Edgar's Bone

 Edgar did not forget where he buried his bone.  Every time we went out, before he trotted to the sign post, his watering station, he checked the spot in the flower bed where his bone was buried.  Sometimes he gave a quick pat with a paw tamping down any loose soil.  Once satisfied that all was well with his treasure, he went about his other business, sniffing the grass where Pat's dog had squatted, scanning the area for an orange cat, studying the movements of the gal across the street as she watered her plants.  Some times she brings her cat out with her on a leash, as required by Joseph's Dream management, and that could be exciting.

Today the grounds keepers came.  First they trimmed the trees of lower limbs.  Isn't this the wrong time of year to do that?  I noticed sap running from some of the wounds.  Anyway, Edgar watched from the window, offered a couple of woofs to let me know he was on the job, and returned to his nap.  We don't have any tree very close to our yard.  The two men loaded up all the severed limbs in their old stake-body truck and off they went.  They must have stopped for lunch somewhere as they were gone about an hour.  When they returned they removed some smaller trimming equipment, rakes and  large barrels.  Beginning at the lower end of the community,, they attacked the flower beds.  They shaved all the bushes, flowering or not, cutting off their tops so everything looked flat and even.  One lady came out to meet them, explaining that cutting off the flowers interrupted the natural cycle of the bush.  "Sorry, lady, gotta do it.  Robert's orders", he replied.  With one swipe of his power trimmer, he removed the flowers and one cluster of the just-forming berries. Berries that the birds enjoy!

Then they raked--deeply digging into the mulch and dirt around the plants.  I guess that might be good.  However, Edgar thought otherwise.  When he looked out the window he saw two strange men-well not strange, but unfamiliar men doing something to his property.  He growled and barked so fiercely I am surprised the guys did not leave for fear that dog was coming through the window.  I only assumed Edgar was just being a watch dog.

When we went outside after they had done their dirty work and left, I realized just what it was that Edgar was guarding.  The bone!  There it lay in a pile of debris where it had been unearthed by the ravaging rake.  Edgar snatched it up, carrying it back into the apartment and placing it on his bed.  He certainly had NOT forgotten where it was buried.  Even through the window he realized those "strange" men were disturbing his buried treasure.

I wonder if he will ever try to bury a bone outside again, or if just tucking it under his blanket on his bed will have to suffice.