You might want to pack that bikini

It's warm here at the Jersey Shore! I snapped this pic around 10 am this morning at Ocean Grove (that's Asbury Park in the distance) - this lady had the perfect spot on the beach for her workout. The locals all know that September is THE month for perfect beach weather without the crowds, but late October?
The sky is that perfect shade of blue and it's just warm enough for a nice nap in the sun. One nice thing about my new job is that I have *field days* when I have to make home visits. I don't much enjoy poking around in client's homes, but I do really like the chance to be out of the office a few days a week. In between appointments this morning I took a walk on the boardwalk and enjoyed the warm breezes with Monarchs floating along the dunes. What a beautiful day it was.
The rugosa roses are still blooming and I was tempted to pick a bag of rose hips for jelly. Ocean Grove has a long history as a religious camp town and Sunday services are still held in a little pavilion on the beach with a view of the dunes and the sea.

I'm such a book dork

The people at Barnes and Noble must love me. I think they dig out the oldest and least-likely-to-sell books and pile them up in a pretty seasonal display in some far off corner of the store just hoping for someone like me to wander by. I zoom past the popular fiction-of-the-moment and go right for the dorky nature books.

This little book is my latest find and it's been getting a fair amount of use for the last week or so. It has nice pics of leaves, berries, and nuts to help me know what I'm seeing out in the woods. I'm not very good with trees and thought the fall color or seeds of certain trees might give away their identity more easily now than in the summer when everything is just so much green.

Fall color

"A tree in Autumn is a lovely sight. One tree alone can concentrate the beauty of a whole woodland, leaf by leaf and branch by branch, as one flower can give the essence of a whole garden. The beauty of the turning woods is not alone in the scarlet of a maple grove or the sun-gold glow of a hillside stand of beeches. It is in the subtle change that creeps along the leaves themselves, from point to point and vein to vein. A woodland in full color is awesome as a forest fire, in magnitude at least; but a single tree is like a dancing tongue of flame to warm the heart.

Watch even a single branch outside a certain window, and you are watching the color of change. One morning there is a spot of yellow on a certain leaf, yellow which has not yet quite achieved the glow of gold. Another day and that glow may be there. It spreads. The spot becomes a splash of gold, edged perhaps with a thin line of scarlet. It creeps down the leaf between the veins, and then across the veins; and the scarlet edging widens into a band and then a border. Meanwhile other leaves have begun to turn, some to gold, some to dull bronze, some to blood-red beauty. All on the same branch, yet no two alike either in pattern or coloration. And finally it is a branch as full of color as the whole woodland.

Thus comes Autumn, leaf by leaf and tree by tree; thus the woods become a hooked rug flung across the hills with all its folds and all its colors as they came to hand. But pause beside one tree and look, and you can see Autumn on all the hills. Pick up one leaf of those already cast adrift and you hold Autumn in your hand."
--Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons. Image grabbed from the Web and tweaked.

Do me a favor, will ya? Find a tree that you admire dressed in fall color. Take a pic of your hand holding a fallen leaf and send it to me. I'll post them here to make it feel like Autumn despite the 75 degree temps. This'll keep me occupied for the next few days while I anticipate the weekend in Cape May. But do it quick - deadline is Wednesday at 6 pm. Use the close-up setting on your cameras. It'll be pretty. My email is lc-hardy at comcast dot net.

Wild geese

"There are voices which we hear in solitude, but they grow faint and inaudible as we enter into the world."

--Ralph Waldo Emerson

Is it Autumn for you yet? Have you heard the geese calling as they fly overhead in the night?

Luka, the graduate

We passed! We passed! We made it through puppy school! Without ever having to sit in the corner with the dunce cap!

Tonight was our last night of puppy class and we had our big test, every pup got a bully stick for passing with flying colors, got a silly graduation hat, and then had their pic taken. What fun!

We'll be going back in another month or so to start the intermediate class and until then I think we'll have some practicing to do. We really enjoyed the experience and I can't say enough good things about the program at PetSmart. I'm not so nuts about other things they do, but this was worthwhile and fun.

I'm sure Luka will miss the doggy friends he made (especially Whiskey), but hopefully some of his classmates will be in the next level. The opportunity for them all to socialize and play in a safe environment was the most important aspect of the class, I think.

