so we have a deck that is on the second story of our house where we will sit and eat meals. sometime last year i realized jewel would often stand on the lawn below the deck and stare up at us. unbeknownst to anyone else i would chuck food over the railing for her but it would generally hit a tree before landing, causing me to think jewel imagined the tree was of the giving variety. i started chucking food over whenever we ate there and at some point jewel caught onto me. i actually created a monster because every time we head to the door with food jewel rushes past us to get to her spot, almost knocking us over. if she were just a touch smarter she’d realize that if she actually succeeded in knocking us over she’d get all our food instead of little nibbles of it. the other day dave & i were snacking on some celery with peanut butter and when we got to a bad piece i threw it down for the yard monster. it was a bad (or perhaps a little too good) throw, however, and it landed on her back, peanut butter side down, of course. knowing with certainty it had to be very nearby, she spent a good amount of time looking for it to no avail,…nor did anyone else find it (real freaking sherlock holmes’ we have here). a little while later she and her piece of celery were sitting on the deck with me when the wind must have blown just right and she caught a whiff of herself, threw her head around and grabbed the celery off her back…what a loon.

   

        the deck                       jewel in position                        the celery