Is Raven Catholic?

After a wonderful meal sitting on the outside porch at Thistle’s Restaurant in downtown Robbinsdale, we decided to go out for a walk. And because it was a special meal we decided to make it a special walk, so downtown Minneapolis we went. But first we stopped home to get the dog. (Is this starting to sound like a Swansmith blog?) Raven joined us as we walked across the Mississippi River twice, once on the Stone Arch Bridge and once on the 3rd Avenue Bridge. About half way across the second bridge we all spotted a tiny bunny rabbit. Of course Raven was a lot more interested in this sighting than we were. He immediately started pulling on the leash. I gave him some slack and actually ran a bit to see how the rabbit would respond. The bunny took off. But with no where to go (we were up about 100 feet over the river and had cement walls on both sides of the path), he could only run forward away from us. We had only deposited 50 cents in the parking meter and we probably only had 20 minutes left before it expired, so I thought this might be a good way to speed him up, full speed ahead, no sniffing.

After about three quick sprints, with a pause between each one, the bunny looked tired. Although it was cement everywhere and really no place to hide, he found a shadow thinking that might work. Of course it wouldn’t have, but I felt sorry for the rabbit and pulled Raven past him as he watched us pass. He was crouched down, huddled next to a post and trying to be still, although he seemed to be shaking a little. Raven continued to look back as I continued to pull on his leash, letting out a few short barks as if to say “I could have had you if I wanted to.” So I hope the poor, tiny, stressed out bunny on the 3rd Avenue Bridge can find his way off and onto some vegetation for a late supper.

Anyways, after our delightful walk we coaxed Raven back into the car and headed home. He sits in the far back and watches out the rear window. The A/C was on and Raven had his face right up to the glass. As we hit bumps his head would bounce up and down and side to side, leaving a perfectly formed cross on the window. The moisture from his nose left cute droplets on the glass in that very holy formation. The problem is that I couldn’t tell if he was bouncing from right to left or left to right. Is he Catholic or is he Greek Orthodox? Or is he merely a very spiritual dog? The Swansmith never addresses these important questions in her blog. It seemed that her blogs focus more on how and where Raven relieves himself. Oh well.