This last is a pic of all of us - just five dogs, but lots of people! Really, it was great to see the kids working just as hard as their pups.

Blog Action Day

Today is Blog Action Day when bloggers are writing about one important issue - the environment. All our blogs have different agendas and readerships, but the idea is to write a post which pertains to some environmental issue. To learn more or read other Blog Action Day posts, just click on the image to the left. Some friends from the blogroll who are also participating include Pure Florida, Hawk Owl's Nest, and Dharma Bums.

Seeing as I'm not much in the mood for preaching at you about something you hopefully already feel is important, I thought I would instead reminisce a bit about one of the ways that, as a kid, I was introduced to the great outdoors. I grew up in the 70's and most years we took family vacations that revolved around the water - either the ocean or a lake up north, often in Maine or upstate New York. There were no fancy hotels that I remember, just a cabin in the woods or, most often, our pop-up camper. Just looking at these pics brings back happy memories. I loved that camper! The drive to wherever we were going seemed to last forever, as did the anticipation for the trip. The morning of leaving, my dad always seemed to leave all the details of getting the camper ready to the very last minute - hitching that thing up to his beautiful shiny Cadillac was quite a feat and never seemed to go right. He was always very grumpy starting out on vacation.

I don't remember very many specific details about any of these trips - only the feel of the sun, the sand that was always in my kid-sized bed in the camper, the year we drove to Florida in the rain with the leaky window in the Cadillac and those huge bugs! My mom loved to sunbathe and spent days by the water slathered in oil, while dad with his freckled-skin had to be careful. I tagged along with my big brothers, building sandcastles or tooling around in this big orange boat. Fun times!

When I was older I went camping with the girl scouts or later with friends. I haven't been camping in years, but have all the gear in the attic, purchased years ago in hopes of getting the DH to give it a try. I love camping and think it's a great way to spend time together as a family and enjoy the outdoors. There's something about sleeping outdoors with all the sounds and smells of nature that is a great learning tool, I think, in that it replaces fear for the outdoors with comfort and curiosity. A good thing for kids today who spend so much time indoors or glued to some electronic gadget. Leave all the stuff behind and sit around a campfire and tell stories instead!

The NWF sponsors the Great American Backyard Campout each year in June. Pitch a tent or set up that old pop-up in your driveway and get a kid playing outside for a change.

One more from the decoy show

Apparently, even dogs are sometimes fooled by the decoys. And yes, I'm proud to say that this is not Luka!

Night sounds

Fall is slowly disrobing summer of her great green canopy and hushing the symphony of bird and insect life. Night sounds have diminished; there is only the slowing drone of crickets and the occasional soliloquy of a moonlit mockingbird. Instead of singing to an intended mate, as he did at night for most of the summer, his outburts now seem to be of complaint. I find myself wondering what it is that wakes him up like this, so indignant and bad-tempered. Is it the chill wind or is he startled awake by some unseen predator?

Very early in the morning, before dawn out with the pup, I sometimes hear the soft contact calls of the neighborhood cardinals and chip notes that come from the sky - no love songs these; they speak of cold and coming hunger. Within an hour the first chickadee is at the sunflower feeder and the mockingbird in his appointed place in the holly tree. Only the odd angle of the sunlight gives away that it's no longer summer, no longer the season of growth and abundance and love songs.

Just dropped in

This carving was our splurge at the decoy show this year. The Blackburnian is my favorite spring warbler lately and I like the way the bird is perched on this old tool, looking like it just dropped in there. I can't remember if I saw a Blackburnian this spring - it's kind of nice to have one there on the mantel.

It might be hard to appreciate from this darkish photo, but the whole carving is of wood, even the tool parts that are made to look like metal. I think it's called a *block and pulley* and is some sort of antique nautical tool. Neat, huh?

Help me understand this

I'm not a cyclist, so I must be missing something, but can someone help me to understand why the *serious* cyclists won't use the multi-million dollar bike path at Sandy Hook? It's plenty long and wide and has wonderful views of the bay and the holly forest and the ocean dunes. They even routed it through some of our favorite birding spots at the Hook - yet those darn people won't use it and instead insist on putting themselves out in the middle of traffic like they own the road! Do they have some sort of a death wish? Is playing in busy shore traffic part of the allure of cycling?

Please help me understand.

