It's a rainy day in paradise. The wind was severe overnight, so strong that it blew the bird feeders and windchimes outside the bedroom windows up against the house. Hard and Often. Howling wind is a great accompaniment to deep sleep, but banging birdhouses are not.

At 2:30 am my dog suggested it was urgent she go out.

My dog is a liar.

What she really wanted was to be let out to go on a walk-a-bout, sans me. It's very, very annoying to get out of a warm bed, get dressed, put shoes on and go out in a rainstorm, only to have your dog sniff about trying to sneak off. And I know her! She'd have come back in a few hours, soaked, muddy and smelling like a paper mill on a hot day.