The Belt

“CONNIE!” Ed never uses that tone with me, I was instantly awake. He was holding his work pants in his hand, the leather belt in pieces. “She got my belt, I don’t know if she got the pants, and she got Katherine’s hat” He motioned to the dresser where I could see the Dora logo had been removed from the hat leaving a round hole. “It was clear up there!” he grumbled motioning again to the dresser.

I used a few expletives to express my irritation…no irritation wasn’t quite the right world. I truly wanted to cry. Something in my face must have relayed that to Ed because he softened his tone and within a few minutes had gone back to bed, still muttering about having to get a new belt and maybe a new pair of pants, and the fact that money is tight on top of the blizzard conditions outside.

I got up, showed Katherine her hat (she just kind of took it in stride) and then saw a blanket in the hall. I couldn’t find a hole, but Ed’s waking up may have distracted her. I put it back in the linen closet. The door won’t stay closed, which is why she is able to pull things off the shelves. Picking up Ed’s pants, I removed the belt and inspected the pants: Not one mark on it. I couldn’t help but marvel at that for a second, but not any longer. I was too aggravated.

If Ed was not such a good hearted man, Libby would be permanently banished from the house or worse. I know he wanted to choke her, and I did too. I felt terrible. She is, after all, my dog and my responsibility. The thing that I don’t understand is that even though she had an enormous rawhide bone and a rope chew toy on the floor not two feet away, she took his pants off the dresser. She would have had to stand on her hind legs to even see them, let alone pull them off. Fortunately, I was able to find a black belt that belonged to number one son James that he could wear for now.

I was going to take today to expound on her not coming when called habit, but I think I’ll save it for tomorrow.