Snap By Snap

Do you have a bedtime routine? Goldie does. Each night at 10:00 pm, usually within 10 minutes give or take, Goldie gets ready for bed.
We keep her blanket stored in a basket, and she leaves it alone all day until 10pm. Then she paws over the basket and keeps at it until she has the entire thing out on the floor. She obsessively paws it, noses it, and sometimes grabs it in her mouth and pulls it until she gets it just right. Just right looks like this, tonight:
"Perfect" generally lasts for about five minutes until more pawing, nosing, and pulling is necessary to get the blanket back in shape. She works it from one side of the room to the other, getting out of breath and so frustrated that she sometimes walks away completely and gives up. But she always comes back. Or she pauses in the midst of her work and snorts out a heavy sigh and looks at us as if to say, "This is hard work!"

When we turn out the lights and go to bed, she finally quits her obsession for the night and goes to her bed.  If we're out of the house for the evening, however, she leaves the blanket in its basket. This is somehow a social project. I wonder if she knows it makes us smile each evening?