I'm feeling cruddy this morning.

I'm feeling cruddy this morning. Not the allergy-cruddy kind, but more the kind like the day-after-you-worked-out-without-stretching or right-after-a-sunburn ache. Except that I didn't work out or tan. Maybe it's a delayed reaction to my shots - I don't think it's anthrax...

So it took me a while to drag my carcass out of bed and take Homer for a walk. In the park I ran into a guy with two cool dogs - one is a chow-lab mix that kinda looks like a hyena (I didn't use those words to the owner). Homer had a blast chasing them around, splashing through the creek and getting pushed into a deep spot by one of the dogs. Meanwhile we were talking about winter coming, and how much fun the dogs have chasing squirrels and he said that his dog had killed one or two at the park and I said that Homer likes chasing them but has never caught one and wouldn't know what to do with it if he did.

Speak of the squirrel - less than five minutes later I see this lady yelling and Homer running around with something in his mouth. I figured it was another smelly dead bird he picked up somewhere. But then I notice that the thing is furry and squeaking! I manage to get him to drop the baby squirrel and we're desperately trying to keep all the dogs away from pouncing on it (which they do, anyway) and after it's been picked up and dropped a couple of times, I manage to herd it under the fence where it's no longer accessible to the dogs. Well Homer didn't draw any blood so I'm hoping for the best, but I'm not holding my breath since the thing looked pretty fragile.

This episode also shines a new light in Homer's fascination with and love for his squeaky toy balls that he often abuses at night in the back yard. At least, I hope it's the squeaky balls that we hear!