raining cats and dogs

cats? did i really just say cats? dogs, yes. we are dog people. you can tell from the dog hair on our clothes, in the car, and the lint roller falling out of our pockets. of course we love all dogs, but we really love real dogs. real, big dogs. dogs with real dog noses to sniff things out. dogs with really strong tails to welcome you home. the better to wag with. dogs with deep barks to fool those who don't know us. dogs who bring things back you (or are supposed to). dogs who hug you back when you hug them. and dogs who take us on a walk, not the other way around. when i told my parents after college i wanted to get a dog, my mom said, " you're always on the go...how are you going to keep a dog?" my dad said, "that's understandable. you've never had a day in your life without a pet. why would that change now?" and when the day came, mom went with me to bring rio home.

now back to the cat. our dogs have never liked cats. they always thought of them as big squirrels in fancy outfits. chase squirrels. chase cats. makes for a very, good day. but there is this cat who lives across the street. well, really he has taken over the neighborhood as an outdoor cat. i fed the cat a couple days when i noticed my neighbor was out of town. now the cat comes over every morning asking us for his breakfast. this cat thinks he's a dog. derby chased him the first time he saw him and the cat rolled over to show him his belly. this happened several times. now derby lays in our grass and oscar (the cat) sees him and charges derby to play. derby just gives him "the look."

but today, oscar greeted us this morning when we walked out to take davis to school. as we walked davis to school, i looked back to keep the kids moving and on track and there i saw oscar following us. i pointed this out to allison who adores all animals, and she coaxed oscar into following us the entire way. to davis' class and back - there we all were. davis, allison, me, derby on his leash and oscar in step right beside derby. for a moment i wished i had the camera. but then i thought, to get the real picture someone would have to be capturing the moment from a distance.

people have always compared our dogs to horses and lions. i wonder if oscar thinks derby is a lion?

**update** here is a t-ball video as promised....click here.