Buckeye

"This curious world which we inhabit is more wonderful than it is convenient; more beautiful than it is useful; it is more to be admired and enjoyed than used." - Henry David Thoreau

Things to do at Cape May

Count the skimmers!

One!

Two!

Three!

???

Black Skimmers stage on the beaches of Cape May in the fall and the flock grows to number in the hundreds as the season progresses. They are most often found resting on the beach during the day near the Convention Center - be sure to look for them, but keep a respectful distance for this endangered species, please!

Have you heard about the first-ever Bird Blogger Conference at this year's Bird Show in Cape May?

;-)

In case you live under a rock (or are just not obsessed with birds like the rest of us) you can read the details here and here. Sounds fun, doesn't it? Think about joining us while there's still time, okay? Cape May is not as far away as you might think and even if it is, it's well worth the trip. I'm lucky to live within a two-hour drive of one the five best birding spots in the country, but there's more to Cape May than birds and I'd love to see you enjoy the beauty of South Jersey before it's all paved over and filled up with shopping malls.

The time around Columbus Day always finds me under the weather and in need of a bit of Cape May's medicine. There's something about the salt air and a day off from the routine that works wonders for my mood... so I made a quick trip today to be able to share some of the magic with you. Are you ready to join us yet?

Four month pupdate

The vet tonight compared Luka to Shaquille O'Neal who is 7'1" and wears a size 23 shoe. Uh oh.

Play date?

I've overheard parents setting up *play dates* for their kids for the last few years and have to hide the smirk on my face, but when a stranger tried to arrange a playdate for their pup with Luka I didn't know what to think! I feel like it's bad enough that we need to schedule playtime into our kids already overscheduled lives, but are we to do the same for our pets? Whatever happened to turning the kids (or dogs) loose in the neighborhood to amuse themselves?

;-)

Truthfully, I don't believe it's wise to do either. Mostly I think we go too far to pamper and shelter our kids as much as we do. Granted, I don't have kids, so what do I know, but we all survived our childhoods, didn't we? Do we need to do the same to our pets? Can you believe that I had a stranger chastise me for having Luka at a street fair a few weeks ago because it was warm and "his feet must be burning up on that hot pavement!" Well gosh - get the animal cruelty people after me!

These same people would likely turn a blind eye to the homeless person they see each morning at the train station or the elderly relative struggling to maintain their independence. Do you realize that Americans spend 40 billion a year on our pets - to pamper them and send them to doggy day care and to feed them premium holistic food? Yet we have no sympathy for the underemployed, the children who live in poverty, or the elderly. Is it just me, or are our priorities fouled up?

I'm as guilty as the next person when it comes to spoiling my pets, but at least I think I recognize it for what it is. The NY Times article points out the hypocrisy in the choices we make - spending money to buy Halloween costumes for our pampered pets while countless other abandoned or unlovable pets are euthanised in shelters each year. Shouldn't we extend our concern to members of our own species just as willingly? Or perhaps more so?

Maybe it's only the (newly minted) social worker in me coming out. What do you think?

Great Bay Marshes

I often think I'm spoiled to live where I do, with so much beauty within an hour or two of driving. The ocean is just minutes away and I suppose that makes me take it somewhat for granted. At this season of the year, I don't think there's much more beautiful than the salt marsh. The seaside goldenrod is blooming, as are the big white bouquets of the groundsel trees. The really large marshes are a bit of a trip for me - Delaware Bay or south to the barrier islands stretching from Barnegat Bay to Cape May.

A return visit to the decoy show on Sunday left with me an hour or two before heading home to explore the salt marsh at Great Bay near Tuckerton. I wasn't looking for birds, just enjoying the scenery along the 5 mile road into the pristine marsh, passing salt ponds and little inlets and channels along the way. I found a sandy beach before the first bridge where Luka could run through the shallows while I studied the skies and the passing Monarchs stopping to feed on goldenrod. There was a noisy flock of Boat-tailed grackles near to a ridiculously-narrow wooden plank bridge and a few Great Egrets stalking the marsh grasses. I was surprised not to see more of them - one of the little creeks close to home has had at least 3 dozen egrets feeding in the early morning when the tide is right. I keep reminding myself to stop and photograph them before they've gone.

