A Decent Storm – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Me: Okay, outside business time. They say we’re likely to get a decent storm tonight.

Sweetie: A decent storm is one with no rain, no icy sky rocks, no wind shaking the trees. That kind?

Me: Not exactly. Rain, for sure, and maybe some of the other stuff, too.

Doodlebug: So really an indecent storm.

MoonCat: The bulldog vocabulary is improving. And that’s about it.

©️ 2026. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Stormy Memory – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: What is that dark blob in the middle of the Big Picture Box?

Me: That’s a radar image of a huge storm called a hurricane.

Sweetie: It’s ugly.

Me: Yeah, more than you know.

Doodlebug: We had a big storm. The huge oak tree got knocked over onto our house. Remember?

Me: True. That was a hurricane force wind in a big storm, but not a hurricane.

Sweetie: That was scary. So loud. And later those men came and banged on our roof all day. Is that wind blob coming here?

Me: No, it’s far away and headed a different direction. Others are in its path though.

Sweetie: What should we do?

Me: Pray.

MoonCat: Can we schedule not to have any more of those fierce winds? You see, I don’t weigh very much.

©️ 2025. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

The Cracking Sky – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. YAWN.

Sweetie: Lady Human, the sky is cracking into pieces. Please go put it back together and tell it to be quiet. Some of us are trying to sleep.

Me: It’s just a big thunderstorm. A front is moving through. The sky will be fine.

Doodlebug: Why now? Can’t these things be arranged for a more convenient time?

Me: Nope.

MoonCat: Thankfully there are a few things humans can’t schedule. That gives me hope.

©️ 2025. H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Who Is Throwing Ice Cubes? – Conversations with Doodlebug and Sweetie

Posted on by H.J. Hill

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges. The sky is screaming again, Lady Human.

Me: Stay calm and stay inside, y’all. That’s just the storm siren.

Sweetie: Just? Just?

Me: We’re alright.

Sweetie: The sky is throwing ice cubes at us! Is that alright? What is it trying to do? Make iced tea?

Me: That’s hail. It’s one reason we have a roof and walls.

Doodlebug: What are the other reasons? What else is the sky plotting to chunk at us?

Sweetie: I am going to write a strongly worded letter to the humans in charge of weather. Whoever that is, they are not doing a good job!

©️ 2025 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.

Wailing Skies – Conversations with the Pack

Posted on by H.J. Hill

May 28, 2024, 6:05 a.m.

I am Doodlebug, King of the Olde English Bulldogges.

Sweetie: The sky is wailing, Lady Human. Please tell it to shut up.

Me: That’s the Tornado Warning.

Sweetie: So this is another human mess.

Me: Well, the siren is human, but no, we did not invent tornadoes.

Doodlebug: Don’t they know some of us are trying to sleep?

MoonCat: They don’t care about such things. Interruptions are their forte.

Me: Nobody is supposed to sleep just now. That siren says they have detected a hook cloud in the county. That means nearby.

Sweetie: Does this mean an early breakfast?

Me: It can. Is that why you came to get me?

Sweetie: No, I came to get you because I love you. And I wanted to visit with you. And to see if I could get an early breakfast.

BOOM!

Sweetie: Oh, Lady Humaaannn. The patio door’s open.

Me: Oh, great! The wind blew it open! The latch can’t hold it. I’ll have to.

Doodlebug: If the door’s open, we can all go outside to pee.

Me: Nobody is going outside to do anything. We are hunkering down. Except for me. I’m holding the door closed. Yay.

MoonCat: Consider me hunkered down. Y’all sleep tight.

Doodlebug: How long will this go on?

Me: Until the storm passes.

Sweetie: Who turned off the lights? How am I supposed to see my breakfast…when it eventually gets here?

Me: Power’s off. And now we’ve lost the phone and the internet, too.

Doodlebug: Point me in the right direction. I’ll go sniff ’em out.

Me: Sorry, Doodle. It don’t work that way.

Sweetie: The door is pushing you, Lady Human! Bulldog it! You’re plenty big enough!

Me: At least the steel gate is holding. That’s working.

Sweetie: Nothing else around here seems to be. Okay, time for early breakfast!

Me: Sorry, girl. You’ll have to wait until I can let go of the door.

Sweetie: See, Doodle! Keeping the wind and rain out of the house is more important to humans than breakfast. They have their priorities all wrong.

Copyright 2024 H.J. Hill. All Rights Reserved.