Proof Of Snooze

Barley, a dog, snoozes on her giant dog bed, one paw out for good measure.

A non-insubstantial percentage of my photos of Barley are relatively samey photos of her sleeping, taken so that I might append them to some ongoing conversation in order to say, “Look at how sleepy my dog is right now.” I don’t think I ever had this “proof of life” instinct before I owned a smartphone, and I’m not much of a shutterbug otherwise. Barley brings out a particular sharing mood in me that I don’t feel with respect to photos of myself. “Check me out” feels distasteful and self-aggrandizing, while “check out my dog” feels worthy, even generous.