Bogie and I went for a walk this morning.  Generally, I walk in the park with my exercise partner, Martha Powers, but Martha is off to SleuthFest, a mystery conference (her current book is a suspense/thriller!) for the rest of the week.  I feel better, more energetic, if I exercise, so I decided Bogie and I would stroll the neighborhood.  It was exercise all right . . . an exercise in patience.  

This was Bogie’s first sojourn down the street, and he felt it absolutely necessary to investigate every blade of the neighbor’s grass.  The tree bark of the palm tree seemed endlessly fascinating.  If there’d been a dog within fifty feet of the spot we walked, Bogie insisted on marking the territory.  My usual two-mile trek easily would have taken two days at the pace he set.  Okay, I decided, I was the master here; he had to follow me.   It was a struggle, but I won.