Other people get purebred puppies with names longer than their tales; our pets wander in from the alley, or are the finest of barn kittens.

Our new pet is no different - over the last few weeks, we've acquired a feral traffic cone. It's been hiding out by the garbage cans ever since the big snow we had in December. We don't see any name on it, so we don't know who it belongs too.

It's been suggested that we take it into the Seattle DOT and see if it's been chipped, but I called them and they said in our neighborhood, it was likely dumped, and not really worth getting a carrier for it, etc.

It's a pity - it's a friendly little thing with a bright orange coat and two bands of reflecting tape - quite charming actually. I wonder if it was the orange coat that caused it to be dumped? We were over in Bellevue last weekend and the fashion there seems to be for light gray traffic cones. That just isn't right. People shouldn't expect their pets to be fashion accessories.

It also seems pretty smart. I expect I could teach it tricks with no effort at all.

So one of my errands tomorrow will be to the pet store for a traveling container, a harness and leash, and two real pet bowls to replace the cottage cheese containers. I wonder if they have Purina Traffic Cone Chow?