Packed

Long time, no write. But I've been sick and then well again. And then I got to go on vacation.

My Person packed her sturdy shoes and her jacket, and my Best Friend packed his laptop and I packed me! Off to the North Shore we went. It was fabulous.

I think someone changed our bumper sticker from "Dog is my Co-Pilot" to something like "Dogs sit in the back seat only." Did I say the vacation was fabulous? Let me take that back. Other than riding in the backseat, it was fabulous. I tried almost constantly to insinuate myself into the front seat but it just didn't work. Rats!

Some highlights:
1) Adric the Cat stayed home!
2) Pico the Cat stayed home!
3) Ollie the Cat stayed home!
4) I almost caught a wild woodland chipmunk!
5) I got to eat part of a fresh donut at the harbor!
6) I got to use my new expanding dog leash!

I have some great pictures from my trip but you'll have to wait to see them until my Person forks them over. Right now I better go unpack the rest of myself.

Feeling my age

You know I am beginning to feel a bit like a pensioner. Rests, trips to the doctor for more medicine, little gentle walks. No tearing through the deep weeds, slurping pond water - none of the usual joys of youth.

Yesterday I went to see my vet and it left me shaking in my little white boots. One poor old dog had just come out of surgery and another dog...well, all I can say is his collar and leash are hanging in a place of honor at his Person's home and there is much sadness there. Another young dog had just had surgery and wasn't going to be able to play for a week. Can you imagine?

And in the corner a flame point Siamese cat was crying about having his teeth cleaned. Cats! It just makes you wonder. We dogs are made of sterner stuff and we have to be. It is a hard world.

I could be resting up on my back step in the milky sunlight with a blanket over my knees but my Person thoughtlessly decided to water the lawn and my step is all wet. So I will suffer in silence and go throw myself upon the bed. If I were a cat I would just cry!

A journey

I just came back from a trip to the other side of the big river. I traveled for hours to see my human grandparents and wish my grandpapa a happy birthday. It was such a long trip and the sun shone brightly on my seat and I tried to sit in my Person's shady lap and the only other shady place in the car had a birthday cake sitting in it. So it was a little bit of a hard trip for this little red dog, but getting there made it all worth while. (As did the french fries my Person shared with me on the road.)

My human grandparents have a flowery yard with lots of bees and wrens and hummingbirds and rabbits and I was happy to sit and watch all the activity of all those creatures. And I was much fussed over and my grandpapa bought ME a present, a wonderful and large chewy bone. I buried it swiftly under the lilac tree. And guess what? My Person dug it up! I will have to watch her like a hawk because this might be a clue as to what she does all day when I am in the backyard dozing and chasing squirrels. She says she's working but she probably is working on my chew toys.

On our way back home we stopped to see something fantastic and that is what you see in the picture. It is the rare and shy whooping crane! This bird is much taller than I am and lives an amazing life, flying from its summer home in the North Land all the way to Florida! The flock this bird belongs to was entirely wiped out by humans and a very small group of people have been working hard to bring these tall white birds back from the edge of extinction!! I was pretty happy to see this whooping crane and to wish it well.

Then I saw a deer and I forgot all about everything else, because I am a little red hunting dog at heart.