Where's Waldo?

It was a beautiful 83 degrees yesterday. Sunny, with barely a puff of breeze and not a cloud in the sky. I left my front door open so that the boys could wander in and out of the patio area and enjoy the day while I worked on some indoor projects.

Come around 2 o'clock, it was time. Time for our short dog walk. It's short because I can't be away from a bathroom for more than a few minutes at a time, Cosmos is getting dangerously old and fragile, and Sunny? He'd go on for much longer if I could take him, but his gentle nature (except around other dogs) and happy disposition allows him to be grateful for the outings that we have.

I gathered up Cosmos. He's a Momma's boy and always at my feet. "Sunny!" I called. "Sunny? Sunny Delight? Sunnyshine? Sunnyshine on my Shoulder? Sunny Side of the Street? Want to go out for a walk?"

No answer.

I walked into the studio, thinking he'd be in there, but he wasn't. I looked in the living area and the kitchen without any luck. I walked out the front door, but he wasn't in his position on the brick with his nose poked out under the gate where he normally is. So I repeated the search process. Nothing.

My stomach, as it does when I am unable to locate Sunny, started to tie up in knots. I quickly walked out onto the patio thinking "Oh Shit! He's gotten loose and who knows what's happening?" You see, Sunny is a runner and doesn't come when called. He's also not street smart, and because he's large and a mutt, people are generally afraid of him. But when I looked at the patio gate, it was locked. "Whew!" I thought. He wouldn't have escaped and locked the gate behind him.

Then I looked across the patio.

I looked at the rocking bench on the other side of the garden. The brown rocking bench that isn't colored all that differently than Sunny.

And there I found him.

My old man, sleeping the afternoon away in the garden, without a care in the world.