cries and caterwalls..........

ok, so this morning, like every morning these days, my sleepy reverie was broken by the loud and desparate cries....of my aging wire-haired terrier.......who has taken to laying(?lying) on the landing of the upstairs steps at the crack of dawn.......where he cries like a baby with either loneliness, bladder bloating, hunger or all of the above......and when i drag my sorry self out of the bed, and head down the steps toward the coffeemaker....first things first........he trots along like a pleased pup......and follows me out the front door toward the mailbox.......even in the era of internet news i still feel compelled to read the local papers everyday....but he gets distracted on occassion......and forgets to follow me back to the house.......and many mornings i hear him crying/howling/whimpering on the front porch......and then by the back deck......and then back to the front porch......until someone lets him in.......all the while the cat has leaped into her own action......that of playing the role of starving, pitiable feline....an oscar-quality performance if ever i have seen one.......she carries on with her own version of a classic caterwall until such time as my coffee cream is poured out into her bowl, or i have mixed her dry food with tinned kitty treats.......just having dry cat food in her bowl is no longer up to her standards.....the dog will nose into her bowl unless a similar concoction is prepared for him....and placed far enough from her dish that he forgets that she is there for a moment....... between the dogs cries and the cats wailing........my mornings are no longer the peaceful transitions that should be the reality for the mother of 3 nearly grown children.......how did i ever manage when i had real toddlers to care for.......?