For those of you coming to the Fall Weekend - Tuckerton and nearby Brig is within driving distance from Cape May and may be worth a stop if you're coming from the north. I don't usually stop here on my way south to Cape May, prefering instead to head west to the Delaware Bayshore and visit the marshes there.

I wonder if this will be anyone's first chance to dip their toes into the Atlantic Ocean - Susan? Lynne?

Name that fish

Larry at Brownstone Birder always has the most challenging ID tests - whether it be song lyrics or bird/insect/wildflower ID, he usually manages to stump me (most often with his song lyrics - which Lynne is really good at, BTW). So, knowing one of his hobbies is fishing, I thought he might be able to ID the two fish decoys we bought this weekend. I, of course, know what they are (thanks to the little tags that came attached) but, do you?
These are miniatures and are reasonably priced for collecting. Technically, I think this is a lure, rather than a decoy, because of the dangly hooks and shiny bits. Is that right, Larry? Last year we bought a decoy, used for spearing, and there's a pic and some interesting info in the comments on this post, if you're interested. We bought these from the same carver as last year; he seems to win lots of ribbons for his work.
There was an article in our local paper today about the decoy show and reading it, I had to stop to wonder if the author was at the same show as my husband and I. It was made to sound like little more than a gathering of gun-toting rednecks! Sure, the taxidermists were there, but it seems to me the reporter totally missed the point. Maybe I turn my head too easily away from the hunting aspect of the show, but that is part of the heritage of the bay region. For all that I might find distasteful about it, I can think of plenty of less wholesome activities people can get wrapped up with.

Anyway, back to the fish - aren't they nice?

;-)

Decoys

Ducks in every size, shape and color were on display today at the decoy show; we even spotted a few disguised as pirates! We were somehow lured by this innocent-looking flotilla into buying raffle tickets to benefit the Tuckerton Seaport Museum; with luck the duckie with our name inside will be first across the finish line tomorrow in the race at Tuckerton Creek.

We had a wonderful day and are tired in that good way that comes with exercise and plenty of fresh air. Our wallets were properly exercised as well (I'll have some treasures to share later) and Luka (unofficially voted as the cutest Lab pup at the show) met at least a hundred other dogs and was petted and fussed over by loads of people. Have I mentioned lately how much this dog loves meeting people and other dogs?

The show runs through tomorrow - I'm even thinking of going back for a few hours - I still have some money left!

Peeper's top ten reasons bunnies rule

Certain astute blog readers have noticed the lack of bunny-related posts here lately. Peeper the Bunny is also acutely aware of the extent to which this household has gone, quite literally, to the dogs.

More specifically, little Luka has taken over near every moment of leisure that used to be devoted to the spoiling of bunnies. Of course they're being fed and petted and cleaned up after, but play and snuggle sessions have been relegated to the dark of night when the pup is sound asleep and I'm forced to tiptoe out to the bunny room in fear of waking the sleeping beast and undoing the night's work of settling him in for bed. I'm not singing Luka lullabies yet, exactly, but bedtime seems to have become more difficult the last few weeks.

The bunnies, in the meantime, are content in that way that only bunnies can be. It's in those moments of peace, when the house is dark and finally quiet (read free of barks and whines) that I am most content also, and glad for the gentle affection of my long-eared companions.

Peeper's list just states the obvious: bunnies and puppies are very different animals. I have to thank my lucky stars for Buddy's constant gentleness with the bunnies, but he was a mature dog of six years when I brought my first bunny home. I imagine that the bunnies must not even recognize this growing and yapping streak of black fur as the same type of being as the generally quiet and always obedient dog that Buddy was.

Peeper's Top 10 Reasons Bunnies Rule:

10. Bunnies are civilized and use pooty boxes; they do not require near quarter-hourly *walks* nor must their *business* be picked up in blue plastic baggies.
9. Bunnies don't do *tricks* for treats, nor are they expected to be *obedient*. They simply get treats for being cute.
8. Bunnies have good taste. They like fresh lettuce and crisp fruits and vegetables and they have naturally fresh breath. Lord knows what Luka's had in his mouth!
7. Bunnies are self-cleaning and don't require the indignity of an unnatural *bath* with the garden hose. Bunnies do not roll in unmentionable things.
6. Bunnies save *humping* for members of their own species. Puppies are not nearly so selective in their *affections*.
5. Bunnies know how to be subtle. Puppies do not. Enough said!
4. Bunnies do not wear their hearts on their sleeves and do not give their hearts to just anyone who comes along offering a cookie.
3. Bunnies dance gracefully when they're happy, puppies tend to fall all over themselves with joy and are anything but graceful.
2. Bunnies chew up useful things like telephone cords and computer wires. Puppies chew indiscriminately with no proper sense of revenge.
1. Bunnies are quiet. They live and love in near silence. If you're close enough and they trust you, you might hear them grind their teeth when petted or hear a gentle whuffle, or maybe an angry grunt or a thump of their strong feet, but mostly they do nothing to draw attention to themselves. Puppies, on the other hand, are all about getting attention.

