July 4th is Hug-a-Dog Night

I love watching fireworks. I really do. And I haven't seen them in years. Because Dog, see. Throughout the day, as neighbors let off Bangs and Percussives, Emily walks around the house with an increasingly haunted mien. Briefly, during dinner, she came over to offer her toy to Lev, Becca's sweetie, who is with us for the summer (Lev plays soccer with Emily, and she has adopted him as Hers). But otherwise, unhappy dog . And as night drew in, and the neighborhood bangs became more frequent, she wandered from room to room looking for a place to hide herself. When taken out for her evening walk she refused to perform her necessary functions. We watched The Producers and made room for her on the couch, offering to be a familial Thundershirt, but even that didn't work for long.

And then the real fireworks down in the Bay began. That's the point at which Em crawled up between us and allowed herself to be aggressively cuddled.

Today she has a fireworks hangover. Poor pup.