So so

It is very hot and I am resting inside in un-airconditioned discomfort. I got my walk in early, raindrops dancing on my head, and will take another one when the evening light is a bit gentler.

We like to walk in a place that is being returned to native-ish prairie. It is a place where we often run across Mr. Woodchuck and he always gives me a quick look and hides himself away in the bushes. A few days ago the park department sprayed some poison on the plants they didn't want living in that prairie and the workers put up a little crooked warning sign saying "Stay out!"

I am thinking Mr. Woodchuck couldn't read. We found him sprawled on the ground in a position he would have never assumed when alive. I had always admired his sturdy frame and his glossy darkness and I am a bit ashamed of all the times I barked at him.

A nicer part of the day was having a bit of a picnic lunch with my Person. We went to a park and had a falafel sandwich together and we both sat awhile, sniffing the breeze and neither of us had too much to say so neither of us said anything at all. We just sat and stared, something we both excel at.

Census

The population is going up soon. Census figures for this household will now include a few extra bees.

There is so much a little red dog has to learn about people and their ways and much of what I learn is strange indeed. I've learned that domestic honeybees aren't native to this country and they get raised like little livestock, given all kinds of antibiotics and set loose to pollinate specific crops. Sometimes they run out of food and starve after they have done their jobs. And they seem to be getting very sickly and dying out. But without bees, plants won't get pollinated and without plants we are all in some big trouble.

There are lots of other bees that are native to this country, are important plant pollinators and live in things other than beehives. Some lay their eggs in holes and here are some now! My Person is always fiddling and she made this bee nursery to encourage some of those other kinds of bees to hang around our garden. It is an amazing structure and busy as, well, a bee! It is like a huge apartment building, only one in which all the residents are goggle-eyed and can fly.

This makes me think about homes in the wild. I think I am pretty wild but the truth is I like sleeping on a soft couch. Other creatures are truly wild and even though we might help them along with nest boxes and feeders and nurseries, the best thing is if they have plenty of truly wild houses in the truly wild wilderness. And it is up to people to make sure that there are wild places left for wild creatures, places with No People, and it is up to little red dogs to remind them to do that.

Brotherly love

That's not me. I haven't gotten all pale and flabby. (Even though I am still a sick little red dog.) This is Pico, my cat brother. He has been so nice to me the past few days, rubbing against me and purring. Maybe he can tell my little internal candle is burning a bit dimmer than usual.

I am taking a whopping seven medications! Well, since my doctor is almost wholly holistic, all but one of them are really tonics. And they do make me feel better but not well, so he caved and gave me a real bona fide medication. And my Person will attest that if I discover that particular pill in my special homemade dinner, I will neatly remove it and leave it on the floor.

I am still up to my usual activities but in a less spirited fashion. I just went for a little evening stroll and ran into an old acquaintance of mine, Lola. She's cute and spotted, and she's part beagle and part pit bull. That makes her a Pigle. Or a Bit. Am I glad my origins are shrouded in mystery so no one can make up silly names like that to attach to me.

Even though Pico is being kind of a Pal, that Adric has been trying to grab my Person's attention when I am deserving of all of it, and that Ollie has been trying to eat my special homemade convalescent diet! I am all for brotherly love, but as soon as I am feeling better I am going to have to remind them who is the top dog around here.

Dog day

This was a summer day - nothing more and nothing less. What does a dog do on summer days? He naps for one thing.

A summer day for a dog also includes going for a walk, chasing and almost catching a squirrel, eating some bird seed under the feeder, getting a surprise visit from a charming but addled sheltie cousin and napping in the sun after the shady nap is over.

Today I watched butterflies flitting around, bees buzzing deep into flower heads with their pollen sacs on their little legs filled to bursting with yellow powder, and an endless parade of woodpecker parents leading their young to the suet feeder. I also watched my Person read for awhile but that is what got me napping. She is so dull sometimes!

Now it is a summer evening and I have eaten my summery super and I am headed back out for a few more looks and sniffs and an evening nap on the step. Then my perfectly summery day will be done.

The search

Off an adventure again. And this was the most boring one yet!

I am a scientific dog - a bluebird trail monitor and a semi-official loon monitor - and I led my Person and my aunt veecee on an adventure far out west to where the prairie used to live. It is all farm country now.

We searched high and low for loons. We stared long and hard. We were armed with clipboards, sharp pencils, and one of us with unusual gifts of perception. (I don't want my Person and my aunt arm wrestling over this one so I will tell you now that last reference is to me.)

There were no loons! We saw cormorants, and a bald eagle sail in for a catch. We saw kingbirds and killdeer (I hope they don't, and if they do I don't know how because they are tiny), we saw white pelicans and we saw black terns. We even saw a spotted dog with only three legs in working order but that's another story.

All in all we were skunked.

But I got ice cream and french fries and that almost made up for me having to ride in the back seat when I sure we would have done better if I had been in the passenger seat with the map. And I let some friendly ticks hitch a ride east with me. Who knows - maybe they were loon monitors on an adventure of their own.

More magic

Anyone in this picture look familiar? It is me, and the picture was made in the most amazing way. It was made by an oatmeal box used as a camera!

My Person has been experimenting. She does that a lot: with plants, with my dinner, with nicknames for those annoying cat brothers I am saddled with, and this time, with photography. She found out you can make a camera out of just about any kind of box and you don't need a lens or a roll of film or a computer chip. It isn't really magic - it is called pinhole photography. But it seems like magic to me.

It takes longer to expose an image when you are using a pinhole camera, so your subject, me for example, can't move for a long time. I couldn't pant, flop on my side, yawn, scratch, bark or even drool for ten whole seconds! It was terrible. But when the ordeal is over, you get a nifty print like this one that looks sort of like it was taken many years ago, before there were any little red dogs like me. Pinhole cameras take Mysterious pictures.

So if you feel like experimenting, get out your oatmeal box. But get someone else to pose for you, okay?

Home

There are several reasons for taking up residence in my Person's home. One is that you have admirable companionship qualities. That is why I am here.

Another is that you might be a bit ill and need some nurturing. That's the case for me too, recently. However, I did get into the compost yesterday and had some coffee grounds. And guess what? I felt almost completely well after that! Who needs medicine?

When my Person found out what I had done she gave me what she calls her "withering" glance. It didn't work. I am not at all withered. Just a bit tired from all that running around.

There might be a reason for Adric the Cat being here but I haven't figured it out yet.

Another reason for taking up residence here is because you need a little help during a life transition. That is why this fellow you see, the Monarch caterpillar, is here. Birds might peck him or a wasp might sting him and Monarchs aren't faring so well as they used to. Something to do with bad weather and herbicides that keep their favorite foods from growing.

My Person says if there is magic in the world, you can see it by watching a Monarch caterpillar. First it is a little tiny egg. Then it is a little tiny caterpillar. Soon it is a great stripey caterpillar munching on milkweed leaves so loudly that I would say "Excuse me!" if I ate that noisily. Then it becomes a green blob stuck by some silk threads to something. Then it is a green hard shell with golden spots, ever so quiet and stiff. Then the shell pops open and out comes a beautiful Monarch butterfly. How does this happen?

Maybe my Person is right - maybe it is magic!