What have I left out? I know there are some readers who have both bunnies and dogs... what are some of the biggest differences you notice?

Golden anniversary

Today we went to a 50th Anniversary party for my aunt and uncle. Don't they look too young to have been married for 50 years?

I can remember going to the 50th Anniversary party for my grandparents when I was a little kid - they were really old-looking at that point, but I guess my aunt and uncle were married young or have just aged really well. We had a nice time today - mostly I just watched their slew of grandkids dancing the afternoon away. Speaking of dancing - my aunt and uncle are real dancers - fun to watch. No one dances that way anymore.

We spent the afternoon catching up with the cousins and feeding our faces. It was an excuse to get dressed up, which I hardly ever do, and my feet are very unhappy tonight as a result. This weekend passed in a flash and I'm not looking forward to work in the morning. There's laundry to do and a very rambuctious puppy that needs some exercise - please send vibes for a good night's sleep!

Passage

Gliding like a tiny shadow before the tide, little more than a bit of wind-shifted sand, I search the place where sand and water become sky. The waves quickly erase my tracks and leave the beach empty of any memory of my passage. Days pass this way, the ebb and flow of life and memory, of abundance and heartache. With a note from high overhead I depart toward the southern stars in search of some other land and leave this piece of shoreline in the solitude of a late summer evening.

Girdled

Were my desktop PC working, I'd have edited this pic in PhotoShop to crop out Luka's *girdle* and focus your attention instead on his sweet face. Yet, maybe showing you the whole scene helps to account for the goofy look on his face, I don't know. I'm not sure why I didn't think to take off his *no-pull harness* before we started swimming lessons, but once it did occur to me we were both already good and wet. Cedar Creek in the Pine Barrens proved to be a great place to practice, with a gentle current, water that's shallow and clean, but cold!

gir·dle noun, verb, -dled, -dling.
–noun 1. a lightweight undergarment, worn esp. by women, often partly or entirely of elastic or boned, for supporting and giving a slimmer appearance to the abdomen, hips, and buttocks.
2. a belt, cord, sash, or the like, worn about the waist.
3. anything that encircles, confines, or limits.
4. Jewelry. the edge or narrow band between the upper and lower facets of a gem.
5. Anatomy. the bony framework that unites the upper or lower extremities to the axial skeleton.
6. Architecture. an ornamental band, esp. one surrounding the shaft of a column.
7. a ring made about a tree trunk, branch, etc., by removing a band of bark.

–verb (used with object)
8. to encircle with a belt; gird.
9. to encompass; enclose; encircle.
10. to move around (something or someone) in a circle.
11. to cut away the bark and cambium in a ring around (a tree, branch, etc.).
12. Jewelry. round

-from Dictionary.com

Calling the harness a *girdle* is something of an inside joke with my husband and I, as well as a sweet reminder of our Buddy who passed away this summer. I used to make him wear a sheepskin-covered seatbelt harness when we rode together in the car, and we always referred to it as a *girdle*. Buddy mostly hated it, but it helped to calm him in the car while doing nothing for his figure!

Rambling and grazing

I'm counting on someone out there recognizing this flower; it's blooming in all the weedy places right now and I haven't been able to come up with a name. I spotted this patch on a weekend walk with Luka through an overgrown pasture full of goldenrod, milkweed and thistles.

We had actually been walking on a dirt road around the pasture, but took a detour through the middle of it when I heard insistent osprey calls from the treeline in the distance. I wonder if it wasn't a youngster recently left to fend for itself. Of course, it flew from the perch as we approached, but along the way we came across these flowers and many scattered piles of deer poop which Luka found just delicious! I swear that pup has to put everything in his mouth - thank heavens we haven't wandered across any dead animals yet!

