Photo Frame Found, Mind Still Missing

        Sometimes inanimate objects develop legs and walk off around my house. More often, though, they leave in the mouth of a four-legged critter known as Maggie. 

That was my thinking process one cold day this past winter when a framed picture of my American Mastiff, Moses, disappeared. I’ve written before about the way Maggie, my mutt rescue, carries toys and shoes outside and buries them. (See “Moses, Maggie & the Butter Dish,” my February 17, 2014, post). Her latest caper appeared to involve a picture frame. Keep reading, and you’ll understand why I use the word, “appeared.”

The picture was of Moses when he was about six months old, and its frame had reliefs of Mastiffs around the edges. It sat on one of my end tables in my Great Room. On this particular day, I noticed it wasn’t there. Thinking perhaps my three-year-old grandson, Mati,  had played with it, I looked behind and under sofas and beds, finding nothing more than dust bunnies. I looked in the trash cans. Again, no photo frame. 

At 2 a.m. the next morning, when sleep was elusive, I lay in bed wondering where it could be. Suddenly, I realized I had seen it since Mati had been here. Then I recalled coming home one night and finding a torn box of facial tissues on the floor, with much of its contents shredded and scattered because I had left it on the end table where Moses could reach it. That’s when it hit me: The Butter-Dish Bandits had struck again. 

Working in tandem, Moses must have grabbed the tissue box, knocking off the picture frame in the process. Maggie probably grabbed it and ran. It had to be in the house somewhere, I reasoned, because it was raining that evening, and I left home without opening the doggy door. 

However, I searched the house again that morning, and still couldn’t find the frame. Why did she do it? Was she  jealous of Moses, and went for his photo because she couldn’t go for him? Who knows. 

I knew I could replace the photo. I have it on my computer. But the frame is unique. I’ve never seen another like it. Figuring I’d have to wait until the snow melted to attempt another outdoor search of Maggie’s hidey-holes, I temporarily gave up.

Meanwhile, I wracked my brain trying to recall whether I had moved the frame to another location. Perhaps affected by the frigid temperatures, my brain refused to wrack. No mental picture came to mind.

Several hours later, as I was re-arranging some teapots on my Great Room bookcase, guess what I spotted? Yep, right there on the top shelf it sat, my missing photo frame. I have no recollection of when or why I put it there.

I don’t know which is worse, having dogs that work in collusion to knock stuff off your countertops to eat and bury them, or losing your mind.

      Actually, I do know which is worse, but I try not to think about it.