Baby Shower

Late this afternoon, Eric was in the paddock, barking his head off. At first, I thought he was preventing the horses from drinking too much water, a public service he is happy to peform four, six or eight hours a day. But this time, the horses were nowhere near the paddock, so I investigated. Eric was barking in the direction of the valley - at the neighbor's dog? (no) - at their horses? (no) - at a hot air balloon? (closer).

Then I saw the threat to Eric's existence. It was a blueish blob at the base of the fence. "Aliens," I thought. As I got closer, it looked more earthly, perhaps a plastic tumbleweed. Finally, I got close enough to see what it was: The Dreaded Baby Shower Balloon. I myself felt like barking! This was something definitely not in its proper place.

By this time, Fin had joined the party and was growling at the balloon. I defused the situation by bringing the balloon inside and tying it to a chair, from which it floated festively.

Or was the situation defused? We fed Eric dinner next to the chair to which the Dreaded Balloon was tied. Unwise! Eric barked his head off again (I thought you could only do that once). Fin wasn't sure at what Eric was barking, but was happy to join in, which of course, got Eric going, which got Fin going...

I moved the balloon upstairs where Eric and Fin can't see it. Unless one of them comes up in the middle of the night...