Niagra Falls

I've had a few people ask when I'm going to post some more vacation photos so I'll upload a few each day this week. I flew in and out of Buffalo, so we went to Niagra Falls the first day. We often stopped there when I was growing up, on our way to Schenectady to see grandparents, but I had forgotten just how majestic it is! You can see the foam and spray from at least a mile away. These pictures are from Niagra State Park on the US side - which is lovely. However, the views of the falls are even nicer from the Canadian side.

I didn't get over there this year, but my brothers went there after they dropped me off at the airport on the last day. Tim and Elvis had done their 'Do Dogs Know Calculus' presentation at a highschool in Buffalo that morning and they had another talk lined up in Flint, MI late in the afternoon. They thought they had time to stop at the falls after they passed through customs - and so they did. Time got away from them, (i.e. I wasn't there to keep them on schedule) and when they got back to their car and checked the mileage, they realized they weren't going to make it to Flint by 4:00. However, the school in Flint had already done some rearranging of their day to fit Tim and Elvis in, and he didn't think he could just call them up and say, "Uh ... we went to Niagra Falls and lost track of the time ... and now we aren't coming". So they got in the car, asked Elvis to calculate the shortest time to get from Buffalo to Flint, and (from what I've heard) set a new world record. I'm so glad I wasn't a part of that drama; after such an enjoyable, stress-free vacation, it would have been a pity to end it with such a tension-filled day. A few extra minutes getting through US Customs, or getting pulled over for speeding (which they were definitely doing) could have cooked their goose, but they made it - with 10 minutes to spare!

A New England Vacation without the Girls

I just returned from a lovely and very relaxing New England vacation with my 2 brothers.  Tim, a college professor, is on sabbatical this semester and Daniel, who lives in Asia, has returned to the US for the next year. So we decided to take advantage of the flexibility in their schedules and do a trip together. It has been over 5 years since I've taken a trip without my girls, and I missed them terribly. I hired in-home care for them while I gone (fearing that Dee Dee would never survive in a kennel) and I knew it would be especially hard on her. Princess is much more resilient about things like that.    I really thought that Dee Dee would eventually warm up to the young man who came over to feed and walk them every day, but I under-estimated either her stubborness, or her devotion to me; probably both! She refused to even go out of the house for the better part of the first week and even after two full weeks, Logan only succeeded in getting her to go out in the yard to go potty. When he tried to coax her into a walk, she'd pull out of her collar and run right back to our front door. Endearing; but frustrating.

When I got home, both of the girls were very happy to see me, but none the worse for wear. I did think that Princess was going to dislocate her hip, though, from all the wiggling! Corgis don't have tails ... but that doesn't keep them from showing their glee. It's almost like there is a hinge in the middle of their body and they wag the whole back side! I will share more about our trip in a future post. (including some Elvis stories .... yes, he got to go along since the guys picked me up in Buffalo). For today, I just want to share a few of the incredible photos from the trip. We had clear blue skies for 12-1/2 out of the 13 days we were gone and hit the fall colors right at their peak. It was amazing.

The pictures I'm sharing here were taken at Chimney Bluffs (on Lake Ontario) and Letchworth State Park (the Grand Canyon of the East) - in western New York. The scenery was breathtaking and rivaled anything I've seen out West.

The Case of the Missing Buns

It was a busy day at work and I missed lunch. So when I got home tonight, I was really hungry. I took the girls to the park for a walk, stopped at Breadsmith, and in a moment of weakness, bought four of their super-soft butter-top buns and an oatmeal craisen cookie. I was too hungry to wait for grilled burgers, so I stopped at Hornbachers Deli for some honey turkey and fresh veggies for my sandwich. A couple minutes later I pulled in my driveway and gathered my things. But wait. Where were the buns? My car gets to be kind of a pigpen (even a neat person has to have one messy place ... and mine is my car) so I did a quick search amongst the scattered bills, dog toys and water bottles .... and then I saw it. The Breadsmith bag. The empty Breadsmith bag! I glanced at Princess, who was still in the back seat, waiting to be let out of the car. Total innocence on her face. Then I looked at Dee Dee. She was licking her lips. "Dee Dee, did you eat my buns?" She took one look at me, jumped out of the car and made a dash for the house - and straight for her kennel. I followed her. "Dee Dee!! Did YOU eat my buns?" I held the torn bag about an inch from her face. She cowered in the back of the kennel - still licking her lips.

This wasn't her first offense, and I doubt it will be her last. For the record, Princess has a pretty lengthy rap sheet too. But Dee Dee never ceases to amaze me with how fast she can pull off her stunts. I was in the grocery store less than 5 minutes. She has developed quite a taste for gourmet coffee drinks too. I stopped for a cafe breve one time last year and left it in my beverage holder while I ran in the pharmacy across the street to pick up a prescription. When I came out, I snapped this picture of Dee Dee through the car window .... she had managed to get the cover off, and was slurping the HOT coffee as fast as she could. She loves hot tea, pretty much any kind of soda and beer!

Lest you think I'm a totally irresponsible dog owner, I hasten to add that I have never actually given her beer. But my next door neighbor, Mike, has given her a taste now and then, and she LOVES it. Looks like we'll be trading dog obedience classes for doggy AA meetings.

