Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Quiet. Just me and the boys. Overcast. Not cold. Just gray and blah. Won't be able to see the smiley face moon tonight. I made a lentil loaf but forgot to add in the breadcrumbs, so it turned out too soft and was more like a hash. Thankfully the flavor was there. It wasn't a complete loss. The mashed potatoes were yummy. Baked my favorite cookies. Gingerbread. Sat on the front porch and enjoyed coffee with gingerbread cookies. Sunny spent the entire time sniffing every inch of the porch, eating stink bugs.  Thoughts of past Christmases, when the kids were little, came and went all day. I miss having the kids here. I don't miss the frantic figuring out gifts.  I wish I had spent more time creating traditions that were ours and no one else's. I hope my kids create traditions. Went on a long walk with Sunny. He's eight months old today. Too big now to fit under the old dresser or weave through the chairs at the dining room table when playing chase through the house wit...

The end of the semester brought with it lots of not feeling like doing much of anything. We had a couple of days of snow, which was wonderful as it allowed me the opportunity to get out and snowshoe, but those days were followed by bitter cold then a warming trend. Now the snow is gone and the ground is soft, muddy, and just lots of yuck. The dogs track in the mud, so I've had to sweep and mop after them, adding to the feelings of just not wanting to have to do anything.  Those feelings, while I go through this every now and then, have stuck around much longer than usual. I was doing the daily routine -- walking the dogs in the morning, playing with them, taking Teddie to his sniff games classes and Sunny to his companion dog classes -- but the between time of these activities has been a lot of vegging out in front of the TV and spending way too much time online, reading article after article addressing the bad happening in this country.  Today, I finally admitted to myself I'...

The end of the semester is here. I can breathe a sigh of relief that for a few weeks I don't have to read and grade papers generated by AI and papers that show the student really doesn't care about improving their own writing skills and critical thinking skills. I don't have to respond to students who fail to submit work by the due date then email the assignment, asking that I read it even though they didn't meet the due date. It's so quiet now. The noise is gone. I get to focus on a few projects I've been kicking around. I get to focus on Sunny. The snowshoes are by the back door, just waiting for the few inches of snow that is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. I get to look forward to the kids coming to visit over the holidays.  Sunny is growing into a beautiful young dog. He has captured my heart. I've never had a dog that cuddles the way he does. I've never had a dog who leans so completely into my chest that I can feel his heartbeat. Every evening ...

Today's trail with Sunny. The blue line is me laying the trail. The red line is Sunny running the trail. The trail was .27 miles, which is one of the longest trails Sunny has completed so far. The wind was blowing nearly 20 mph, causing the scent to drift a bit. I figured this was going to happen. Sunny showed this by going about three feet to the left of the trail. There were a few spots he had to recalibrate to be sure he was on trail, especially in the places where he was heading into the wind. He stopped once and looked at me. I just said, "Go to work," and he put his nose to the ground, found the scent and carried on. When he reached the toy I had left for him at the end, he sat and looked up at me. Such a smarty pants. I threw the toy for him and gave him a bunch of treats. Such a good boy.

I had a friend lay a trail for Sunny this morning, and after letting it age around 45 minutes, I walked Sunny over to the start point. When we were about 20 yards away from where my friend dropped his scent article, Sunny picked up the scent and was ready to go. I had to hold him back to adjust the lead. The moment I said, "Go to work," he was off. He went a ways then stopped and looked back at me. I didn't move or say anything. He then wanted to play with me, which is what we do on our walks, but this wasn't a walk. He needed to work. After doing this two times, he figured out he just needed to keep his nose to the ground and stay on trail. The trail ended up being about a quarter mile, with a turn to the right. No cookies were laid out for Sunny to find. The trail was simply following the scent to the end point, which was a toy Sunny likes. He found his toy without any trouble. I threw the toy for him, giving him lots of praise and pets and treats. On the walk home,...

Yesterday I used most of the red potatoes I grew in the garden this summer to make a hearty potato soup. As I was standing at the stove, happy with how the soup had turned out, in walked Angel Baby. Being the culinary student that he is these days, he tested the soup and said, "Needs more salt and pepper." Everything I cook, no matter what, his first comment is always, "Needs more salt." I know I tend to go light on the salt. I'm just not a salt fan. Right after he said, "It needs more salt and pepper" he stepped in and took over. He took the white pepper and sprinkled some in. He then chopped some rosemary and added it along with some oregano and thyme. He reached into the cupboard and pulled out the soy sauce, pouring in a capful. He whisked the mixture carefully, dipped a spoon into it and took another sip. "There. Better." I followed suit and took a sip. He was right. He improved what I had started. He talked about the soup now having a f...

