dogless, sunless, listless

sunrise:  5:30

Another sunless dawn, but there are some nice silhouettes of spring trees.

Update on the porcupine predicament:  Several hundred dollars, two dog sedations, lots of follow up pharmaceuticals.   On the bright side, they are now both fully up to date on all of their shots and health checks.

I learned at the vet's office that the shortness of all those facial quills Kate and Clara were sprouting indicates that their nemesis was a baby porcupine.  Makes it even harder to consider eradicating them from our yard.

J was less sympathetic when I called him at the hospital to report the unfortunate event.  "But it's a baby!" I said on the phone after his grumbled remark about doing in the porcupines.  He was anticipating the veterinary bill and remembering our traumatic extraction scenes.  "Well it's going to be a dead baby when I'm done with it," he said.

I suggested that for a Pediatric Intensive Care doctor to say that out loud at work was a bad idea. 

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I took a dogless walk this morning.  Uneventful, but kind of missing a spark of life.  I don't mind walking without them when I'm away traveling, but it feels a little drab when I'm home, knowing they're hopefully looking at the door, wishing for an excursion.  The veterinarian suggested I should walk them all on leashes, but I just don't think I'm going to do that.  I'll probably take my chances.

This handsome mallard was the only animal company I had today.