Getting better all the time

You can't keep a little red dog down. Three days into my regimen of four holistic remedies twice daily as prescribed by my nice and very interesting (that is a common noncommittal midwestern descriptor) veterinarian, I am feeling almost like I should once again.

Not that it did me much good today. My Person lavished all her attention on playing musical plants in my backyard (I bet they feel worse than I did), moving them all around, giving them haircuts and generally distributing torture left and right in the name of creating a "natural" environment. According to her.

I haven't noticed this kind of silliness going on in the real natural environment. Plants take care of themselves quite nicely and if they get old and rotten or branches fall off, a squirrel or an owl moves right in. People are a puzzlement! They aren't happy unless they are messing with things.

But as long as my Person doesn't start playing musical dogs I guess I'll keep my mouth shut.

On edge

How do you feel about heights? You know nothing scares me though my Person was clutching at my leash and looking worried. But here I am on vacation!! Looking at the sea caves of Red Cliff. It was pretty interesting and a pretty big drop and if I had fallen that would have been the end of this little red dog.

My Best Friend came along also and it was a good vacation of hiking and then some more hiking and then some more hiking. I went swimming in Lake Superior and I saw a wood turtle and scared some Wisconsin rabbits. My Best Friend saw a bear but I missed it. And my Person saw a skunk but I missed that also. We all saw eagles hunting for fish and deer prancing across the road and sea gulls flying and I talked to a bunch of vacationers who had never seen a dog like me except in picture books about Dogs of the World.

But now I am home and a bit sick from drinking ditchy, creeky, streamy, rivery and lakey water so it is time for a little rest for a little sick dog.

Suddenly summer

I live in a strange place. Half the year it is so cold that you risk your life by going outside. And pity those who live outside in it - fur fluffed and feathers puffed and beaks stuffed with suet just to keep going through another frozen minute.

And then one day the world is bright green all over and there are young squirrels arm wrestling, butterflies flying erratically, dive bombing tree swallows (jeez, just because I peaked in their nest box), baby starlings carousing, toads snoring dreamily, cats pouncing, dragonflies buzzing and mosquitoes biting everyone including me! The plants seem to grow while you watch them and if you fall asleep under a wee bush it might not be so wee when you wake up again.

I don't know where the chipmunks were hiding all winter but they are at their full strength now and they run from my rain gutter and into my neighbor's yard, somehow getting passed my watchful eye. I am going to stay here and watch for them if it takes the rest of the summer for me to figure out how to catch them!

On guard

Here I wait for the chipmunks to come out of the down spout. Here I wait for a good walk to start. Here I wait, maybe to go see my cousins again.

Here I don't wait for the sun to shine - I do that inside. It has been a deluge around here and not only does that cut into walking time, chipmunk stalking time and other play time but it's been hard on my nerves as well. I am the tiniest bit afraid of storms and it has been storming ever since my Person came back. Maybe I should connect the dots...my Person goes away and the weather is fine...she comes back and its ark time.

Wisely wanting to book passage on the ark is a new arrival in my back yard. A chunky and spotted toad has been creeping around and I would give him a good pounce but he's too slow to challenge my stalking skills. And he's too silly looking to be worried about. Plus he might be eating up some of those mosquitoes that have come along with the rains. I am giving him free passage in my domain out of respect for him as a fellow hunter. He can take care of the bugs and I'll take care of those rodents!

On the job

My wonderful vacation is over. I walked about 7 miles a day, kept my cousins well-entertained, guarded a new area of the city from evil doers, and scared the stuffing out of a family of rabbits who were convinced a cunning fox had moved into the neighborhood. But all good things must end and I am back home with my Person.

What do you normally do when you get back from vacation? A load of laundry is in order and I did mine by jumping into the river and splashing until I was wet everywhere (never changing clothes is so practical). Then I tumbled dry by running madly through the riverside woods. After that I napped.

But today I was back on the job. You see me here in my blue bird trail monitor role. I also got some more napping in as I had gotten a little behind because my cousins needed my attention almost constantly. Mine is a tough job but I am always up to it.

You know what people say about vacations - home for five minutes and it's like you never went away. But I haven't forgotten how much fun I had with my cousins. I wonder if I could book my Person another trip to the land of sea urchins soon?

Wandered away

I didn't. But my Person did.

At least she didn't send me to lock up this time. I am with my human cousins and having such fun I may never go home again. I got to watch their soccer practice and I escorted them to school and it is WAY more interesting here than at home with my Person.

I hope she doesn't read that.

She did call me and said she saw a sea urchin. If she wants to fly across the country to see something that would as soon poke her in the foot as look at her, that is her business. All I know is her vacation is a vacation for me this time!