Blue was being as well-behaved as could be expected. Waiting for Supreme Court opinions is slow and tedious, even when you are a lawyer waiting for important voting and election opinions to be released. But when you are a one-year-old Portuguese Water Dog puppy, the wait is unbearable.

Today, I woke up early, fed Blue, grabbed coffee and settled in before my computer. At 10 a.m., the opinions started rolling in, one by one, with large gaps of time between them.

First, the large technology company Cisco Systems won a case. That was followed by a victory for Exxon Mobil. I knew nothing about the legal issues in either of these disputes, nor why the Court was considering them. But the pattern was clear.

Then the Court ruled against a devout Rastafarian who had his dreadlocks forcibly shaved by prison guards. The prison officials did this despite being shown a prior court decision protecting Rastafarians from having their hair cut. In the past, the Court has gone to great lengths to protect Christian religious observances — including prayers at high school football games.

Blue did not care about any of this. He was tired of me paying attention to my computer, and he was not going to accept being ignored. He jumped on my lap — all 50 pounds of him — knocking my computer to the floor.

But I was still waiting to see if the Court would announce decisions in either of the two big voting and election cases I am directly involved in litigating. Blue was not pleased.

Watson v. RNC involves the latest Republican attack on mail-in voting. The RNC is trying to disqualify ballots postmarked by Election Day but, due to slow mail service, received in the days following the election. If successful, the GOP will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters this fall.

NRSC v. FEC is another case brought by Republicans that I inserted myself into in order to defend existing law. This is a campaign finance case that could lead to even more money and spending in politics.

Shortly before 11 a.m., the Court finished its business for the day. Blue was just beginning his.

I opened the front door, and Blue bolted for the open gate and sprinted a hundred yards toward his goal — the pond. Without missing a beat or breaking stride, he leapt into the pond and started swimming. After a few seconds, he jumped out, ran around to another spot and repeated the process.

This is not the first time Blue has grown impatient. It is not his first foray to the pond. It is, however, the first time I have seen him swim with the intense pleasure of a child at a pool on a hot summer day.

After 30 minutes or so, I coaxed Blue from the pond and back toward the house. He reluctantly followed, but only after sprinting around the expansive field between the gated front lawn and the pond. He seemed to have boundless energy fueled by pure joy.

Once back inside, Blue made clear he still wanted to play. A different dog might want to curl up and nap. An older pup would be ready to let me go back to work. But that isn't Blue.

I named Blue in honor of Bode, my longtime companion who died of canine leukemia last year. I chose Blue because he is a pro-democracy dog. On days like today, he reminds me of Bode, but Bode did not like to swim. Seeing Blue jump into the pond reminds me that he is very much his own dog.

The Court did not release either of the two opinions I was waiting for on Tuesday. The next chance is Thursday. Blue and I will be waiting. I will be hunched over my computer. Blue will be impatient.

When the Court started releasing decisions this morning, I yelled at Blue that he could really help me by just letting me do my work. But now I realize that another, perhaps more important, way he helps is reminding me to find joy even in times like this. Sometimes you just need to sprint to the nearest pond and jump in.