Routine

I have always wished I was a little better at spontaniety.  You know ... the 'fly by the seat of your pants' kind of person who can make plans at the last minute (or cancel them) without it causing too much stress.   I'm just not that kind of person.  Never have been.  I like to plan ahead, look forward to major events like vacations and holidays and have all my ducks in a row.   When I take a trip, I have an itinerary, even if I'm going alone.   "Flexibility" to me, means building one rainy day into my schedule so that if we run into inclement weather, I don't completely unravel! 

It turns out that dogs like routine too.   Structure.  Consistency.   Doing the same thing in the same way, day after day.   Of course the seasons bring changes in our day-to-day schedule, but those changes are gradual, and so the transition is pretty seamless.   Dogs don't need a watch to keep track of time like we do, but their circadian rhythm adjusts to the schedule we set for them.  

Some veterinarians recommend once a day feeding, but my dogs have always done well with a small dish of food in the morning, and then a larger meal around 5:30; when I get home from work.   If I forget, Dee Dee  lies by her food bowl.   She doesn't bark or whine or make a fuss; she just lies there quietly until I get the hint.    When I come home from work at night, the girls are at the door to greet me.   That is, assuming I come home at the correct time - which is roughly between 5:20 and 5:50.  If I come home early, as I did this past Monday due to a blizzard, they are somewhat startled to hear the key in the door.

My dogs develop routines very quickly.    If I do something twice in a row, especially if it's something they like, it is now a 'routine' and must be repeated.     The hardest part of the day is when I leave for work in the morning.   They know it's coming.  But they still don't like it.   So we have a  couple of things we do to make mornings a bit more fun.   After they go outside and eat their breakfast, they hang out in the bathroom with me (or just outside the door) while I get ready for work.   I'm usually eating my bowl of cereal at that time, and they get the last bit of milk in the bottom of my bowl.   Don't ask me how that started.  I just know that it is an unchangeable rule at this time.  As soon as they see me tipping the bowl to spoon up my milk, they run to their bowls and wait for me to divide the last little bit between them.  Our other morning ritual is just before I leave, I send them outside to go potty one last time.   While they're outside, I take a couple of beggin' strips and break them into about 14-16 pieces.  I hide these tiny pieces all over the house .... in corners, under chairs, on the shelves of a bookcase, in a kennel, and on the furniture.   When I let them back inside, they go on a tear all over the house to find their treats while I am quietly slipping out the door.   It helps take the sting out of the saddest moment of the day.  

The favorite treat at my house is a Greenie.   The thing I don't understand is how did they figure out that the best treat is also the most expensive?   I guess they have refined taste.   At any rate, Greenies are reserved for Saturday mornings; right after their weekly grooming (which includes the dreaded nail trim).  That's the only time they get them. 

And then, of course, we have a bedtime routine.   I did not set this.   The girls did.   And it's changed over the years.   For years, both of them slept with me.   Then, for a long time, they took turns sleeping with me.   Then, for quite a long time after that, Princess slept with me.   But now neither one of them sleep with me.  Princess developed a 'zero tolerance' policy for me moving in bed.   For a while, she'd start out with me, but as soon as I'd turn slightly, or fluff my pillow, she'd jump down.   Now, she doesn't even give me a chance.   So we have a pretty funny (if you ask me) bedtime routine.   There are two dog beds;  one in the living room and one behind the recliner in the bedroom.   About 8 p.m.  Dee Dee crawls into the bed in the living room and goes to sleep.   Around that same time, Princess stands by the bed, and whines for me to put her on it.  (She used to be able to jump on her own, but not anymore.)   That's where they stay until I get ready to go to bed; about 11:00.   As soon as I pull the covers down, Princess jumps off the bed and goes to the dog bed behind the recliner.   At this point, Dee Dee is still on the other dog bed in the living room.   But as soon as she hears me flip off the light switch, she comes trotting into the bedroom and makes herself a nest from my dirty clothes and the throw pillows that are on the floor.    It's the funniest thing.  She has always loved to sleep on anything that smells like me ...  my coat, towel, clothes, ... you get the picture.   Pretty endearing, if you ask me.

Christmas Greetings!

I am spending this Christmas in Michigan with my brother Tim, missing my girls but getting my corgi 'fix' from Elvis.   He is quite the boy and loves Tim more than life itself.    He also loves gifts - not just his gifts but anyone's gifts.   He sniffs them and pokes at them, trying to figure out what is inside.   It's hilarious.  

He loved the Greenies and jerky he got from Princess and Dee Dee, and they will love their new tennis balls when I get home tomorrow night.   I am so grateful for neighbors who care for them when I'm gone.    Christmas blessings to all!

