Corgis and cats and coyotes, oh my!

Complaint-O-Meter: Currently about 4 hours away from completing my first full day.

This morning was very difficult for me to wake up. I'm not entirely sure why, since I went to bed early, but it may have been because I was that comfy my body did not want to leave the bed. I took Gimli for a walk, returned home, fed Gimli, bribed him for a slobbery kiss and then proceeded to eat my Cheerios. By the time I sat down on the couch to stalk read Facebook and other blogs, Mike finished his tea and left for work.

I soon finished my Cheerios and headed into the kitchen to put the bowl into the dishwasher. (I should pause here to explain the layout of the back of our house. The entire back of our house consists of the living room, dining room and kitchen. We have an open concept downstairs so from any vantage point in the above three rooms you can see outside.) Out of the corner of my eye, I see this dark colored 'thing' sitting in the backyard next to one of the gazebo legs. I hastily place the bowl and spoon into the dishwasher and peer out the screen door... after all, who knows this 'thing' could turn and charge in at anytime. All the while, thoughts of the July coyote sighting are filling my head. I look out the back window to see a very large cat. This was no nubile cat or kitten, this cat looked huge, almost the size of Gimli. I calmed down a bit as it stalked away, presumably over the fence because it probably could have jumped that high.

To elaborate on the July coyote sighting, on the July long weekend, I took Gimli to the Arboretum that's about 10 minutes away from our house. I like taking him there for an extended, quiet walk that's reserved for just the two of us. We spent a leisurely walk and then on our way back to the car, we emerged through a clearing of trees to see what I initially thought was a dog...

Here's a replay of what went through my head upon seeing the coyote...

There's a dog! But why doesn't he have a leash? Dogs are supposed to be leashed in this area, where's his owner? What's that in his mouth? That looks like a rabbit.... ohh....

I now realize this is no dog. My first clue should have been that Gimli hadn't left my side. If it was a dog, he'd have wanted to go say hi. The coyote started to walk away in the direction we just came from and Gimli and I headed in the other direction. All the while I kept looking behind in case he decided Gimli was better to eat than the fresh rabbit in his mouth.

You might wonder how it was I didn't know it was a coyote, well, the only coyote I know looks like this.