I don't have the enthusiasm for identifying wildflowers that I had in the Spring and wonder why that is. I find myself noticing berries, mostly, and trying to guess which animals they're meant to feed. It took me a while to realize that the ground-level clusters of red berries I'd been seeing were the fruits of Jack in the Pulpit - who eats them, I wonder? The viburnums have set fruit that will persist for months, yet the red dogwood berries are long gone by mid-September. The starlings see to that over the protests of the local mockingbirds. Fallen apples litter the ground, tempting deer and puppy the same, as Fall ambles our way.

Decoy show reminder

I'm posting this as much as a reminder for myself as for anyone else who might be in the area and interested in attending. I remember last year that Patrick had expressed an interest, so Patrick, mark your calendar now!

I had myself convinced that the show was next weekend... sigh. I'm just foolish enough to show up on the wrong weekend!

We'll be bringing the pup along and I may just decide to enter him in the puppy retriever contest for fun. I've been saving up my pennies for a while now to be able to buy a new decoy or two.

Hope to see you there! I may even have a prize to offer the first person who can correctly ID the ducks and the NJ landmark featured on this year's official show poster.

Click on the pic for a schedule of the weekend's events.

Some pics from last year's show are here, here, and here.

Yet another Pine Barrens mystery

Found beside a quiet swimming hole along Cedar Creek in the NJ Pinelands this morning. The Piney version of a seaside sandcastle or something else? Anyone care to speculate?

(Click for detailed view of the moat and the goldenrod-decorated towers.)

Puppy kindergarten

This little sweetie is Ciao Bella. Luka seems to think she is his personal squeaky toy. We've been going to puppy class on Tuesday nights for the last month or so and haven't been made to sit in the corner with the dunce cap, yet!

This is Sam, our trainer. All the puppies seem to love him - I think that's because he always has a treat in his pocket for the well-behaved pup. He's tough to please, but his experience as a canine police officer comes in handy with the unruly pups. That's Ciao Bella at his feet.

This is Whiskey - he's the same age as Luka and is so well-behaved. He's Luka's favorite playmate.

Luka and Whiskey became fast friends - they wrestle and chase one another. I think Ciao Bella is that little brownish blob under Luka's feet - oops! Whiskey is the only pup in the class that's similar in size to Luka and big enough to push him around. I love to watch them play together.

I don't know what type of dog Skippy is, but that's her hiding under the chair while Luka torments her. She's funny - shy with the other dogs during playtime, but she loves to distract them (especially Luka) during the *lesson* with barks and a flirty ear shake. She and Luka regularly compete for who can bark the loudest while poor Sam tries to teach. She comes to class with her mom and at least 5 little kids - none of whom even try to keep her out of trouble. Tonight she went for a swim in the huge water bowl!

The little black pug whose name I can't remember - she's a sweetie too. Luka likes to chew on the side of her face.

So far we've learned Sit, Take It, Leave It, Down, and just tonight - Come! Whiskey seems to be the star student in the group. Luka is just a goofball, true to his nature, but we're having fun.

Season's end

Empty osprey platform at Horseshoe Cove, Sandy Hook

I've been so out of it this summer that I missed spending any time with the local ospreys and before too long they'll be gone south for the season until late March.

There's a pair that nests on a cell phone tower here in town and mostly I watch them while stopped at the railroad tracks that pass beneath their nest. I don't see much besides an osprey-shaped shadow perched high up, but I'm glad to have them so easily within view. I tried a few times to photograph them from the parking lot nearby, but they always seemed to be off fishing when I was there with the camera. I see the pair though, and their young from my yard once in a while. Their calls stream down from above and I think myself blessed to have osprey as a yard bird.

My favorite nests to watch are the platforms on the marshes at Sandy Hook - especially at sunset. It wouldn't take much to convince me to set up a home with such a pretty view! I don't know that this or the other platform at Horseshoe Cove were used this year - the birds seem to have some mysterious preference for Spermacetti Cove or the chimneys on Officer's Row instead.

I always miss the osprey when they go. What birds do you miss the most when the season changes?

Thistle time

"What if you slept, and what if in your sleep you dreamed, and what if in your dream you went to heaven and there plucked a strange and beautiful flower, and what if when you awoke you had the flower in your hand?

