Animal kingdom

Our walks/jogs in the morning typically take place between 7:30 and 8 a.m. It's a pretty quiet time in our newly developed cookie-cutter house neighborhood. We rarely pass other dogs being walked. And only a few other dogs are awake and in their yards. I would say it's peaceful most days.

This morning though, someone unleashed the wildlife. Dogs, dogs everywhere. Luckily no strays. But every dog was in their yard this morning, yapping away at us. Birds all over the place. There was a nice steady chorus of crickets to provide some tunes for the jog. Who needs an iPod?

My favorite though: the cows. Yes, the cows. There's a small farm just behind our neighborhood with cows. And every once and awhile you'll hear them mooooo at us. I'd never heard a cow moo before until a couple weeks ago. It doesn't sound like what my 2-year-old nephew says it sounds like. Cow moos sound like a person being tortured in a horror flick. And they freak me out every time I hear them.

This morning, the cows were especially vocal. So vocal that Cassie seemed a little freaked out too. I'd like to get Cassie over there with the tortured cows sometime to see what she'd do with them. She is a herding dog after all.