Nothing beats a sunny day

Here's Kate on our patio taking advantage of the first real warm sunny day.

Lucky dog.

I have the back sliding door open with the screen door in place because it is such a nice day here in Poughkeepsie. (Friday is the first day of my weekend so don't think I'm blowing off work.)

When we first moved here at the end of January there were a few moderate days where I actually had the back door open with the screen door. Now this is something Kate has never experienced — this fine, almost invisible, mesh that goes floor to ceiling. The first thing she tried to do was go right through it. Luckily I stopped her.

But that reminded me of a dog my family had many years ago in Texas. Candy was a black cocker spaniel mix who would scratch at the patio screen door to be let out. Eventually, she made a hole in the screen and she could go in and out as she pleased. Unfortunately, so could the flies, mosquitoes and tarantulas.

After several months, we replaced the screen, but Candy didn't get the memo.

She saw something in the yard and took off after it, running right through the brand-new screen.

A few feet out on the patio, Candy realized that she did something wrong and just laid down and didn't move. We didn't scold her — it was too funny. But she didn't bust through the replacement's replacement.