The Grand Dame

Saga and I both know who is in charge. She is!

I am so glad that she allows me to live in the house that I bought! She can be so funny! Last night when I got home, she, as usual, was waiting for me at the door. But not as usual, she ran straight past me onto the deck and lay down in the sun.

When I walked over to her and asked what was wrong; wasn't she glad to see Daddy, she gave me a patronizing flick of the tail as if to acknowledge my presence and dismiss me all at once. There was no jumping up to say "hi!" and there was no fuss over my absence, it was just the sort of acknowledgement of presence that a parent might expect from a teenager upon their return from work.

What had I done wrong? Had I forgotten to feed her? No. Both the food and water bowls were full and I distinctly remembered feeding her in the morning. I spun and checked the drapes... no, they were open so that she could sleep in her favorite chair, watching the world go by her window. A quick inspection of the house showed that she hadn't spent the day tearing things up that she was now contrite over... in fact, the place was immaculate.

Now this was interesting... was she trying a new ploy on me? Try to make Daddy feel guilty for going to work? No, perhaps the sunny patch on the deck was just more alluring to her than I was! Even during our walk, she seemed to want to just return to the deck and lie in the sun! I was just a shapeless form, blocking her path to a snooze in the sunshine. I had been reduced to a cypher!

This seems to have been the case; around sunset, I suddenly seem to have appeared in her world. She ran to the chair where I was watching something-or-other on the DVR and she jumped in my lap. She gave me kisses and whined as if she hadn't seen me all day! She suddenly wanted to play, wanted my attention... was it that she suddenly had missed me and wanted to let me know that she still cared? Or did she just want to interrupt the program I was watching?

I think it was the former. She awoke me this morning by jumping on the bed to play at 04:00... The news had not yet come on, the room was dark and silent, except for her cute little challenging growls as she postured, almost daring me to make a move toward grabbing her. She let me win that game, I got to pet her and give her a belly rub and then we went down to have some breakfast and watch the news. Ah! She loves me!

Wherever you are this morning, I hope that there is someone in your life who loves you!

Don Bergquist - June 11, 2008 - Lakewood, Colorado, USA