I found myself talking at length to our puppy today.  Now, I did not grow up a “dog person”–although currently many of my friends fear I will become a crazy old dog lady when my children are grown.

It may be some gauge of Jim’s family’s fondness for dogs that all he remembered of family pets in his youth was a dog named “Zero.”  It took our younger daughter ten years to talk us into adopting our first beagle.

Today’s somewhat lopsided conversations between me and our tri-colored companions were not an altogether unusual development.  And we do have The World’s Cutest Puppy.

I am certain our older dogs understand me when I talk to them about their master.  Rufus looks at me with those milk chocolate beagle eyes, made all the more soulful by being accentuated by what looks like eyeliner applied with a heavy hand; I can talk…