It's this heat that makes me crazy ...

Tuck and I were walking down the road toward my house, within a tenth of a mile from home, when a neighbor from about a half mile behind me came walking UP the road toward HER house with HER dog. It was nearly dark, so we didn’t notice each other until the dogs started in. Tuck is very protective of his domain, so he was NOT happy to see anybody on the road in front of our house. The road passes between our house and our barn, so he considers it part of his personal property which he will fiercely defend against all foes. Especially dogs and a certain UPS driver.

She grabbed the collar on her dog, and I took off on a run to catch Tuck, fully expecting it would all end with me picking broken teeth up off the ground after tripping on a rock or something. Happily, we averted a brawl, and both wondered what the other was doing out walking this late.

The funny thing is that we neighbors around here hardly EVER see each other at close range because the nearest houses are about a half-mile away, except when we all seem to be out walking at the same time. And we all seem to have dogs as walking companions, so we don’t travel together. Ever.

When her dog was a puppy in training, this neighbor thought we should “socialize” our dogs. Excuse me? I’m afraid I’ve not told Tuck he is adopted. He doesn’t know he’s a dog, and I asked her not to tell him. The neighbors already think I’m nuts, so it doesn’t matter what I say any more. I amuse myself by reinforcing their opinion of me as oft as I can.