A Different Routine

Since Lawrence had missed two Wednesdays in the recent past, and since Theodosia and the Pirates has just come out and I have to prepare for a book signing on April 2, Lawrence and I decided to make up the lost Wednesdays, starting with this Monday.

Bow was happy and surprised to see Lawrence Monday morning, although he displayed at him as usual. But this change in routine got Bow confused later on in the day. If Lawrence was here, he thought, then it must be a Wednesday. So that means that Sword's friend would be coming over after school -- something that only happens on Wednesdays. When Sword came home from school and the friend was not with her, Bow got very upset. Sword's friend always stops by to say hi to Bow and tells him about her day.

"Bow, it's not Wednesday," Lawrence explained. "That girl only comes on Wednesdays. Today is not Wednesday. So she won't come today. But she will come on Wednesday, as usual."

Bow immediately calmed down. But Lawrence wanted to make sure he understood. So he asked: "Did you understand what I said, Bow?"

Bow spelled: "Yes. The girl is not coming today."

After that, everything was fine, and Lawrence and Bow did their usual things.

Yesterday, a Tuesday, was just an ordinary day. Nobody dropped by. But that is okay, because Bow can amuse himself for hours with his rug.

Bow has devised many ingenious games that he plays with his rug. He never runs out of ideas.

And today is Wednesday, so Lawrence will be here again, and Bow has much to look forward to!

What We Do On Our Day Off

Wednesdays are my day off. Of course, I still start out the day the same way. Breakfast with Bow and watching my daughter board the bus. It's only a little later that the routine is different, when Lawrence comes in around eight a.m.

Yesterday, there was a little snow on the ground as my daughter waited for the bus, and I watched from a distance. It was unusually noisy, because a neighbor across the road was feeding his cattle. After the bus came and my daughter boarded, a truck carrying a giant hay bail drove off in the opposite direction.

The snow did not last long. By the time I took off to run my usual Wednesday morning errands, it had already melted, and by afternoon it was quite sunny, though still a little on the cool side.

Wednesday isn't just my day off. It is also Bow's -- he gets a nice break from my constant companionship when Lawrence arrives. Bow looks forward to this change in the routine. Before Lawrence gets here, Bow is already waiting for him. And yet when Lawrence arrives, you would think Bow was greeting an invading army. (The footage below is from last Wednesday, but Bow's display does not vary much from week to week.)

In addition to my usual routine errands of picking up mail at the post office and buying groceries, I also got a chance to visit Jill Dabney yesterday, and she gave me a tour of her farm and introduced me to some of the animals.

Highlights of my visit included Jasmine, pictured above, who is expected to have babies very soon, and Trixie, the Jersey cow who has a young calf.

Jill Dabney is an excellent musician and voice and piano teacher. That's the side of her that I usually see, as she is my daughter's music teacher. She is also helping me with The Debt Collector song demos. But yesterday I got to see a different side of Jill. She has a way with animals, and everyone on her farm is happy and well cared for.

Later in the afternoon, I came back to Jill's house to bring my daughter and her friend for their weekly voice lesson. Jasmine, the sow I had met earlier in the day, was wandering free outside. She came up to me and greeted me as I was getting out of my car. Then she wandered into the woods, pursuing her own interests.

I had a very nice day off. And Lawrence and Bow also had a great time together. It's good to vary our routine from time to time.