Summer Ennui

Patch suffers from summer ennui.

"Ennui" is French for boredom. But not just boredom. Also: annoyance, vexation, dullness, and feeling fed up.

She and I have discussed this. At times she is happy and proud of all she has accomplished in her short life. She worked hard to get into this house. She sucked up, wagged her tail, and even got pregnant to ensure a life of leisure. No more sleeping in a cold wet ditch. Plenty of kibble for life. But since we started paying for her veterinary care and adopted her puppies, we don't let her roam the neighborhood any more, so she is stuck inside the fence. She loves her puppies, and Polly and Smoky (tolerates the rest of us), but sometimes on a sunny summer day when her old pals are roaming the soybean fields and she is trapped in here, she thinks, "What have I done to myself?"