It's Another Goddamned Miracle

Fontina and Fiona

This morning I volunteered at Abandoned Pet Rescue cleaning out the big dog kennels. Cleaning out those kennels is the dirtiest, nastiest job there is, even more disgusting than cleaning the kitty litter boxes. The kitty litter boxes are mostly filled with clumped urine and what looks like small cigar butts. Over in the big dog kennel you are literally ankle deep in dog shit. Even though the dogs are all let out to do their thing for an hour every day before APR closes, they still can't make it until eight in the morning without a dump and a pee. So they do it where they can, in their kennels. Now the smarter dogs, and that would be most of them, will find a corner of their little home and leave a neat little pile of dog shit to be cleaned up in the morning. Unfortunately there are a few dogs whose box of Milk Bones is shy a few biscuits. Those are usually the sweetest, most loving of dogs who simply cannot help themselves. They are in a kennel with a pile of poop, and they see an opportunity for some shit art. That is what I wanted to show everybody this afternoon, Fiona and Fontina's kennel. Fiona and Fontina are mother and daughter, and they share a large kennel. Almost every morning their kennel is smeared from top to bottom with shit. There is shit on the floor, shit on the walls, shit wedged in the chain link fencing, shit under their beds, on their beds, in their water bowls, shit stuck in the mesh ceiling of their kennel, and worst of all, shit on them. They are usually covered in it and the first thing they want to do when you see them is jump up on you and give a big kiss. So this morning I brought my phone with me so that I could take a photo of the horrible mess they make every single day. Except they didn't make a mess. They didn't even poop. They also didn't pee. There was nothing, not a morsel of fecal matter in their cage. It was another goddamned miracle. The second dog related miracle this week. First Bette walks on a leash without being a bitch about it, and now Fiona and Fontina make it through the night without crapping themselves and everything within reach. I don't know if it's luck, a miracle, or whatever, but something is happening. Something is letting things go my way. Hell, I even signed a contract to sell my house this week, at nearly the price I wanted. If Mark were to say something like he's looking forward to winter in Chicago, I just might swoon.