Elvis on CNN

Tim and Elvis are on a college speaking tour of the Midwest this week, and we just found out that CNN picked up the story done by a local news crew in Beloit, WI. It's a great little piece. I love the girl at the end who says (somewhat unconvincingly), "I guess if Elvis can do calculus, I should be able to get through it." I hope she has an easier professor than Tim is.

Click here and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBG8SSB763w

Properly Trained ....

I saw a photo frame in a gift shop a couple of years ago that said, "Properly trained, man can be dog's best friend." I immediatly knew I had to buy it for Tim and Elvis because that sums up their relationship perfectly.

In August of 2001 Tim came out to visit us in Minnesota and had no intention whatsoever of going home with a dog. But Elvis was living in a home with a female person and 4 female corgis .... and they spent a lot of time with me (another female person) and my two female corgis. I don't know if he was just growing tired of being the only 'guy' among so many women or if there was something about Tim that attracted him (some of both, I think) but Elvis latched on to Tim that weekend and claimed him as his own.

This picture was taken that weekend; Elvis staking his claim and looking down at all the girls with an air of superiority. There were a few challenges involved in getting Elvis a plane ticket but eventually it all came together and several days later Elvis flew back to Michigan with Tim. I'll never forget that morning .... making a hasty run to our veterinarian to get the 'fit to fly' document .... then going to the airport and watching Elvis move down the conveyer belt in his kennel, just as contented as he could be. He knew he was going home with Tim, and if this was part of the process, then so be it.  He never looked back. Tim, however, did look back a few times when it became clear that the 1 year old Elvis was not yet through the puppy-chewing stage. Several rocking chairs still sit in Tim's living room, runners mostly gone, as a reminder of those early days. But the love affair between man and dog took root. Elvis is quite different from my girls in that he is a 'one man dog'.

My girls enjoy attention from others ... and quickly warm up to them. Elvis has a handful of human friends (next door neighbor June and a few other professors in the math department at Hope, but for the most part he is only interested in one person - Tim. He has a way of making any other person (me, for instance) feel like they are nothing. This summer we were touring an old fort on the Keewenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan and I finished before Tim did, so I went back to the car to let the dogs out. Elvis jumped out, but steadfastly refused to move out of sight of Tim's car. He minds Tim perfectly, but when I told him to 'come' , he looked at me with a 'who are you to tell me what to do?" look on his face. Another time, Tim had gone to an event at the Hope College chapel and Elvis was sitting right outside the door (off leash), patiently waiting for him. When Tim got home later that evening, there were two messages on his answering machine. The first was, "Dr. Pennings, we found your dog Elvis and we're going to bring him to your house." Tim already knew what the second message would be. "Dr. Pennings, Elvis refuses to go with us. He is sitting by the chapel door."

So Long to Summer

It's the last day of August, and summer is waning quickly. My job is very busy from mid-August to the first of October, so for all practical purposes, my summer was over when I returned from Michigan a couple of weeks ago. Labor Day weekend is one that I spend ... laboring .... as I did today for almost 12 hours. When I finally left there tonight at 8:45, it was completely dark, and that, more than anything, is a reminder that summer is fleeting and winter is not far off. In between the two, of course, is Autumn - which probably would be my favorite season if I weren't so busy at work. This past week has had a distinct autumn feel .... cool nights that are wonderful for sleeping, and gusty winds that have ushered in cooler air.

This afternoon the girls and I took a break with a friend and walked around one of the newer housing developments near the radio station. It was a struggle just to remain upright as we walked into a 45 mph headwind. I didn't think that corgis, who are so low to the ground, would notice the wind all that much but they really did. We were getting dust (and other debris) in our eyes, and had a hard time hearing each other, but we did manage to discuss the Picken's Plan for harnassing wind energy and we agreed that there certainly is a lot of potential for that in the northern plains! Tonight, however, my thoughts and prayers are with the residents of the Gulf Coast who are once again being threatened with a devastating hurricane. We have blizzards and occasional floods and a rare tornado - but I don't think I could handle the stress of a major hurricane every few years.

So long to summer. It was a good one .... not too hot, but warm enough to enjoy the lakes and evening walks along the river. I will miss the long daylight hours and being able to run around barefoot. Before long the leaves will start turning and with each one that falls, it is a wave goodbye to summer.

Ahhh .... Vacation!

The girls and I have been vacationing in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the past week and are having a wonderful time. The weather has been absolutely perfect, which makes camping a whole lot more enjoyable. It's actually been a bit cool at night, but hey ... I'll take 'too cool' over 'too hot' any day!

We have been mostly alone, but last Sunday I ran into a college friend who I hadn't seen in about 10 years at a picnic spot! Very fun!! The next day I connected with my brother Tim, who was traveling with a couple of his students, and Elvis, of course. We spent a day exploring the Keewenaw Peninsula ... one corner of the UP I hadn't really 'done' before. The girls have been swimming constantly. Dee Dee, especially, can't get enough of it and even the big waves on Lake Superior don't seem to phase her.

No matter that she had only been out of the water 10 minutes .... a new view of the lake meant it was time for another swim! It's been a very refreshing week .... lots of time to read, relax and hang out with my girls.