There's been a Death....

 Don't worry, this really isn't a sad post. :)

There's been a Death, in the Opposite House,
As lately as Today --
I know it, by the numb look
Such Houses have -- alway --

The Neighbors rustle in and out --
The Doctor -- drives away --
A Window opens like a Pod --
Abrupt -- mechanically --

Somebody flings a Mattress out --
The Children hurry by --
They wonder if it died -- on that --
I used to -- when a Boy --

The Minister -- goes stiffly in --
As if the House were His --
And He owned all the Mourners -- now --
And little Boys -- besides --

And then the Milliner -- and the Man
Of the Appalling Trade --
To take the measure of the House --
There'll be that Dark Parade --

Of Tassels -- and of Coaches -- soon --
It's easy as a Sign --
The Intuition of the News --
In just a Country Town --

~Emily Dickinson

Yesterday, we were somewhat distressed to see our next door neighbors digging a hole in their backyard and acting somewhat emotional. We were worried about the three doggies next door, especially since Miss Charlotte is somewhat elderly. Today however, Roo heard Mrs. J next door calling for Miss Charlotte, so we knew she's ok. This evening, Owl went to talk to the neighbors on the other side of Mrs. J to apologize for my behavior (I'll get to that in my next post), and learned what the funeral was for:

 A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,--did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb,
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,--
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.
~Emily Dickinson

People keep these things in their houses on purpose?!!

Their adult daughter's pet snake had died, probably as a result of hypothermia from being without heat due to power outages. We were very relieved to hear that it wasn't one of the dogs (BTW, I hope you know that y'all gave me a heart attack at dinner last night, pondering "who had died next door" since I had heard nothing of all this brou-ha-ha previously. ~Roo)
 WWFN,
ROSIE