports, regardless of her perky little ear bows, I know she is missing Kiel who moved out when he got his new apartment and hasn't had time to visit. She is moping. Me too.

I know when he settles in and finds his pace, he will show up again. Meantime, I scratch Sugar behind the ears and take her on extra walks. That will just have to do for now. Drew is still in his delighted to have his space back mode, but I think I do detect just a tinge of blue in his face, even if he won't admit to missing his brother.