life intervenes

i’m writing this at close to midnight after swearing, around dinnertime, that this would finally be an early night to bed. and then what should happen, but we come into the house after a soccer game, and the dog doesn’t come to greet us. there is just some whimpering from the bedroom, where he is sitting upright on the bed, not moving very well, and unnaturally stiff. so what do you do at 7:00 on a friday night after your regular animal clinic has already closed? you go to the emergency vet, of course, where the wait is three hours to see a doctor. you then call around and find out that it’s three hours to see all the other emergency doctors in town as well, and so you sit in uncomfortable chairs in the waiting room, with a dog who is panting and whimpering in pain and distress, and after x-rays and an examination, you get back home around 10:30 pm just in time to give the dog a muscle relaxant and an anti-inflammatory, post still blog, and make a nest in your bed for your furry convalescent, who hasn’t lain down for over five hours and is exhausted from pain, stress, and worry. tomorrow night. tomorrow night we are totally going to bed early…

pagoda dogwood tree leaves and fruit

saint paul, minnesota