3:12 am

I was awakened at 3:12 by someone rattling their collar. Two someones, actually. That's the cue if things can't wait, and there's no point in arguing because they know what they know, so I hauled myself out of bed and slipped into slippers and we took a little stroll.

The teasing trickle of rain had wet the pebble drive and the dogs crunched happily across and in front of me on the way to the evacuation area ~ and together performed the ritual of sniff, pace and decide, crouch or squat, and repeat.



Not my photo, but gorgeous
flickrhivemind.net

On the way back, we paused. They turned into the breeze and breathed it in. The air smelled cool and moist and fragrant, with just a hint of light in the sky as night prepared to hand off to day. The dark tall limbs all around draped high and wide against the dark blue-black and dusky moonlit sky. 

I'm not typically on this shift. I generally sleep right through the Collar Jingle warning of an imminent Crisis of Pee, and putting me in charge would be all kinds of bad. But still, today was a delight: me and the girls, just us in the quiet, with damp sweet leaves soft from the rain.

Nice to meet you, 3:12 am.