Thanks Susan!

We came across our friends Susan and Steven at Pony Pasture this morning and Susan graciously agreed to take a picture of the five of us. Since Pat and Megan also graciously agreed to allow us to bring Tyler along to the river this AM. If you've ever photographed dogs you'll know what a challenge it is to get five to sit still long enough to take a picture. 

My fb picture is (was) still one of us hiking in the snow; I felt it was time for a more spring-like theme. So we were on the lookout for a competent photographer and it was our great good fortune to encounter Susan and Steven at the river this morning.

For those of you who don't know us, that's the lovely Tyler in the foreground. Max is just behind her and Roux is the only one looking left. Mackey is under my right arm and Ivory is gazing at the river. I suspect he's looking at a duck and thinking a second breakfast might be in order. For a dog who has never missed a meal in sixteen years, he always seems concerned that the next one might not show up. And he may have to take matters into his own paws.

First baby ducks of 2010

 Mother Mallard and five babies

First ones I saw anyway, first ones on the James at Pony Pasture. I apologize for the low quality image; I had to zoom in from a pretty long distance. When you have four big dogs with lots of energy, a prudent parent like the one shown here tends to keep her new family at a distance. 

I've also seen two turtles, one big one in the river last week at PP and one today while riding. But no pictures yet. Soon the turtles will be everywhere. And there are more flowers every day.

Brothers from Other Mothers

Ivory and Max and I just got back from what may have been our best campout ever. Thanks Alex for taking care of Roux, Mackey, Dash and Kite while we were gone!

And thanks to Jill and her excellent (4-legged, of course) hiking companions Piper and Bessie for taking our picture. Jill being the only one with an opposable thumb took the picture. My camera was being balky, I later learned, but she managed to get this shot. 

The weather was beyond spectacular; it was crisp and cool and clear and lovely. Max and Ivory were amazing hikers. In my journal from 7:39 this AM it says "watching the sun come up, this is in every sense unimprovable" and at 10:06 - about twenty minutes before we started - it says "There is absolutely no improving this weather". Just amazing. Perhaps more pictures to follow. 

Only because I'm so happy about it...

...I don't know if this really rates a post. But Ivory and Mackey were playing in the backyard today and I was so startled I finally managed to get my camera out and take about a 30 second movie of it. I just loved watching this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn7G8V9MWYg

My 3 favorite photography subjects:

Ivory in the snow at the river

I never get tired of any of those 3 - 

Ivory, the snow, or the river

Words fail

A picture is worth a thousand words but words - even pictures - were insufficient to relate the flawlessness of the morning at Pony Pasture today. Here are a few pictures; I'll put up more later:

 

Look at that - like walking in a postcard

Lovely dogs, snow, sky

Snow dog coming down the trail

"River" hike today:

Alex and I set out for the river early this afternoon in a heavy snow but the closer we got, the worse the roads got. And when you get close to rivers, you're at the bottom of a hill, so we bagged it and hiked to the pet cemetery up the street. One picture here with Roux and Alex: 

And one with Ivory, Max, me, Roux and Mackey:

More dog videos & pictures, what a surprise

This is a brief video of the dogs at the deeply flooded Pony Pasture last week (Thur., 1.28.10). Now it's almost inconceivable that this was taken the day before yesterday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnYsEBrr4pw

Because these six pictures were taken today (Sat., 1.30.2010) during a huge snow storm - incredible:

http://picasaweb.google.com/NEWFAZE/WhiteWinterHymnalII#

Incredible but fun.

A couple nice sunrise shots on a cold winter morning

First I thought all the dogs looked nice with the sun coming up behind them:

A little while later Ivory and Roux were on the trail, shrouded in fog from their breath:

Happy New Year 2010!

Just back from our first hike of 2010 - it was superb! Max gave us a special New Year's treat - he did the entire walk off-leash for the first time in any of our lives! And hopped back in the car at the finish! Many and sincere thanks to Ivory, Mackey and Roux for helping him stay "on the path" - literally and figuratively.

The picture may not be regarded as lovely, unless you cherish the sight of the James River in its infinite number of looks, as we do. What a wonderful way to begin 2010.

I'll also for the first time (I think) post a tiny video from this morning. My videos will improve, but as you can see they have lots of improving to do.

All best, and have a superb 2010,

Jay and my four legged family.

PS Read on below this video:

(Hear the Pileated Woodpecker off in the distance?

Roux lopes past, Ivory saunters along, Mackey stands

sentinel ahead, I think looking at Max in the woods)

Here's the PS: I have many times read a book called ILLUSIONS by Richard Bach, 1977. In it he posits that if you need to read something, you'll read it somewhere, and you don't have to look for it - it will come to you. Perhaps that's true, perhaps not. There are also coincidences.

Anyway, I'm currently reading another book called The Miracle of Mindfulness by a Vietnamese Buddhist monk named Thich Nhat Hanh, 1975, more or less. You can read the full text on the web at:

The Miracle of Mindfulness

So I'm taking a break from working on this blog entry and on my break I'm waiting for that particular video to upload. And I was reading that book. And the chapter I'm up to - seriously - is

"TWO: The Miracle Is to Walk on Earth"

And these are the words I read:

"People usually consider walking on water or on thin air a miracle. but I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or on thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don't even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child -- our own two eyes. All is a miracle."

So, hey, what can I say? Happy New Year!