I was crazy busy all day today, seeing the dermatologist in Saragota and heading out with Maria for a tuna sandwich. My skin is delicate, but there is one tiny growth they say might one day be cancerous on one cheek; they surprised me by pulling out a can and spraying the growth with frozen medicine (yes, it hurt, freezing the almost invisible growth and killing it.) No follow-up, it was instantly dead.

Modern medicine never surprises me, even when it fails to cure me.

Zip and I had some quality time in the barn; I sat, scratched, and talked to him. I didn’t see him again until just before dusk. I sat, and he sat beside me and watched the world for a bit.

He’s already staked out three different spots for his hunting – one is Maria’s garden, the other is one of my raised beds, and the other two are the tall, thick lilac bushes. I forgot the” rest up part and need to lie down for a while. I’ll spend more time with Zip tomorrow, and I missed him. But he has settled in and seems to be having a lot of fun out there.

His daily routines are showing up. Sleeping in the big barn, visiting the gardens and chipmunk tunnels, napping under the garden beds or a car, if it’s nearby. Whenever I go outside, he appears to accompany me. Bud dug a hole out in the dog kennel area, trying to chase off the Amish horses appearing in their new property across the street. He was running around the backyard when we got home from Saratoga, so he and Bud must have met, or he dodged him.

Zip can jump up high, but Bud can’t. But is all right, but we’re going to pile up some logs and rocks so he can’t do it again.