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Busted!

The day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) is a day for me to STAY HOME!   Not being a crowd person, it often is the day that I put up Christmas decorations.   But Thanksgiving was so early this year that I thought it was too soon to do that.   So I worked on some Christmas gift/favors to share with my rubber stamping friends and take to Christmas dinner at my aunt's house.    After cutting, scoring and taping the sides of the little 'jar' together, I wrapped three Hershey nuggets in Christmas paper and put them inside the jar.  

I was spread out over the living room floor, and eventually needed a bathroom break.   When I came back, this is what I saw!     Dee Dee is my usual troublemaker but this time it was Princess.   Doesn't she look guilty?!?   She knew she was in trouble!    When I said, "Princess!!" - her ears went straight out to the side and she wanted to crawl up in my lap (her refuge of choice!)   It's kind of like spanking a toddler.   They need the swat to help them 'remember' (as my Dad used to say) but when they look at you with a face like this, it's all you can do to keep from laughing.

In Memory of Sadie

Sadie was our next door neighbor; a black lab mix who was the same age as Princess, and a couple years older than Dee Dee.   When Princess was still a puppy, the two of them would chase each other around and around my garage, the path worn bare beneath them.  Princess was the chaser and Sadie was the chasee.  Princess never stood a chance, but it didn't keep her from trying.   They had so much fun.

Then Dee Dee entered our lives and gave everyone a run for their money.   Sadie's gentle lab temperament was put to the test many a time, as Dee Dee fought to be top-dog.   There were a few occasions where Sadie put her in her place, but over time they became great pals.  Dee Dee would run to greet Sadie,  her butt wagging as only a corgi-butt can wag.  She'd jump up and kiss Sadie's face and then roll over in a submissive posture.   I saw that sequence play out hundreds of times and it always intrigued me.

Mike and Gina have a great bay window and nearly every day Sadie would sit there around 5:30 and wait for me to come home.   When she saw my car round the corner, she'd run to the back door and bark.   Gina would let her out, and by the time I pulled into my driveway she was standing on my front porch.   I didn't need an interpreter to understand what she wanted.  "Can the girls come out and play?"   My girls did the same.  I would be in working in some part of the house, and suddenly they would start barking and come looking for me.   I knew 'that bark'.   Sadie was outside and they wanted to go play.

Over the years, we dog-sat when Mike and Gina had to be gone, and those were the only times Sadie wasn't glad to see us.  Her world was upset, and she paced the driveway, waiting for them to come home.  The joy in her eyes was gone, and she didn't want to play.   As soon as Mom and Dad returned, she was back to her old self!

Recent years brought two bouts of Lyme Disease and a steady decline in her health.   On Friday, October 5th, it was time to say goodbye.   A few days before that, we took some final pictures on my front porch.  It is hard to come home and see Mike working in the yard without Sadie by his side.  We miss her. RIP sweet Sadie.

Fall Foliage

Everything on last weekend's calendar got scratched on Friday night when I added 1+1+1 and came up with THREE compelling reasons why we were going to go to Maplewood State Park on Saturday.   1)  Fall colors - which are early this year due to the mild winter we had - were at their peak  2) Temps were forecast to be 80 degrees with SNOW in the forecast for the following week and 3) my State Park sticker was due to expire on October 1st!  

I knew parking would be a challenge, so we were on the road by 9:30 and got there just ahead of the big rush.   We even caught the very first wagon ride through the park - which was decked out in full autumn splendor.    It was a bittersweet day for me, as I realized this was Dee Dee's last hike to the Hallaway Overlook (an annual trek).   Her back legs are all but lame at this point, and when she attemps to climb steps, they no longer lauch her forward, but sprawl out sideways.   So we did most of the hike with my hand on her butt for support.   It was a long walk, doing it that way, but we were rewarded with a view of Lake Lida surrounded by Sugar Maples and Sumac that gave the shoreline the appearance of being on fire.

We had lunch at the main shelter  (pulled pork sandwiches ... yum!) and then went off in search of a lake that was clean enough for the girls to swim in.  Lake Lida (at least the section along the beach) had a layer of thick, fluorescent  green foam ... blue/green algae, which is not only gross to look at but can be toxic to dogs.    I did find Trout Lake, just a short hike off one of the back roads, and it was relatively clean,  so Princess and Dee enjoyed one last dip for the season.   

 On our way home, we stopped at Sherin Memorial Park in Pelican Rapids, which was also lovely.   That area is especially known for the sugar maples, while back home in Fargo/Moorhead, it is the golden ash trees along the Red River that almost take your breath away.     The drought conditions and early hard freeze that we had this year have made the colors more vibrant than I've seen them in years.   Unfortunately, a couple of windy days this week have caused the leaves to drop very quickly.  

