Dogs

scare Naomi. She's been known to utter eardrum-piercing shrieks when she notices dogs, or if they move in her direction. Today we went to the garden store to pick up a few things. They have a fish pond with a bridge over it that the girls love, and they were both headed towards it when Naomi stopped and refused to move. She said something I couldn't understand, and I pointed out the fish pond to her, thinking maybe she didn't remember from last time.

Then she said again, "Is that a real dog?"

It was a dog statue -- a dachshund, lifesize -- among the other available statues of St. Francis and gargoyles. And then I noticed that there were a bunch more dog statues, too. They must be the in thing for gardening this year.

"No, Naomi, none of those dogs are real."

She ran off happily to the pond.