Yes! Saturday football is back and both the Beavers and Ducks play today. Life is good, all things considered. Oregon State plays University of Houston at 0930, and U of O plays Boise State at 1230.

I got up semi early so I could walk Max and be home for the start of the 0930 game. Semi early was around 0700 so I could eat breakfast. My daily routine is for me to eat my Jimmy Dean breakfast while Max wanders around the back yard on his tether. During this time, I leave the patio door open so Lucy and Louis can wander in and out at their leisure. They’ve become fond of their trips around the back yard. I’m not totally sure where they actually go because of the bushes that surround the house. They have lots of hiding places.

Because of the foliage, It’s easy for them to remain invisible when I try to make sure they are back inside before I leave for the walkabout with Max. A search of the house didn’t reveal either of them so i decided to just leave and take off. I always stick my head out and call for them but doing that doesn’t ever reveal a response, but I feel it’s necessary just in case they decide to acknowledge my superior position in our relationships.

Neither one came to me after the call, which I expected, so I locked the patio door and we headed North on Shore Drive. That was Max’s choice. I let him choose the direction at each corner. This morning his choices wound up with us taking a record breaking morning walk of 1.8 miles. I have to admit, that during the latter moments of this walk i vetoed some of his choices, and made command decisions about how long he was allowed to stand still smelling something that got his attention.

When we got home, Lucy showed up at the patio door seeking asylum but there was no Louis. Lucy plowed her way through the door, pushing Max out of the way while she growled and hissed at him until she was safely inside. I checked outside a few minutes later and found Louis running for the door. It was obvious that he was ready to regain the safety of his house.

With the exception of the temporarily missing cats, my morning went as planned. I even had time to clean up the dishes prior to the game, bt I didn’t do that. Instead, I plopped down in my chair for a bit, then was quickly trapped in place by Max and Louis.

I’ll let you know about the games later, if I remember.

Jennie called me a couple of days ago and invited me to lunch at Burgerville. Gilligan’s was working and she insisted that we take advantage of her employee 50% discount. That’s a pretty good deal because there were 6 of us. I made a mistake on my order because I failed to to get my customary chocolate malt instead of a soda. I drank the soda before I realized what I had done, so ordered one to take away before leaving the premises.

Here’s Jennie being a busy Mom.

On the way out of the facility, a young man appeared behind the door and asked for money to eat because he was out of food stamps and he was hungry. I handed him the malt and went to the car. I didn’t need the malt anyway. Later, I chastised myself for giving him the malt instead of taking him inside for a proper meal. Maybe I’ll run into him again.

Since the patio door is properly guarded, I feel confident that I can kick back and take a nap. See you later.