I've talked in the past about my old girl dog and how she has become hyper (to put it mildly) about thunderstorms. I have repaired and repaired the screen, adding a layer of chicken wire.

I thought I'd solved the problem until I heard scratching noises from the front porch as a storm approached. It was Freckles and she had just torn through all those nice repairs and was on the porch. I grabbed her collar, more or less dragged her through the house and shoved her out what is our main door. Then I went out and added a roll of semi-used screen and my dead silk eucalyptus tree in an attempt to barricade the porch from unwanted entry. I then came back to the office room and was doing computer stuff when I heard funny noises in the hall.

There was Freckles pawing at the cat box in the bathroom. Once again I escorted her outside, put back the barricades, noted that there was now a big hole in the screen--and then shut the door from the porch to the house. I left the window the cats use halfway open, so even if Freckles gets to the porch, she shouldn't be able to get in the house. I guess I'm going to have to nail up a wood panel completely closing off that section of screen.

It's not like she's trapped outside in great outdoors--the garage is open for her to take shelter in there. Fella was in there when I was looking for a board to put on the inside of the porch to sort of slow down the number of incoming bugs. And there is always under the house.

Freckles (and Fella) are 14 years old, and it was not until last summer that she started trying to get in the house when there was thunder. It started before Katrina, or I'd blame that.

So, I have an old scaredy dog that has been a yard dog all her life suddenly deciding that she has to be inside if it rains.

I really don't feel like doing patching in this hot weather, but then I'd like to have a porch where the screens aren't broken.

I guess the reason there haven't been any porch incidents since the post-Katrina repairs is because we haven't had any thunderstorms in a long time.

(Incidentally, the cats were not the least bit concerned about her being in the house. Fabin was in the hall watching her with interest, not fluffed up at all.)