Easter insider

Steve and I sound like air traffic controllers. Instead of saying things like, "United 949 proceed to sector 27," (or whatever air traffic controllers say), we make announcements to each other like, "I'm going upstairs to get dressed now. You have puppy control," or "I'm going out to the garage. You have the con."

Sometimes we slip up, as when I went to shower yesterday while Steve was bringing in groceries. He thought Dionne was with me, and he left the back door open. When we realized the error, he raced out to the lower back yard and of course she was already there, eating mulch.

We wouldn't mind this, except that it invariably makes her throw up (and she did again Friday morning).

This morning started off overcast and chilly, but but mid-morning, the clouds had burned off. In our backyard, the arbor is dripping with wisteria. The trumpet flowers and daisies and sage and hibiscus are all blooming. I yearned to sit for a moment on my sofa next to the sliding glass doors, enjoying the abundant evidence of spring. But the doors had to remain closed.

I thought about Easter of 2014. Dionne will still be with us, though her turn-in for advanced training will be just around the corner then. Will we be able to open those doors? Will Dionne have matured; become a free-range puppy? Will she have stopped eating things that make her vomit?

We can only hope.