Messed Up Morning

About 4 this morning, a cat crawled into my arms and said, "Love me now!"  I suggested that the timing was off and asked if this could wait until daylight.  "No.  Now is good for me," and emphasizes the statement with a small chomp on my finger.  Fine.  Pet, pet, rub, rub.  "Now go to sleep so I can go to sleep."  "No.  Not satisfied, need more."  Since all cats are black in the dark, I didn't know which of my felines was feeling needy in the night until I heard the snorking that passes for purring with Ralph.  Celeste has a perfect purr box.  And Ralph drools, not his most attractive attribute.  That should have been my first clue.  So, slightly soggy and me still stroking a snorking Ralph, we finally fell back asleep.  Of course, I woke up for real well after sunup and will be running behind schedule for the rest of the day.

Sitting here waiting for inspiration (some days that takes longer than others), I heard a dog barking way too close.  Going out and armed with a camera, sure enough, there was one of my neighbor's dogs trying to get into the chicken pen.  I only caught a glimpse and didn't have enough time to take a photo before said dog faded away and back home.  After all that has happened in the past, it's difficult to describe how hard and fast I flashed angry at the thought, "Here we go again."  Talk about a messed up morning.

I tried to take a picture of Babe yesterday but it didn't turn out well enough to post.  Ralph was snoozing on the couch when Babe came up on the rail again.  "Can Ralphie come out and play?"  "No, Babe.  No."

I hope this day ends better than it began.  One can hope.