Yesterday, I met my new next door neighbor. When I say met, actually, I mean that I said hello to her as we were both exiting our apartments. She didn't say hello. She looked down at the adorable dog I had on leash (see picture in last entry) and said, "Your dog was barking a lot last night."

To me, there are a number of things wrong with this statement. The first being, she didn't say hello to me. The second being, how can you look at Cosmos and say "your dog" with such negative nuances. Thirdly. Cosmos doesn't bark, he whimpers. And if you can here him, it means that you are hanging out in the hallway, because the plaster walls of the apartment absorb sound.

After questioning, I learned (from her not from Cos, he has chosen to remain silent on the subject - Silent, but indignant) that the "alleged" barking occurred sometime between 7 and 8pm, maybe 7:30 and 8. So, for twenty minutes perhaps, most likely fifteen, Cosmos whimpered softly and this disturbed my new neighbor. It broke into her solitude, stirring emotions in her dried husk of a heart, causing her to feel again. And, she couldn't bear it.

Maybe that isn't exactly how she told it, but you could see the truth of it in her gray, lifeless, cat-loving eyes. Now, when I say cat-loving, I don't mean it as a euphemism. I don't know enough about her to draw any such conclusions. I don't even know her name, because when I said hello, she said, "Your dog was barking a lot last night."

Did I mention yet that my puppy (okay he's six) is incredibly cute? Okay, all you disbelievers. So you can believe that Oprah Winfrey heals the fashionably challenged, but you can't believe what your own eyes show you? Please see exhibit B:

I told you so

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