Free Dog Jack

Well Jack was at it again; out on another "walk about". A couple of weeks ago I sent Annie and Jack out into their yard for their last puppy break for the day. The time was about 9:15pm. I go out about 10:00 to bring them in and lo and behold, no puppies. Now once in a while Annie has popped one of the white vinyl pickets and dashed out in to the wide open yard, but she always comes back when called. Jack has always stayed in the yard. He is not one to go through narrow spaces. What if one of those other pickets touched me. He is like that about other things in the house. He doesn't go down stairs to the basement if the door is partially closed. He doesn't go behind a door to get a toy and especially not behind the rocking chair---yikes! Did you see that? The chair moved! That is how he got his name Chicken Jack. So you can only imagine my shock when I see Jack streaking across the backyard and into the deep dark dense woods. Annie was gone too, but quickly returned when I called her name. I guess this night, two pickets came off and the lure of being a free dog was too much. He made a run for it. Chicken Jack grew a brave heart. The sights and sounds of the night were too much. He was on some heady drug. He was at Disney Land. He was gone into the night. Now in the past when this has happened he returns in about 20-30 minutes. He is usually panting and covered in stick tights. In the past his great escapes have been during daylight hours, now it was night and time for dogs and humans to be in bed. I stayed in the yard calling to him with my "happy voice", calling out to him with the tempting names of his favorite toys "purple ball", "rope toy", and "lime loop". Jack knows his toys by name, but the lure of the night was too much. John got in the truck and drove down to the meadow and up to the pasture calling his name. We hoped that Jack would see the truck lights and think "Ok a ride". Again the lure of the night.....
John came back to the house and decided to grab a flashlight and trudge a path into the woods in search of his buddy. I heard him calling his name. Then to my left I hear noise in the woods. I call Jack's name. I spot him. He is about 10 feet away. He sees me, turns and runs back into the woods. The stinker. I call to John. He makes his way back to me. I tell him I saw Jack. This of course was a big relief, because honestly we didn't know if Jack was on the scent of something how far he would go. A border collie can cover 5 miles in no time and even though highway MM is not busy it only takes one unsavy dog and one car to have a tragedy. So big sigh of relief, mixed with frustration/aggravation. John heads back into the woods calling his name. Then there is silence. John turns off his flashlight. We listen to the sounds of the woods and see the darkness lit with little glows of lightening bugs. Then I hear a woof and John's voice low. A few moments later man and dog are walking into the yard. John and I give each other that look, "Can you believe that dog". We are relieved. Jack is exhausted, but happy. It was 11:45pm.

Sawing logs

I have never posted photos to the blog before, but John and I are going to give it a try, hope it comes out ok. John cut down some trees on the property, some were dead, others were damaged from storms, anyway he found a guy in Liberty who owns a portable saw mill. This guy brought it out to the property and they spent the day sawing logs. One of the logs was about 36 feet long. A neighbor had to help John pull it up to the pasture with his tractor. It was an all day event. John was pretty tired at the end of the day, but also pretty darn proud of his bounty of boards.

Summer Reads

Well I made my most recent trip to the public library for a bit of light reading material. I thought I would share a couple of my selections.

The first is a book titled The Daily Coyote, by Sherve Stockton. It is a true story about a woman who on her cross country journey to move back to New York City from San Fransisco fell in love with the state of Wyoming. She is given a 10-day old coyote pup from a boyfriend who works for a wildlife management department who's job is basically to exterminate coyotes for the farmers and ranchers. I admit that it is tough to read parts that talk about that aspect. She makes it brief and glosses over it somewhat. She lives in a community of 300 people so it appears she is careful not alienate her neighbors who have a different view point of coyotes. Anyway the book chronicles about the first year of this coyotes life with her. She also has a blog. She is a photographer and some of the photos are sweet and beautiful. If you like animals it is a good summer read. It is cheap on Amazon and is available on Kindle, but I checked it out from the library. Katie I think Trent would like this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Coyote-Story-Survival-Wyoming/dp/B003JTHSFO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1305809641&sr=1-1-catcorr


The second book is The Alchemist by Paul Coelho, now there are many books out there titled The Alchemist so be watchful to get the one by Paul Coelho. It is a simple tale of a shepherd boy who goes off in search of his personal treasure and the people he meets on his way, as well as the lessons he learns. It is a very easy and short read. Coelho does not get rave reviews from literary reviewers for his works, but for simple enjoyment and simple thought provoking messages it has a sweet quality.


http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+alchemist&x=0&y=0

OK that is it for now. Enjoy all your Summer Reads whatever they are!

Tact, anyone?

Saturday was WSU's graduation for the College of Education, and I had the pleasure of shaking the hands of 14 of my 16 graduates after they left the stage. It was wonderful. After commencement, the COE held a reception for graduates and their families. It wasn't particularly well attended, and only 2 of my students showed up.

One of them, whom I'll call Betty, introduced me to her mom. Her mom whispered to her, "Is this the one you were telling me about?"

Betty replied, "She's one of them. She and Dr. B--- were my favorite professors."

The she turned to me and conspiratorily added, "But I liked Dr. B better."

Sometimes I have to wonder about my students' sense of audience and purpose. :-)

Norma's Advice

I recently went through my old autograph book. It was a present for my tenth birthday. This book is 53 years old. I can still read the messages people wrote in it. Since today is Mother's Day, I thought I would share what our mom had to say. It is advice she probably gave to each of us at one time or another.

My dear daughter,
After all these years I have decided to write a few lines.
Be Patient, Be Kind.
Have a smile on your lips
a pleasant word for your fellow man.
Give a helping hand,
you will always be remembered and loved.
your Mother

I treasure these lines Mother wrote. I hope this Mother's Day is lovely for all my Fiddler Kin.

secret life of grandma

Everyone needs to encourage Honor Louise to post about "the secret life of grandma". Intrigued?

Happy Mother's Day Everyone, be it to the two legged or four legged variety! Enjoy the spirit of the day.