I thought bark, maybe. It seemed both penitential and locally sourced.

Mallory, your mind is so strange and wonderful, I love it/this.

Oh my goodness, Finn is a most adorable hedgehog! What a perfect little button of a snufflenose!

Oh! I'm sorry to hear about your kitty's illness! A big mental sympathy-hug to you.

I'm so sorry to hear of your loss, Nicole. Your Liza was beautiful and sounds like a Very Good Cat.

My childhood dog lived to the ripe old age of 14, and right up til the last few months, acted just as much like a puppy as he always had. He was purebred and had a completely silly registered name, due to our getting him when I was 6: My parents told me that purebred dogs are named after their parents, the place where they live, and then their own name. So I named him MissT's Hometown Rex (because I was his mommy, you see). He is down in an AKC registry somewhere with this ridiculous moniker.

There's too much to say about him, or indeed about my current pet, a beautiful little grey cat named Lily, as there is about any life. As I've been trying to write this, I find that I can't really think of any notable anecdotes that I would share about either of them; it's more a matter of all the little everyday things that they do that make them special and bring us so much love and joy.