The boys on a rainy Friday

This morning, on whim--and because he came racing up to me when I opened the back door and then stared at me with a pleading, outraged expression on his pointy little face--I took Riley with me on my morning lake walk. Usually, I walk fast and alone.

I think he enjoyed it, even though it was his second walk of the morning. (Doug took him at 6, I took him at 7:30.)  It was drizzling. We saw three great blue herons, one black-crowned night heron, and two soaring egrets glowing white against the dark clouds.

Of course, now I cannot look Boscoe in the eye. His back legs won't allow him to walk around the lake anymore, though he thinks he still wants to. 

Last night on the evening walk-around-the-block, something spooked him--I'm not sure what, unless it was Herb, the barky little weiner dog on the corner, who rushed the gate and yipyipyipped at him. Whatever it was, it caused Boscoe to break into a run--a wonky, crooked, panicked run that I could not stop. I tried! I knew he'd pay the price later, and he did.  This morning, he could barely walk. That weak back leg kept turning in, and he fell twice on the very short walk.

This did not terrify me the way it did the first four or five times it happened. He's been falling like this occasionally--perhaps once a week--all spring. Yesterday the dog walker left a note saying they had a great walk and Boscoe was strong. Today, I have penned him on the front porch with a soft bed and a bowl of water and a milkbone (since devoured). When she comes today, she won't walk him far.

Still, he is in other ways robust, eating like a bear, sleeping soundly, hobbling up to us during dinner and hoping for scratches and (more likely) scraps. Prince Charles Riley growls softly at him every once in a while, but otherwise all is well in dogland.

The picture at the top is of Boscoe a couple of days ago. He has such a dreamy look on his face. What is he remembering? Our hikes Up North? Dragging Toby around the yard when Boscoe was still just a puppy? Or maybe the time he found a glazed doughnut in the grass?