I think I spent too much time focused inward this week, while I readjusted to being the solitary human in the house again. I gave myself a lot of quiet time, and refused to press myself to do a whole lot even as I stayed home. But I was oblivious to the messages I was getting while I was reveling in the silence. I noticed that the dogs had become exceptionally needy in the last few days. It didn't occur to me until tonight that they are having a little of the very same separation anxiety as I. The little red-headed dog keeps standing next to me, burying his face against the couch cushion under me, and being very still while I pet him. His body language is screaming grief and loss, and I didn't pick up on it until now. He was so happy to have his daddy home, and now he is gone again. Poor dog doesn't know what to think. The professional eater has been pacing the house and yard with the large tied rawhide in her mouth like a pacifier, watching me with curiosity. I assumed over the last few days that they were having a little cabin fever because of the weather, but I get it now.
The cats are clingy, but I don't know that it is more than usual. The calico can't bear to be more than four feet from me, but I think that's because she is still fighting the virus that tried and failed to take down the old man last fall. The kitten spent a lot of time hiding while the man was home, and now that he's gone, she is all kinds of cuddly. She really didn't know what to make of him. She let him pick her up by the end of the second week, but she punished me for letting him stay. Is this going to be a child-rejecting-her-stepfather kind of situation when he comes home forever? I'm not going to let her call the shots in that relationship.
The kids and I all stayed in each other's pockets during yet another cold day. We should be out of the newsworthy deep freeze by tomorrow, and I will be back in my flip flops, and the crew should be on my roof by mid-morning. At least that's how I hope tomorrow will go.
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