Back up on a cold day in January, 2009

Mackey and Roux

Kite

And I see to my embarrassment my last post was six months ago or more. Oops. The top picture is one of our new companions Roux, slipping and sliding around with Mackey this morning at Pony Pasture. The next picture is Kite - lounging in a favorite cat spot, on top of a chair next to the woodstove. Kite and Roux are two of our three "new" companions, although they joined us here with their human friend Alex in April of last year. Although today is a cold day in January - it was 25º when the dogs and I got to river at 8:15 this morning - it's definitely not the coldest day we've experienced this month. Despite what you might guess from the photo above. The coldest day this month (so far) was Saturday, the 17th; when we got to the river it was 10º. The kitchen sink wasn't working but the rest of the plumbing was. I went out later for the day and when I came home, the pipes under my house had burst and there was water pouring down the driveway. Fortunately (thanks Wayne!!) it was repaired quickly and no damage was done.

Anyway, I need to write a lot more, but I also have a lot of firewood to cut. It's hard to tell from that river picture, but I've been on very comfortable one or two hour bike rides on each of the last three days. But there has definitely been a change in the weather.

So much exciting news for 2009 - Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America just five days ago. And he's only 19 days older than I am! I am thrilled to have him leading our country.

It's been very slack of me not to have put more posts up on here - I've got a whole lot of exciting stuff going on. Exciting to me, anyway, which is not always exciting to other people. But besides my own outstanding dogs and cats, late last year I spent some of the most meaningful dog-time I've ever spent - and when you're me, that's saying something - with a very graceful animal named Mister Floyd. RIP, I regret to say. But it was a privilege to spend time on this planet with him. I think his picture needs to go right here:

Mister Floyd (smiling)

That guy taught me so much. Right now I'm learning from another great guy, Peter Jackson, who will be around a lot longer. I'll get some pictures of him up later. That's all for now.

Mister Floyd (not smiling)

Mister Floyd (also not smiling)

Ivory's Founders Award

Yesterday (May 12, 2008) at VCUHS, Ivory received the 2008 MCVHA Founders' Award; he was visibly delighted, more so after I filled it with Milk Bones. The pewter dish in my hand is the award. We missed the formal presentation at the Jefferson Hotel (seriously) so I don't know precisely what it's for. Except that June will be his ten year anniversary of being a Therapy Dog at MCV and he's done fantastic work during that time. And I've had the privilege of being on the other end of the leash while he's done it!


This is (after a fashion, anyway) a closeup of Ivory's award. It's engraved pewter and it's lovely and filled with Milk Bones. If you can't read it (it's difficult) it says:

MCVHA
2008
FOUNDERS' AWARD
JWM

If I understand correctly - no guarantees here - MCVHA stands for MCV Hospital Auxliary. As for the "JWM", someone didn't get the memo - those are my initials, when the award was obviously meant for Ivory - the one who's really been making people feel better at MCV for the past decade.

Max, Day 1

Max came over today to stay with us for an open-ended board - not less than three months, not longer than twelve. He's only been here a couple of hours and I want to keep him! He's a great dog and he gets along great with Ivory and Mackey and Handsome and Dash. He and Ivory and I went up to PetSmart a while ago and picked up some supplies. His beautiful companion Ellie left for Lynchburg at the same time Max came over here; he'll eventually go back to stay with her but not for a while. Here's a picture of Max and Ellie together before Max came over here:

If you find messy houses distasteful, better not go any farther! But if you think you can take it, a couple more pictures of Max, this time with his new long-term temporary companions:

Max in the dining room with Ivory and Mackey:

Finally, the three of them snoozing in my office:

More to come soon - especially after I figure out how to edit pictures and put up blog posts from a Mac. Return here soon - Roux (as in "Kanga-Roux", a 6 month old female German Shepherd) and Kite (short for Malikite) will be joining us. Now we have to take our first walk! Max needs to get a little exercise so he sleeps peacefully on his first night in his new home.

Mackey's 1st campout - March 29-30, 2008

First, Ivory, Mackey and me, just outside the shelter. Sarah took our picture; she was there with a friend of hers who hiked the AT to Connecticut last year before getting Lyme disease - he'll finish it this year - and their three year old dog Jody. Who spent a great deal of time running around with Mackey. I should have gotten a picture of Jody too. She was a very pretty girl.

Second, a picture another guy took of Ivory and Mackey and me outside the tent; you can see the little dusting of snow that had just fallen. You can see it better in this picture:

Then we hiked back out and drove to Charlottesville. Mackey and Ivory slept in Dr. Leslie's apartment while Dr. Shane treated Dr. Leslie and me to lunch! What a way to spend a weekend!

Highland Maple Festival - March 8, 2008

Us, at the Highland Inn

Pride of the Mountains since 1904

68 W Main St.

Monterey, VA 24465

On the first weekend of the 2008 Highland Maple Festival - the Fiftieth Annual - we saw, with the exception of hazy hot and humid, every weather Virginia has to offer. So during a great day outdoors, the only picture we took was indoors! We saw pouring rain, a huge flash of lightning, a roar of thunder, 45 minutes of crisp, clear, sunlight, a thirty minute long raging blizzard, and 60 mph winds - all in twelve hours, all in the same small town in the mountains of western Virginia. And we had buckwheat pancakes and fresh maple syrup!

The cat's out of the bag...

One of them is, anyway.

Miss Annie

A more accurate title for this post would be I Miss Annie. Nicky died on November 9 of 2006 and Annie just five weeks later on December 16. Annie was twelve years old when I got her in 2000 and her previous owner described her as "a very dog-like cat." To a person of my particular sensibilities, there can scarcely be a higher compliment. Or in Annie's case, a more accurate one. She was friendly, outgoing, cheerful, loved to be around people and was just a joy to spend time with. I've got a few better pictures of her; I'll put one up when I find it. There's one I particularly enjoy that I call "Fire Worshiper." Annie would just park herself in front of the woodstove and stare at the flames. When I find that, I'll put it up. For now, there's this one. Annie was one-of-a-kind. But they all are. Here she is, all six purring pounds of her:

Since I left their names off before...

...here are more pictures of my new feline companions, Handsome and Dashing. Dash, for short, although he'll answer to nearly anything, and purr about it too. Handsome is the big tabby and Dash is the little Creamsicle colored guy. Incredibly, or incredibly to me, anyway, they're entirely unrelated - Handsome is almost a year older than Dash and they came from different homes. I always like the animals in my house to be compatible, but these guys set the new standard:

Snoozing together










Little cat, big yawn









Back to sleep









Little cat, big stretch

Triathlon 2008

My next triathlon will be the Beach 2 Battleship Iron Distance Triathlon in Wilmington, NC on November 1, 2008:

What we seek is balance

According to the Buddha. My house is most balanced when I have two dogs and two cats and as of about 2:00 this afternoon, thanks to Betty Baugh's Animal Clinic, it's back in balance. I went down there this afternoon on the advice of my old friend and mentor Barbara and picked up these two handsome young guys:













The darker one is a little bigger in the vicinity of eighteen months. He's moderately wary, although more of the dogs than he is of me. Mackey finds him a little bit intimidating. He's lying on my lap while I type, with his chin resting on the keyboard. The lighter one is close to six months and purrs deafeningly and is all kitten. More later. More writing, not more cats and/or dogs.