Same old life; Brand new dog

My 3 flights on Tuesday (LAX - Houston - St. Louis - Louisville) were interminable and tiring. Cousin Jeannie picked me up and we drove to her home near Lexington, and collapsed. Wednesday was a rest day, topped off by a fabulous 5 course tasting dinner at Holly Hill Inn. Jeannie had gnocchi with fiddlehead ferns and I had crispy frog legs with mussels as a starter. We both had the beet, walnut and feta cheese salad, spoonbread lobster souffle with lobster butter and the beef tenderloin with capers and port wine demi-glace. Dessert was a poppyseed bundt cake with lemon custard sauce and caramel-cashew tart with rhubarb sauce. Oh my goodness!

Thursday was traveling day. I stopped off to see MaryAnn at the pawn shop, picked up my mail at the post office (there was so much, they made me drive around back and they wheeled it out on a dolly), and much household maintenance--turning on the gas, turning on the water, flushing the pipes, firing up the water heater and well pump, getting the stove lit, programming the water softener, plugging in the UV sanitation light, flipping on breakers.

Friday was full-on medical follies day, topped off with picking up a foster dog at Walmart at 4 pm. A quick trip to the vet to get his neutering stitches out and home.

Look at this sad little guy:

He is nameless and afraid of everything. Whenever he gets nervous (all the time), he hunkers down and tries to be as small as possible. He eats his kibble at breakneck speed, as though someone is going to grab it away at any moment. He is just the sweetest, scared thing I've ever seen.

He stank of shelter, kennel and fear, so I gave him a bath this morning. It was a chore getting him in, but once there, he just stood there and shook. Now at least I can stand to be around him when he manages to get enough courage to come close to me.

This morning I tried to take him out for a walk, but he wouldn't go down the driveway. I think because he had to walk past the car, and he thought I was going to take him still somewhere else? He came down one flight of steps, but not the next. So I tied him to the porch rail, and started weeding the horrendously overgrown garden. He sat quietly at the top of the steps and watched, but wouldn't budge. He wanted to go in the basement, but wouldn't climb the steps. I had to drag him past the car so we could get back to the house from the upper back yard.

This is an experiment. I am not sure I'm ready to own another dog yet, but this guy needed a home and I need a project. We'll see how it goes.