Pet Sounds

Two people in two weeks have commented to me that my husband seems to be one of the happiest people they've ever met. Why? Because he sings to his dog. And they are right, he does sing, unabashedly, to the dog. Not the classic rock or top 40 hits or television theme songs that most of us might be caught mindlessly humming to our pets ("You and I, face to face, a couple of Silver Spoons...") - he sings standards of his own creation that are for and about the dog. Some are made up on the spot. Some follow a semi-familiar yet still improvisational pattern. Some are set in stone and being added to as I write this, like the rap that has about five verses so far, each delivered with perfect Beastie Boy vocal embellishments. And it's not just Angus that moves him to song. We once cat-sat for about four weeks and he wrote and a song about one of our foster kitties, Space Dog (not his given name but we liked it), that he also recorded.

I think, technically, this behavior falls under the category of "slap happy," but I'll take it.