Wind, Waves and Camping on a Dock

In my last post, I mentioned that we were camped on a dock at Tim's vacation home in Au Train, MI.   The night we got there, it was warm and calm and also very late - so the dock seemed like the best (easiest) place to pitch our tent.    The following day was a gorgeous one; perfect for taking the kayaks a short 1/4 mile down the Au Train River to the beach - which I'm quite sure is the largest on the Great Lakes.

The following day we awoke to rain.  Badly needed rain, so we dared not complain.  It was a slow steady rain with an occasional crack of thunder, and the men decided to hike to Chapel Rock.   Since I'd been there a couple times before, and wasn't as eager to do a 7 mile hike in the rain, I hung out at the Falling Rock Cafe in Munising.  Later, when the skies started to clear, I took the girls down to Bayfront Park.  That's where Tim and Dan found us about 4:00.  The skies were brightening by that time (or at least we convinced ourselves they were) so we decided to drive an hour to the eastern side of the Pictured Rocks National Seashore, check out the beach at Hurricane River, and have dinner in Grand Marais.   When we got to the Hurricane River, the waves were huge.   I mean, huge.  This is one of my favorite spots in the U.P. and it did not disappoint.   We enjoyed a leisurely stroll along the beach while the dogs allowed the waves to intermittently swallow them up and spit them out as they played with a stick in the water.

After a time, we went into Grand Marais.   The waves there were equally formidable and by now the skies had grown dark, with heavy rain off on the horizon.   We had a brief discussion about the state of our 'campsite' but there was nothing that could be done about it at that point, so we enjoyed dinner and headed back.    My car was in Munising, and I had the guys drop me off there so I could go to a gas station to wash up while they went back to Au Train.   I honestly thought that the tent would have blown into the river (along with all the stuff that was in it) - in which case it would be somewhere along the beach by now.   So when I pulled into the driveway and saw shadows of two men, carrying a tent in the dark, it was actually good news.


The tent had blown into a tree - which is a decidedly better place to end up than in a river.   At that point we weren't sure how badly it was damaged, if at all - but at least all the stuff in it was safe - and relatively dry.   Turns out, the tent wasn't damaged at all!   I've been camping for over 50 years and never had a tent blow down before - until this year.   And now it's happened twice, in nearly identical circumstances, 1200 miles apart.

We were left with just one  problem - where to sleep?    There weren't a lot of options.  And so we climbed over tool boxes and plywood, rolled out our sleeping bags and had an innaugural 'sleepover' in the new cabin.    The wind was howling and it was black as pitch but we were happy to be safe and dry.  We look forward to many more sleepovers there - in more comfortable accomodations - in the years to come.


 

UP in the U.P.

My brothers and I are enjoying a few days up in the UP (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan, after a week of hard work, sorting through family pictures and memerobilia.   Tim is building a vacation home on the Au Train River, but it's not finished yet, so we've been camping on his dock!  The weather hasn't been great, but we're managing to make our own fun.

On the way up here on Tuesday, we shot some pictures of the dogs at Mackinac Island.   Whenever we take a picture of the three together, Princess has to be in the middle, because the other two fight.   She IS smaller than Elvis and Dee Dee, but not as much smaller as she appears in this photo.   She tends to slouch for pictures, while the other two totally ham it up.   Corgis smile rather naturally, but we get them to all look at the camera by saying, "Do you want to go to the PARK?"   And then, of course, after the photo shoot is over - we have to actually take them to the park.    I have a low tolerance for deceit - even for dogs!

Our next stop was Kitch-iti-kipi (Big Spring) at Palm Book State Park, which is a really cool place.   You take a barge across the lake, which is so clear you'd swear you were looking through glass.  You can see the springs bubbling up off the floor - which is 40 feet down!   It was fascinating.   It was getting dark by the time we left, and we wanted to get to Tim's place with a bit of twilight left to put up the tent.   So my brothers found a shortcut on a map.    It was a decent gravel road at first - but I could tell from the map, that it was going to deteriorate into something less navigable.   Turns out I was right.   Suddenly the road came to an abrupt end in a field of thick, muddy clay in somone's dumpy yard.   A pack of dogs (at least two of them pit bulls) charged our car, barking furiously while we attempted to back out of our predicament.   I wish I'd gotten my camera out because it felt like we were part of a movie script at that moment.   Fortunately, the owners chased off the dogs, we were able to back up and went back around via the main road.   And no, we did not have any twilight left to put up the tent.  Not even close.