SHELTERING IN PLACE? GO AHEAD AND NAP...

For the final weekend of March 2020, we present our Shelter in Place Edition of Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. And, as you possibly know, travelers from New Jersey are being told they have to go into quarantine once they get to Texas.
That’s the way thing are going right now, but that does not keep us from appreciating this report from Andy Fisher, executive director of our Eastern Seaboard Bureau on beautiful Indian Lake in the Garden State’s town of Denville.
We’ve posted photos of these two Jersey rescued souls before so you may be familiar with the dog Maxie and the cat Chloe. They are setting the theme for this edition, i.e., sheltering in place at the lakeside estate and allowing their staff — Andy, Annie and Ian — to tend to them during these interesting times.
Andy titled Maxie’s photo “The Lakefront Squire” and wrote, “Maxie, out for his afternoon stroll around the yard, takes a break under the big old maple tree.”
 The second photo, that of Chloe turning a long flat box bottom into a place of sheltering was taken on March 25 which, in the Catholic Church, is St. Dismas’ Day, honoring the repentant thief who was crucified with Jesus, according to church history. Andy wrote, ”Chloe just thinks it’s Boxing Day.” (LRP NOTE: Every day is Chloe Day at Indian Lake, so the fact that Boxing Day is the day after Christmas does not affect her idea of sheltering in place in a box.]
In keeping with the sheltering in place theme exhibited by the wonderful Chloe and Maxie in New Jersey, we cite some Lone Star State residents who also have spent their years learning how to “shelter in place” while disguising it as a nap.
You see my sturdy and wise companion, the famed black and white cat The Senator, sheltering in two different places. One is in the U.S. mail receptacle on the table in our breakfast nook. If it looks like a box, The Senator will try it out. 
In the second photo, The Senator discovered a due-to-be discarded box that once held frozen chocolate croissants that were used at an office gathering. Martha put the box on the floor so I’d put it in the recycle bin. The Senator saw the pastry box as an opportunity to “shelter in place” and curled up inside the cardboard cube. Only a veteran cat can curl in a cube.
FYI, when the senator was done sheltering, Martha flipped the box over, reinforced its seams with tape, cut a circular hole in the bottom the size of our Rottie Earl’s dish and turned it into a reliable table so the ol’ fellow wouldn’t have to bend down so far to eat his meals. [LARRY ASIDE: If you have to shelter in place, you want someone with you who knows how to convert trash into a practical implement.]
The final photo is that of our Border Collie/Chocolate Lab mix Dudley the Angel as he shelters in place on the living room rug. He’s in front of the big cabinet that features a cubby hole in which my yulespouse Martha keeps a display of miniature Santa Claus figures. That almost gets us to Chloe’s “Boxing Day” celebration.
As you can tell from the look on Dudley’s face, he has embraced the great quote given to Ebenezer Scrooge by author Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol. Mr. Scrooge said, “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.”
Of course, Scrooge never had to cope with empty paper product aisles and, when he wanted, he could step out of his London abode and walk down to El Palacio Tex-Mex de la Reina for ale and chips. 
Some day my chips will come.
[DEAR READERS: Email photos of your slumbering, sheltering in place dogs and cats and any other critters or in-laws to [email protected] and readlarrypowell.com will spotlight them in our long-running weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dog’s Lie & Napping Cats Nap. Remember, you’re setting a positive example for people who wonder if they need a cat or dog in their lives. And you’re helping insomniacs believe that they, too, can catch some sleep if they can figure out how to compress their bodies into a box built for compact frozen pastries.]
—— Offer opinions or tips for sheltering in domestic tranquility by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected]. —-