Ah, what then?"

—Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Salty dog

What is it about being in a very public place that makes a puppy sooo prone to misbehave?

;-)

Maybe it was all that seaweed he ate, but Luka was an absolute devil at the beach this afternoon! He had a grand time digging in the sand and darting off with clamshells in his mouth. He was so wild at one point I almost walked off and left him. You know how puppies get in that frantic mode where their ears stop working and they're nothing but barks and snapping jaws - any bit of discipline just makes them worse.

I think maybe he was just cranky - his dinner was overdue and he'd missed his afternoon nap. He was snoring in the car on the drive home. He had a bath in the tub and then his dinner and now he's sound asleep like a little angel curled up on his bed.

I'm not far behind.

Sea legs

The DH and I had a wonderful surprise today. A friend of his just bought a boat and took us along on a ride. Is there anything better than a friend with a boat?

We had the pup along for what we thought was just a walk at the riverside park; before we knew it, we were cruising up the river to where it meets Sandy Hook Bay. We had a nice lunch dockside at a restaurant on the bay - and Luka even behaved himself pretty well! I only wish I'd had my camera along to be able to share a pic of him with his big ears flapping in the wind on the boat.

It was a great start to the long Labor Day weekend. The views were lovely and we had fun! I grabbed this pic off the internet, but it shows one of the views we had along the way - Twin Lights - which I wrote a bit about in this post.

I'm going to try very hard to get back to something like a regular blogging schedule soon. I'm finished with that god-awful training at work finally, and hope to be able to pay more attention to things now. I did very well on the tests and have a new position where I'll need to forget everything I've just been trained in and learn something new. But there won't be a gazillion tests this time! Two in our group of seven did not pass and are out of a job now. That really sucks. I felt so badly on Friday when we got the news.

So how is everyone else spending this last weekend of summer? Share, please!

Twelve week pupdate

Luka seems to be growing as we watch; he's thin, but has long legs that will reach the top of the kitchen counter before very long. His appetite is ravenous and he's learned the bad habit of barking non-stop while we prepare his meal. We'll be curing him of that real soon! Tummy troubles and a trip to the vet have him spoiled with homecooked meals for the last week or so. Boiled chicken and white rice, accented with green vegetables, every six hours. Warmed in the microwave, if you please.

What brand do you all feed your dogs and do I need to obsess about it as much as I have been?

We've been crating him for half the day and he's doing well with that. I was worried for the state of my kitchen baseboards and could only imagine the trouble he might cause when he's really teething in a month or two. My husband is the soft touch who doesn't like to use the crate, so I take the role as the bad guy who crates him before leaving for work; then my husband can be the good guy who lets him out at lunchtime. I bought a few of those Kong toys over the weekend for Luka to keep himself amused with while in the crate. I think he makes quick work of them, but at least he goes happily into the crate when I leave and doesn't see the crate as any sort of punishment.

We've been going to puppy classes one night a week, but skipped last week while I got us into a different class with more puppies. The class we were in consisted of a 5 month old Lab who only came once in a while and a cranky little 2 year-old Bijon that was scared of my pup. Not much happening in the way of socialization there, so we got out. I'm curious to see what the new group will be like - hopefully it will be a better fit for us.

I'm taking him with me everywhere - much to his delight! Just tonight we strolled through downtown Red Bank and were stopped every 20 feet by some new admirer. He loves the attention. We've been to the beach and the woods, and he even got his first taste of swimming. We met a huge Newfoundland that day at the beach - that dog could really swim! Luka had the chance to say hello, but somehow got himself tangled up in his lead under that monstrous dog and had himself a good scare. His puppy bravado changed tune pretty quickly and I had to rescue him from the furry bear that towered over him. Silly pup!

Well, that can't be good!

My desktop PC died on me tonight. At least, I think it's dead.

I've been getting the *blue screen of death* every so often for the last few months, but tonight it made some odd beeping sounds and the CPU fan came on as loud as a jet engine. And then it stopped and the monitor is just black.

Hmmmm.... maybe I just need a new fan? I have my fingers crossed that that's all it is. Every single one of my photos is stored on that PC and only on that PC.

;-(

I don't even have a clue as to where to begin, aside from trying again in the morning and hoping that it'll start up like normal.

