I spoke to my folks this afternoon with the dogs going on and off in the background. They said they couldn’t hear the static that would intermittently come on the line.

Although both of them were on the line, Dad did most of the talking. Unless I’m reading her incorrectly, I sensed a hesitancy, even something else – anger? Resentment? – coming from my mother.

We talked about the weather, the economy, and things like that. Dad has to have cataract surgery soon. They spend most of the week going to doctors and the weekend at the store.

They just have one poodle now and no other animals. Everyone is well, they also say.

They commented on the pictures, and at one point Mom suggested I find work. I said, “I thought I explained in my last letter why that’s not so easy.” At first I wondered if maybe they didn’t get the letter I sent explaining it to them, but Dad said they did, even though Mom asked me to explain. At first I thought to myself, “Explain? I don’t think so! I don’t owe anyone any explanations. I am who I am and I know what’s going on with me and Tom knows too, and that’s all that matters.” But then I said, “Aw, give her a break. This is something that’s hard to comprehend without having experienced it firsthand. Even you wouldn’t get it if you didn’t have it and someone else was trying to explain it to you. It’s complicated.”

And so I sent a copy of an online article to them, along with some rat/mice pics. This is the best I can do, though, so if they still don’t get it – sorry! I tried.

Yesterday and the day before the dogs were wonderfully quiet. Never heard a thing. Yet when Tom was out combing through the shed he said he was almost sure they had been indoors because it sounded like they were running all of a sudden right before they started barking, as if Jesse let them out and then they ran to the edge of the hill when they heard him rummaging around. Whatever the case may be, they drove me crazy barking on and off for about 5 hours.