Well it only took 3 years, but I finally figured out what is Asa’s kryptonite.  So what stops my happy-go-lucky little brother dead in his tracks? It’s not my nemesis snakes, nor is it the dreaded vacuum.  It’s not even the scary hairdryer after a bath.  Nope, Asa is rendered powerless by the lid of a storage bin propped up as a makeshift gate!  Seriously, the big bad Dire Wolf won’t go near it!

This all started when Asa couldn’t resist redecorating with a few of Mom’s Christmas knickknacks.  He likes to carry them from one room to another, especially a musical snowman.  So wanting to keep an eye on him while they worked, Mom blocked the computer room door with the lid from one of her storage bins.  The thing is barely propped up.  It even randomly fell over at one point.  But Asa is scared of it, and won’t go near it.

So sacred, in fact, that he almost missed dinner!  Yesterday when Dad finished working, he removed the silly blockade and he and I headed downstairs.  Asa usually obediently follows along, so neither of us thought anything about him.  In fact, we were downstairs for about a half-hour before Mom asked, “where’s Asa?”  Dad called for him.  No response.  Mom went running upstairs, assuming he was up to no good with so many temptations…including a room full of wrapping paper!  But where did she find him?  Cowering by the computer room door, afraid to walk past the storage bin lid propped up against the wall.  She tried to coax him to walk past, but he refused.  She even placed a treat on top of it, but he retreated back into the room instead!  Downstairs Dad began rattling his dinner bowl full of kibble, a call that usually gets Asa to come running from anywhere in the house.  But Asa just stood there with the most worrisome look on his face.  Realizing he was determined to stand his ground and not face his fear, Mom moved the lid into a nearby room.  Asa got all low to the ground, and scurried past it down the stairs to his awaiting dinner bowl.  Darn, I was hoping to get two meals last night!