Mr. Morris has a new clock

Mr. Morris decided that I needed to take a walk the other day. I wanted to check the mailbox on the ridge and any excuse to get out for a bit is a good excuse. Fresh air is good for you.
However we happened to pick one of those days that the winds were roaring overhead on the ridge.

I put on my fur fox hat and grabbed my camera bag [of course!]. Even though we'd had some very light snows, the overall color of the season right now is dull, drab, and dirty looking.

Dingy ~ Gloomy Drab Dark Dirty Shabby Squalid

This is the view down the private drive of the neighbor. Dull, dingy, dank, dark, and dirty looking. However to avoid the raging winds, I walked this way as the trees protected Morris and I from the biting cold.

Morris keeps having some pretty decent days. Most of his time is spent sleeping. He has a routine that he now keeps.
Up between 4AM and 5AM. Outside immediately. He wears a pet light so I can see him in the dark.
Breakfast must be served between 5 and 5:15 or he gets frantic.

One more outside visit and the couch is his for napping.

Between 2:30 and 3PM, it is time for activity. He walks around the house and grunts until I get dressed. He bounces around playfully and shoots out the door when I open it.

I have been keeping him on a leash since his last little adventure when he went home after about a 20 minute hike into the woods.
I brought the leash but let him off when we headed down the neighbor driveway. He was more of his old self. He'd trot ahead, then stop. Smell. And when I'd whistle he'd come on the run.

Since the view up the driveway seemed SO drab I thought it appropriate to edit it with some grunge textures. I used Topaz Studio to edit my files quickly and very easily. I actually didn't walk past the tree on the right as the winds whistled fiercely across the open area beyond.

I thought to myself that this was so ugly, it was almost beautiful in a way.

I watched Morris sniff around at the coyote tracks and the 'possum tracks. He trotted back and forth. I bent down to pet him and put him on his leash.

And this is what I got!

The little turd!

However to be honest, he does love to walk on leash out to pick up the kids at least once a week between 3 and 4PM. The route is the same as is the timing.
I can now count on this being a part of his routine. As soon as 3:30 hits, he will turn and head home.

I didn't mind this at all as I could see him trot up ahead. He went to the mailbox and made a turn down the hill. He sat on the porch and awaited my return patiently.

When I arrived, he calmly walked inside and stood next to his feed bowl.
He stared at me while I got undressed. As if he was trying to mind meld with me to let me know "food" was urgent.

Precisely at 5PM, Morris will stand in the kitchen and then walk to the couch. He goes back and forth. Eventually he makes a nest and settles in. If we walk into the living room to watch Netflix or something, he sighs deeply and gets off the couch.
He is adamant about laying between the two of us after we settle in.
I think he wants us to know that the couch/love-seat really belongs to him.

Morris still rules.
The Little Old Mr. Morris has a set of rules that must be followed by the rest of the members of 'his' family.