Such a night was last one past. Warm and humid, dark and muggy was this night. Fierce and loyal is our Kimi. Out in the dark she prowled, nose to the ground, ears to the wind, she searched. At once she spotted 'it'. Some evil creeping crawling body of wicked majesty. Stealthily she crept upon it, taking slow step by slow step, pausing in between each , like a true tigress stalking her prey. With her head lowered, ears flattened, tail stiffened, and back straight, she inched her way toward this thing, Her eyes never wavered, nor did her courage as closer she moved. Those dark almond eyes of hers shined with the glow of the moon as it lighted her way toward the evil object. Intently focused on her quarry, she moved in....closer...closer...each tiny white front foot would pause in mid-air, waiting for the grass to quietly settle before taking another step. Finally...close enough to matter...she pounced!! Springing on her legs, she leapt into the air high. Higher than ever before...and with the pull of gravity down she came. THUMP! Right on top of this prey. The evil thing disguised as a bug scurried to escape. Kimi's tracking nose when into action and she poked...and prodded...and she sniffed...and snorted. SNORTED?? AAAHHCCHOO! Kimi got grass up her nose! Silly girl don't snort so hard!

Back into action she went, never intending her prey to make good their escape. Eyes bright, ears perked, she searched. Her nose making quick little jabs into the tall grass as she looked. Suddenly she smelled it and her feet began to fly as she dug faster than any machine could ever go. Dirt flying, grass blades disappearing, she went after her prey with a determination to succeed. Her little body twisted in her effort to uncover this cowering little insect! "YIP!" she shouted, as she dug even faster. Her white feet were becoming blackened with the dirt as they pulled and dug at the dirt. Suddenly she stopped, and with head down, ears perked, she waited. The bug moved, and she pounced it again! And again! Like an angry grizzly she danced on top of it trying to pound it back into the ground from which she had just uncovered it. Success in hand..uh..paw, Kimi looked up to me, her grin wrapping itself around her face, and with a "Woof!" unknown to her before, she flounced her tiny head and strutted off in true Sheltie fashion. One more victory for Kimi!

Not one to relax her guard, Kimi strolled thru the back yard in all its darkness. And there in the light of the moon she spotted the next wicked creature whom she must defend her family and friends of! This one had wings! It flitted and fluttered from leaf to leaf, trying to look innocent. Our Kimi was not fooled...she knows of the wicked things that lie in wait of the unsuspecting! She is here to serve and protect us all and does her job well. Knowing that being sneaky and stealthy would not work on this creature she went in for the fast hit. Taking off like a streak thru the night, she cornered this tiny white winged "monster'. You may know it as a moth, but don't be fooled into a peaceful existance! These creatures are here to eat holes in all your beliefs! (okay...maybe just your briefs) This do-er of evilness flew along on wings of self assurance, casually flying lower to Kimi, teasing her mercilessly. Kimi ran behind it, bouncing into the air, jaws snapping like a hungry alligator. As it flew up, she leaped higher. As it dropped down to fly lower, Kimi dropped into place behind it, snapping and snippng at it. Twisting and turning it did it's best to avoid her trap-like- jaws, but it failed to realize that our little butterfly has the hunting skills of a true lioness. As it flitted to the left, Kimi jumped to the right (now...just go with this she knows what she is doing...) As if flittered to the right, she jumped to the left. And on this game went across the yard. To the untrained casual eye Kimi might have looked confused, but you never can believe all you see to be true. Have you never heard of reverse psycology? As she bounced along from left to right, she gained the winged-creatures faith that she was not skilled enough to capture it, and so, in it's own foolishness, it settled down on a blade of grass.

And in true "T..I..double-GG EERR" fashion she had it! In one mighty leap she pounced it with all fours! And as she made her move, she let out a true Indian like war-hoop, "YIP!" (Bonzia!) possibly hoping to paralize it with fear.

Now.....this next part may be to graffic for our younger viewers, parents...use discretion...

