Day Eighty-Three: Bark Softly...

Even though she's still an energetic young puppy, Emily's 7-month-old dog Lucy makes for a pretty good teddy bear. And that's not her only tie to former president "Teddy" Theodore Roosevelt: Lucy also has her own form of "Big Stick" diplomacy.

Wherever Lucy goes, whatever Lucy does, she would rather do it carrying a stick in her mouth, and the larger the stick the better.

Emily and I have watched her move from one twig to another in the yard until she finds one that is satisfactory, wondered - as she chases down sticks we throw for her - if and when she will return with the original, and laughed as she has tried to drag fallen tree branches through much narrower front doors.

On this particular day when I was feeling a little under the weather, I was happy to have Lucy around to cheer me up with some more of her Big Stick diplomacy.