Last night Mom and Dad went someplace else to eat. I don't know where it was, but when they came home they smelled like other cats - not the two we live with. I don't know what they ate, either, but whatever it was it certainly didn't agree with Dad! After Dad got somewhat over his intestinal ailment he played Chase with me. Mom doesn't like it when we play Chase in the house. She says that it encourages bad behavior. Is that in me or in Dad? Anyway, they finally noticed that my collar was a little tight, and decided to loosen it. Dad checked to make sure that it wasn't going to slip off.

When I woke up this morning it was raining and soggy. This made me sad. If it is raining and soggy we don't tend to go for walks, as I don't like the rain much and struggle to not go outside in it. By about one o'clock in the afternoon, though, the sun had come out! I was so excited I insisted on going outside and playing with the remains of my purple ball. I still have most of them! Then Mom took me for another walk.

We decided to walk a little farther down Route 37 than we usually would - not north, toward Quincy, but south toward Holbrook. It was a nice day, but we hadn't gotten very far when we encountered an obstacle: some large trucks that were parked on the sidewalk, doing work on some cables over our heads. I can understand parking on the sidewalk to do your work - Route 37 is a busy street, and isn't wide enough for people to get around you! However, while it was possible to get around the trucks by walking on someone's lawn, it was not possible to get back onto the sidewalk after that. There was a fence, and a big wire hanging down a little before neck level on Mom. This was a problem. Mom didn't know for sure what kind of wire it was, and I'm still young so she was afraid that I might jump at it or something. So she looked both ways, listened, looked again. Sure that no one was coming, she tried to get around the two trucks by walking in the street.

She walked very quickly, and kept me on a very short leash. She says that this was for my protection, but I really don't like being on a short leash. And this was very short! I wriggled and I tugged, but I could not get out of it. So I wriggled and I wriggled and I tugged some more, and finally - freedom! My collar slipped off over my head. I was a naked, regal, wild dog. This was not meant to last. Mom yelled a Very Bad Word, involving some of my favorite treats, and tackled me in between the two trucks. I don't know how she managed this, because they were barely big enough for me to fit through and Mom is quite a bit wider than I am. Maybe this has something to do with her now-bloody knuckles? At any rate, she tackled me, and then she picked me up and carried me the rest of the way between the trucks. I don't know how she managed to do it, since even Dad can barely lift me at this point, but she was really mad. I don't think she was mad at me, since she never told me that I was a Bad Dog. I bet the Verizon guys (who did not attempt to help) would have wound up outside in the yard in the dark, though! No Milk Bones for them! Anyway, she managed to hold me with her legs (even though I struggled and I struggled - freedom is a heady thing!) and adjusted the collar. It's a little too tight right now, but she wasn't taking any more chances!

We kept on walking and turned on a side street. This was exciting. I would much rather be on the side streets than on Route 37. Mom lets me on a very long leash, and I can sniff around and see everything that there is to see and sniff. There's a lot less paper on the side streets for me to steal, but you can't have everything. Anyway, we found a rutted, muddy mess. The rutted, muddy mess intrigued both me and Mom, and we investigated. There was a sign identifying the mess as Dyer Hill Playground. "Playground?" Mom asked. "I don't see a playground!" Clearly we had to check it out. She didn't even object when I turned up the rutted muddy drive.

We soon saw the "playground." There was plenty of equipment, but it was all wrapped up in Caution tape. There was gravel there - real rocks and stones, not the Democratic presidential candidate. There was also a large hole in the ground, and a bunch of sand in the middle of the basketball court. I wanted to go look at everything, and to piddle on the slide, but Mom didn't seem too keen on the idea. She wanted to get some band-aids for her knuckles, having finally noticed that they were bloody. She also seemed to think that the hole looked a little deep and she didn't want me to fall in. So we walked around the edge of the "park," which was wooded and probably full of ticks. Mom thinks she saw some blackberry bushes, and I suspect that she'll make a return trip during blackberry season!

After that, we found our way home. It was a kind of short walk, especially when compared with yesterday, but there was plenty of drama!