the other day. It was early a.m. and I had my 3 dogs out with me to shut off power to the automatic pool cover pump since we didn't get the rain overnight that was forecasted (I figure it's less wear & tear on the pump that cycles on/off every 5 minutes if plugged into power source). As I was doing that, I heard a sound I knew I shouldn't be hearing, but I had to see it with my eyes before I understood what it was.

My 45-lb. dog who seems perpetually tethered to my hip decided to take a short cut to get to me and instead of going around the pool, went *across* it. There she was, standing in the middle of the pool frozen in time with a look of a deer in headlights. I was as horrified as she, of course, immediately imagining the pool cover being pulled down and over her and how would I rescue her without putting my own life in peril? But that didn't happen. She turned around, got off the cover and then came around the pool to reach me, her heart pounding out of her chest. The 8-ft. long double water bags that are end-to-end held the cover securely -- it didn't even budge with her on it. And, the icing on the cake is that she also didn't puncture the cover. I thought both results were divinely terrific, of course the first holding an infinitely higher status.