Mondays almost always find me in Albany because it’s the beginning of the teaching week. The week starts off with a bang because I end up spending twelve hours or more on campus, not departing until the end of the grad class about 9pm. I’m grateful at the end of the day that I generally head over to Peg’s. It would be enough that she’s near campus so it’s the shortest journey of the week. But there’s so much more including Peg herself. She’s a writer, teacher, gardener, landscaper, baker and more. She’s usually baking something and there are often leftovers or slightly damaged goods (no, I don’t deliberately poke the cupcakes to make them unfit to sell at the cafe or farmer’s market — usually).

In addition to fine conversation and fine baked goods, there’s also dog therapy. Funny, it’s all dogs at my little homes: Connor at my brother’s and Rufus at Mary’s. Peg has two happy dogs: Maggie a Lab and Maisie, a pit bull rescue dog. At this point it looks like Peg’s not going to be able to part with her. 🙂

Wow, pit bulls are all muscle. Maisie likes to think she’s a lap dog. A hefty lap dog who doesn’t know her own strength, but Maisie is really sweet. Maggie likes to think everyone should be paying attention to her all the time! Forget trying to type — these two force me to relax. And it gives Peg a break from herding the wildlife.

It’s not all dogs though! When in Albany I get to visit my Kipper, who’s getting good foster care from Allan and Rick and his foster kin, Sam, Louie and CeCe. He’s doing better with his diabetes and is gaining back the weight he lost. That’s his excuse for eating everything in sight!

In case you missed the passing mention on Facebook or Twitter, here’s my microfiction over at Flash Flood Magazine: ‘Boo’ — in memory of Miss Wendy’s Boo Kitty. A wee crime story!