Not likely, right?

Dreaming

Let's see... I'm dreaming of crisp fall days and an excuse to wear my nice Irish fisherman's sweater. We've had rainy days and nightime temps in the 50's this past week, but today the heat and humidity returned in full force.

I'm dreaming of a peaceful night's sleep, free of crying puppies and the anxiety of taking multiple tests to prove my mettle at this new job. The tests are done now; I had three in as many days, but we won't be told how we did until late next week. I was giddy to be done with it yesterday and hate this in-between time, not knowing.

I'm dreaming of a weekend full of sunshine and fun. I've no specific plans, but there's a horse show and a pup who might like a visit to Sandy Hook Bay. Or a walk in the woods close to home; maybe a dip in the creek. The vegetable garden needs attention, as does the pond. Funny how these chores so easily get away from us late in the summer.

The summer itself seems to have gotten away from me this year. Next weekend is Labor Day and then the start of school and before we know it, it'll be Christmas again. Where does the time go?

Has anyone else dreamed up something good for this weekend?

Hazards

Puppyhood is fleeting and fraught with danger. Most days Luka is full of puppy bravado and bravely challenges vacuum hoses, ladders, and little old ladies with umbrellas. He sneaks up on napping bunnies like a stealthy cat and pounces at plastic grocery store bags. He talks back when disciplined, yet sits politely while waiting for his dinner.

Each day, with frequent walks to new places and the added help of a weekly puppy class, he's learning some manners and being exposed to new things. I'm amazed with how forward and unafraid this pup is with strangers and unfamiliar things. For all of his life my Buddy would approach the downtown area of our little neighborhood with his tail between his legs - too many people and too much activity always made him apprehensive - yet this little guy trots forward with a happy tail, glad to meet anyone who will pause long enough to coo over him.

He's been stepped on more than once by clumsy strangers and has learned not to put himself underfoot despite his eagerness. Just yesterday he learned how to go down stairs for the first time and was quite pleased with himself for no longer needing to be carried outside for potty breaks like a little baby. He's tall enough now to surf the top of the coffee table; making yet another piece of furniture that I have to keep free of clutter. He spends workdays napping, waiting for us to come home to walk him and peeling paint from the kitchen baseboards.

Everything must be explored with his mouth and teeth. Some flower or rock or patch of dirt has managed to upset his stomach - we've been dealing with that the last few days. Healthy portions of boiled rice and some canned pumpkin have gotten his poops back to normal, but not without accident and a sleepless night or two.

We've been playing fetch in the yard and he's loving that. He's still very clumsy and most often lands on his head before getting the ball in his mouth. Today we had a scare when he carried the ball under the Rose of Sharon hedge and disturbed a bunch of ground-nesting wasps. I thought his panic was because the ball rolled out of his reach or that his lead was tangled among the branches, but coming closer I saw that he was covered in wasps. Poor thing! I called Rich from across the yard and we brushed them all off, but Luka was stung and yelping and frightened. We called the vet just to be sure he'd be okay and he is, but it scared me how he became so suddenly quiet and subdued. I wonder if he'll be put off playing fetch now or if he'll pester bees in the garden the way Buddy always did.

The books all say that what pups learn now sticks with them for life, so we're mindful that his expereinces are all as positive as can be. Most indignities have been easily remedied by the generous administration of cookies, but I'm not so sure that this one won't sting for a good while in his memory.

Dog days

Everything seems to be taking twice as long to accomplish these days. Mostly because I've forgotten just how much work a puppy is and how much general chaos they can bring about in a normal day.

I haven't properly responded to your comments here in months, it seems, and I feel badly about that. I barely find time to surf by your blogs before it's time for another walkie or play session.

The pressure is on at work with just a few weeks left in my training period. I've three tests ahead of me in the next two weeks and then a final week of waiting to hear if they've decided to keep me on in this new job. The world won't end if I have to go back to the old one - I've come to that conclusion here lately. There's something to be said for the comfort of the familiar, be it the *old* job or the old dog content to sleep at your feet.

So, in an effort to get caught up with all of you and maintain my sanity (and friendships) I'll be taking something of a summer vacation from blogging everyday. Please don't think me disinterested for not having been in touch lately. When I've found a minute to appreciate the wonder of something, I'll be sure to share it. Please be here with me when I do.