The only thing worse than a ruthless beast who-wants-his-morning-walk-dammit are two ruthless beasts who-want-their-morning-walk-dammit, and shove slippers in your face to get you out of bed and follow you around the house and plant themselves in front of you as you eat breakfast and begrudge you every mouthful because. They want their walk, dammit.

I was only running a half-hour behind schedule. Jeez. You'd think it was the weekend or something, and that I might want to, you know, sleep in.

The guilty parties are both sound asleep now, having walked, sniffed, and competition-peed for close to an hour. It's a lovely morning, sunny and 60F. Unfortunately, the wet spring allowed for the birth of mosquitoes by the truckload. Long sleeves a must.

Work for a few hours. Then, grocery shopping. Errands. A squirrel decapitated a lovely red begonia, so I may look for a replacement. I need more birdseed. There's always something to do.