The weather has finally cooled off. I'm so ready for fall, and the 70-80+ degrees was killing me. Give me 50's and below, please. I need my sweaters, sweatshirts, and sweatpants. I keep saying I'm going to move further north. I need to follow through, move to Wisconsin or northern Michigan. Maybe Minnesota. I like summer with the heat, the sweat, the cold showers, but I love the cool of fall and the cold of winter. I love wrapping myself in a fleece blanket and sitting out on the porch in the mornings, with my cup of hot coffee, watching the steam rise. I also love making soup and homemade bread. My kitchen is a mix of odor right now. On the stove is acorn squash soup in the making. A holiday candle is going near the sink. I really don't know why I lit the candle. It just seemed like a fun thing to do while I stood and washed the dishes. It's time to blow it out and let the soup fill the house with thyme and nutmeg. Soon the bread will be in the oven to add its deli...

Since Sunny was off for a week due to his muscle strain, I didn't put down any trails for him. I was ordered that he rest, with no exercise beyond a short walk on leash, and when he's in the harness, working a trail, he digs in, eager to do his job. If a week or more goes by without a trail, I figure it's a good idea to back up and do a simple trail. This is kind of like a reboot. That's what we did on Friday. Just a simple, straight trail with one turn. Only I didn't take into consideration that I had trampled all over the area earlier in the day when I mowed the lawn.  I walked Sunny around the block and brought him to the beginning of the trail, which he picked up with no problem. He followed the trail nicely until we reached the area where I had mowed. Then he seemed confused, which is totally understandable. My scent was all over the place. He then found the fresh trail I had put down and got back on track. When he reached the turn, he didn't hesitate at al...

After the photo shoot Sunday morning, after seeing the images, the story they tell of my friend and his pup, I'm beginning to understand the direction I want to take with the photography. I want to capture the stories. I don't want to just have the dog sit, or lay down, or run towards the camera, or jump a log. Those are fine and all, but they don't tell a story.  Life is stories. We all live multiple stories every day. And the story we live with our dog or dogs is special. Those are the stories I want to capture. Now I just need to figure out how to make this happen. I'm not a salesperson by any stretch of the imagination. Trying to sell anything makes me sick to my stomach.  But the stories need to be told.

October is just a few days away, bringing about the beginning of my favorite time of year. The cooler nights. The leaves changing from green to orange, red, or yellow. The slowing down of life in general. I'm good with slowing down. Sunny, though, isn't a fan of the slow life movement. Since Friday Sunny has been on restricted activity due to the muscle strain. He did really well Saturday, mostly just hanging out on my lap all day. I'm pretty sure the pain was enough then that he simply didn't have it in him to be his usual puppy self. Yesterday he wanted to be a little more active, but I curtailed all play. We spent the day in the back yard just sitting in the grass or in the house, binge watching a Brit Box show. Today he tried to convince me all day that he was perfectly fine. To keep him somewhat low-key, I spent a lot of time on the floor, working on his down stay, which lasts all of two seconds.  While he's still slightly limping, it's only noticeable beca...

A few months ago, I decided it's time to pursue my love of photography, specifically doing dog shoots. I had left Facebook for a variety of reasons, but in wanting to bring in clients, I knew I had to return and make a page just about dog photography. For better or worse, a Facebook page does reach a lot of people. So my new Facebook page is up and running: Bark & Soul Dog Photography.  Because I don't have a lot of friends on Facebook, with my decision to leave the platform and be gone for awhile, I found I wasn't getting the reach I really need. Enter my best friend, who shared my page with her hundreds of friends, and just from her, I tallied up nearly 100 followers in a day. Since then, the followers have been few and far between. I'm now standing at 112, which isn't great by any means, but it's a start. Even with people becoming a follower, I have yet to secure a shoot. I've had inquiries into what I charge, then crickets. I've done a couple of ...

The vet called early this morning to check on Sunny. I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet since all three of the boys hadn't awakened at their usual time of six-ish, which is what I use as my alarm clock. We were all still snoozing when my phone rang. I was surprised to see it was nearly 7 am. He asked if there was any improvement. When we had gotten up around 4:30 to go outside, Sunny was noticeably limping, but he managed the steps and even jumped onto the couch, which is what he does when doesn't want to return to his crate. We agreed I'd watch him closely through the rest of the weekend and see where things are on Monday. So far today, Sunny has done a lot of sleeping, far more than he usually does. That tells me he's in pain and the rest is what he needs. He did spend several hours outside while I did yard work, mostly just laying on the back porch or in the garage, so he did have some activity today. Just very subdued activity. So subdued the downtime for me is...

Over a year and a half has passed since my last post. I went from being 59 to 61 (which has been just fine), I tried reconciling with my husband, (which did not work out) and I brought another pup into the pack (which has been . . . an experience). I'm still at my job, with this being year 27. I'm still gardening, reading, and playing with my camera. I've made some wonderful friends in this little village I call home, and I've made new friends all because of Sunny, the new addition to the pack. Sunny. Where to start? For several years I have been following those involved with search and rescue, especially canine search and rescue. Then, when I helped deliver a van full of goods to those in need following hurricane Helene, we stayed a night in a hotel on the way home, and a group of canine search and rescue handlers on their way to North Carolina were eating breakfast when we were. I eavesdropped a little, listening to them talk about their dogs and what they would be fa...