Standing on this tiny flightless thing with her as-tiny front feet, Kimi reached down to lick it. Taste-tasting? Oh Kimi! YUCK! She gripped one tiny wing between her pearly whites and plucked it free. Rolling it on her tongue I know I heard her say "PETYWEEY!" as she spit it out. Thinking, hoping, she was now done, I found myself to be wrong as I watched her do the same to the other wing. I guess she knows more about the evil spirits in these winged creatures than we do for she was determined to make certain it could fly no more. When she finally lifted her small furry head, and flipped her ears back, I could see she had once again succeeded. This poor thing would be 'grounded' from taking flight for ever more. And once again our night hunter, Kimi strutted off victoriously undefeated.

Was she finished making her nightly rounds yet? Oh NO! If you thought so you don't know our Kimi very well yet!! For as long as darkness prevails....and ok...as long as mommy stays out to sit with her, she will continue to watch over our world and protect us.

As she strutted past me I watched as her eyes once again took on the shine of the hunter. And with a mighty "YIP!" (bonzia!) she took off after her next victim. One poor lone firefly desperately trying to light his (or her) way thru the darkness to the safety of....home? The next leaf? Where ever it is they go to. I sat and watched and giggled myself silly as I took in this arobatic display of cunning and daring clutziness. (sorry Kimi dear but I must call it as I see it.)

Her grin ever widen as she took in this blinking creature and off she went. This one flew higher in the air so Kimi, true hunter that she is had to keep her eyes on the ball(?). The problem is she forgot to also keep one eye on the ground and the next thing she knew, as she ran along behind this latest prey, our Kimi was sprawling head over heels over the top of the cat as he lay peacefully minding his own business. Leaping to her feet, she threw a disgruntled "YIP!" over her shoulder at him and continued onward. The telltale light still blinking off and on..off and on, giving away the location of this object, Kimi quickly spotted it again. This time she decided to fight fire(fly) with fire. As it flew up and down, Kimi bounced along behind it ..up and down. Up went the bug...up went Kimi. Down came the bug..down came Kimi. Deer like she sprang along thru dew damp grass BOING...BOING..BOING...and a sharp "YIP!" escaped with each landing of her feet. Again she failed to keep her eye on the direction she was headed, and I had to laugh when her laughing expression turned to one of shock when she sprang her way right into the flower bed fence! Her eyes grew wider as her smile was replaced by an open mouthed shock when her "spring" sprung back on her! Landing backwards on her behind, Kim sat in stunned silence for a split second. About long enough for her to realize someone was laughing. At HER!

Our Kimi dear has a wonderful sense of humor, and does NOT like to miss out on the laugh. Unless of course it is made at her expense. One can not help but to laugh at her escapades from time to time and this was one of those times. I sat and laughed and Kimi's look of stunned disbelief grew into one of frustration. She jumped defiantly to all fours and issued a sharp "YIP!" at me (I took it to mean MOM!") Kimi ran over to stand in front of me and as I laughed, she yipped again. She had such a look of outrage on her delicate little face I couldn't stop laughing. This put her into action and pulled from me more laughter. As I chuckled, Kimi began to jump up and down in front of me. All still in one place. Up and down. Up and down. And with each leap upward she issued a commanding "YIP!" Which I took to mean "STOP IT!"

"STOP IT!" "STOP IT!" "STOP IT!" she ordered. And with each one I laughed harder. With each shout of laughter from me she shouted "YIP!" again. I laughed harder still. She yipped louder even. And all the while she is still bouncing up and down. Like a little child having a temper tantrum, stomping their feet and shouting. Kimi just has four feet to stomp and in order to be effective she has to jump up to land hard enough to qualify as a stomp! With tears of laughter building, I watched as Kimi suddenly sat down and cocked her head to the right. With bright inquisitive eyes she watched me. Still chuckling I watched her as her grin began to grow. Her look of insolant indignation changed to one of happy humor, and as her mouth opened a tiny pink tongue curled out. And the idea began to form in my mind. A thought that perhaps, she was sending to me? With a huge and happy grin she began to yip at me, but this time it was a yip of obvious delight. And I felt very humbled by what I had just had communicated thru to my heart from the love of this puppy.

One can't be laughed at if they learn to laugh with!

walk in beauty

Kristi & Kimi