Last night Jesse was on full patrol.<\/p>\n
About 1:30 a.m. he began pacing the length of the house and looking out the front window. Then he started barking. It was his \u201cI don\u2019t like this Dad<\/strong>\u201d bark. Actually kind of a scary sound.<\/p>\n Since him barking at all is rare, I got up to figure out what was going on.<\/p>\n He really wanted out. It wasn\u2019t to go to pee, he wanted to get to the fence then he really started barking at whatever he thought he saw, and he was not joking around.<\/p>\n I\u2019m sure the neighbors really appreciated the noise. Oh well…<\/p>\n I never did see what he was concerned about. After a few minutes he came back inside but didn\u2019t really settle down for about a half hour. I went back to bed.<\/p>\n Then at 3 a.m. He got concerned again. This time I didn\u2019t let him out, instead we both stood at the front window looking out, trying to see what was going on. He barked a couple of times but not like the 1:30 event.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t want to tell him no when he does this. He\u2019s doing his job and he\u2019s protecting me. At least that what he thinks. I\u2019ve noticed that if I’m there beside him, he\u2019s calmer and looks up at me to see if I\u2019m concerned.<\/p>\n I still didn\u2019t see what he was concerned about. After 5 or 10 minutes, I went back to bed. He joined me, he laid on the foot of the bed where he could easily see the bedroom door and the sliding door, but was very much on guard.<\/p>\n He made rounds through the house hourly until dawn.<\/p>\n I wondered if perhaps it was the crazy lady wandering the neighborhood. She\u2019s been known to do that. Saturday evening, she showed up at the front door. So It wouldn\u2019t have surprised me.<\/p>\n On Saturday she acted like she expected to be invited in. Jesse was sitting by the front door and I had the door braced closed with one foot.<\/p>\n She apologized for assaulting me several years ago. She described it as pushing me. The photos of my shoulder where she punched me tell another story. Her bony fist left a clear fist shaped bruise on my upper pectoral muscle.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t correct her, I just wanted her to go. Her mouth appeared to have smeared blood all around her lips. I suspect it was from bleeding gums which were evident as she spoke. There was also something about her eyes, even now I can\u2019t put my finger on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then she wanted to pet the puppy. Again, I suspect she was trying to talk her way into the house. I told her no, that Jesse would possibly bite her. I doubt it, but he doesn\u2019t like her so I figured it was better to be safe. Besides, I trust Jesse\u2019s judgement about people.<\/p>\n This morning I ran into another neighbor while Jesse & I were on our walk. He said he thought a bear had been in the neighborhood last night. He\u2019d had to clean up a trash can.<\/p>\n That makes sense. Jesse doesn\u2019t know what to make of bears.<\/p>\n I\u2019m glad to know Jesse was concerned about the right sort of thing. On the other hand I\u2019ve been like the walking dead this morning. I think a nice long nap is in my future.<\/p>\n Have a great day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last night Jesse was on full patrol. About 1:30 a.m. he began pacing the length of the house and looking out the front window. Then he started barking. It was his \u201cI don\u2019t like this Dad\u201d bark. Actually kind of a scary sound. Since him barking at all is rare, I got up to figure … <\/p>\n