As soon as we pulled off the asphalt and Old Blue hit the gravel on the drive, I could hear Jake and Buster barking their “happy bark” as Maggie calls it. It’s funny but they do have a very different bark for us when we’re driving down the drive. I’ve often wondered how they know it’s us, but they do.

You should hear their bark for the FedEx guy, not good.

Just as I was about to wake Maggie she stirred and said, “Listen to those two. You’d think we’ve been gone a week.”

I heard somebody say once that dogs love people so much because they don’t live in the past and they don’t live in the future—they live totally in the moment. I think that’s probably true.

Always thought that dogs were smarter than humans.

The ground fog had almost lifted as I pulled Blue onto the long driveway. Hearing the slow sound of crunching gravel under the tires, seeing the porch light in the distance, it felt good to be home.

Easing into the carport, Jake and Buster were clearly beside themselves and practically howling at this point. When we went on short trips like this, we kept them fenced in the quarter-acre part of the back yard, but lately we haven’t been traveling much and Buster and Jake did not like being left alone.