3 posts tagged “dog”

Ike is going to miss us, I'm sure of it.  I know this because we're actually preparing for it.  They say that if the storm travels its projected path, we'll only sustain Tropical Storm winds here.  Something in the neighborhood of 40-60 mph.  We were advised to bring in our "debris".  Funny that they call it debris.  I mean, up until the point where it's sucked into the sky it's actually of value to someone, right?  Either way, we have a grill - for some reason I'm calling it a barbecue today - that is consistently knocked over by the line-drive winds we get during regular, unnamed storms.  Thus, we stashed our patio chairs and table and windchimes in the garage.  Andy and I walked the grill around to the front entrance of the garage.  It felt a little silly, preparing for a storm like that.  Either way, we have two glass doors leading out to our patio.  I'dve felt stupid if that grill had come crashing through one of the doors tomorrow.

What? It's good...

With regard to the storm, Hugo has all the anxiety of a button.  He's had a crash-bang couple of days for a dog.  I was making up for my time away from home earlier this week.  Yesterday, he went to Doggie Daycare - which is Disney World (or Disneyland at least) for pups.  They gave him a bath and a nail clip.  Came home smelling like flowers and had a light blue gingham kerchief around his neck.  We took the thing off at home so he could try to regain some of his dignity.

Today, we went hiking.  There's a remote park, north of everything, pretty near here.  I took Hugo for his first off-leash expedition.  He was fabulous.  Our family dog, Trixie, was never good off-leash.  The minute she knew she was free, she took off like a shot and never looked back.  Hugo was a natural.  Sniffer to the floor of the field/woods at all times.  He watched me and followed if I turned to walk another direction.  If he wasn't watching, a simple "Hey, hey!" brought him running.  And my proudest moment, while we were in the woods, he not only stuck to the trail, but if he got ahead of me too far for his liking, he'd stop, crane his neck to look back at me, and wait until I got closer until he trailblazed again. 

Nom nom nom nom nom

There were big low clouds and a few sprinkles looming.  Just a sign that I was doing the right thing by getting Hugo

 out and about as much as I can these last two days.  It might be a long weekend for him, cooped up in the house.

As for tonight, he's made a good effort at his trusty Nylabone, and has subsequently conked out on his dog bed as I write this.  When the wind and rain starts tomorrow, it won't bother him either.  Funny how I aspire to be like him sometimes.    

Ready for that hurricane

The husband's off in Vegas this weekend for a bachelor party.  In his absence, I've actually done an admirable job (I think) keeping myself occupied.  First off, it has been an absolute GORGEOUS day.  Sunny and cool, temperatures hovering in the mid to upper 60s all day.  This is the atmospheric equivalent of a blank canvas.  The day has so much potential with weather such as this. 

First thing was first, Hugo and I went and got a cup of coffee from McDonald's.  (We're out of coffee filters, and I'm not planning on grocery shopping until tomorrow.)  After the coffee was finished, I threw on some old jeans and an old sweatshirt, tethered the dog under a tree, and did a thorough weeding of the entire yard and beds.  It was the first weeding of spring, and the thistles were HUGE already!  I pulled one out of the ground whose stalk was 1.5 inches at the base and whose main root was about 7 inches long.  Pretty impressive.  Hugo and I went in the house, cleaned up, and piled in the car.

Last week, I'd done a little research and found a nature trail in town that I could take Hugo to.  We drove to the outskirts of town, parked, and walked out to the nature trail.  Wouldn't you know it?  A few paces into the trail, we found a "washed out" bridge.  There'd been some pretty substantial rain last week, so apparently we were flooded.  We improvised.  There is a man-made lake nearby where a LOT of people had come to walk.  There was a paved trail around the walk.  Hugo seemed a little more enthusiastic about the nature trail, but he humored me.  There were plenty of dogs on the paved path that he could wags tails at and touch noses with. 

A little down the paved path, I realized that the paved path bordered the nature reserve.  So, Hugo and I off-roaded it.  I've never been more thankful for being an honorary boy scout growing up.  I had two brothers in boy scouts - one who is an eagle scout, and on family camping trips, they taught me everything they knew.  What poison ivy, poison oak, underground wasp nests, snake holes, etc look like.  First aid.  .  I'd have never led Hugo through the thicket otherwise.  Weeds were up to Hugo's shoulders, but not 10 yards through the weeds, we were out in a clearing.  We found the nature path.  :)  Oh we had a blast.  There was a flooded creek and a ravine.  We were in a cool forest with a tall canopy.  The ground was covered with soft mulch and twigs.  Hugo got a little off leash time to scout as he pleased.  He was a good trooper, always following me in a distinct radius. 

I haven't hiked in God knows how long.  I miss it.  I miss the time to myself.  I've been thinking a lot about this lately.  About self-restoration.  I've been thinking about how I feel like every day I get a little bit taken out of me.  Going to work, running errands, keeping up the house, taking care of the animals.  Some of these labors of love, but still labors nonetheless.  A little taken out of me.  Not a lot.  But over time, it adds up of course.  The effect is cumulative.  I get a little distressed, a little tired, a little resentful.  A little less like the person I want to be.  The only way to reverse the effect is to find a way to restore myself.  After some trial and error, I have recently figured out what restores me: reading, playing piano, and getting away from civilization.  I use the term "restore" because, shortly after we bought the piano, I spent an entire evening after work playing piano or reading a book in a quiet room upstairs.  I went to bed that night with a serene feeling - the feeling of being more "whole".  I can't really explain it better than that.

So yes, it's been a great weekend, and it's only half over.  I'm working on laundry and getting some things put away.  Tomorrow is cleaning and grocery shopping.  Then it'll be time to pick up the hubby from the airport before I know it! 

I love my mornings.  My husband gets up and leaves the house by 6:00 am, which leaves me two hours in the mornings to do whatever the heck I want to do.  Sometimes I use the time to get laundry done and tidy up around the house, but most of the time, I pal around with our dog, Hugo.  Hugo is our 1-year-old chocolate lab, and is my daily - no, constant - reminder to take joy in every single one of life's pleasures.  No matter how small.  I think that we, as people, convince ourselves that there is so much complication and confusion and clutter in life that there is just that much more to dig through to find our happiness.  Maybe there is.  Who am I kidding, there probably is.  But being around Hugo helps me amplify my Id. 

So my mornings are about me and the dog.  Every morning, except for this last week (poor Hugo, poor me!), we go on a two-mile walk.  I used to think of our walk as a chore.  Something I had to do because I, in my infinite brilliance, decided to adopt the world's most energetic breed.  But one morning when I was traveling I realized that I missed the walks too.  It was a half an hour first thing in the morning where I got to organize my thoughts and just let my brain meander wherever it wanted to.  I highly recommend it.  In the warmer weather (which means about 10 months out of the year) I'll take a cup of coffee out on the back porch and watch him play in the backyard.  Sometimes I play too.  Alas, this morning it's about 10 degrees below freezing.  Which means we're listening to Matt Lauer.

Hugo loves the morning for three simple reasons: 1.  The walk.  2.  I give him 99% of my attention. 3. Breakfast.  Hugo has learned two words without a doubt.  "Breakfast" and "Dinner".  I snapped a picture of Hugo this morning.  He was pacing in the kitchen and pushing his bowl around with his nose.  I walked into the kitchen and said, "Hugo?! Breakfast?"  Then I snapped this picture.  If I had a video camera, I would've said that B-word a lot louder and with more gusto so you folks could see the gleeful tap dance.  It is priceless.

Hugo want breakfast?