September 10, 2010
Friday’s Treats
Recently, I felt like I’ve been chasing my tail. This is not a good thing. It means that I’ve been so busy I’m spinning without a purpose, turning 
round and round trying to achieve something absurd. In fact, I’ve been spinning so wildly of late, I’ve not kept up very well with my blog. I mean, here it is Sunday and I’m finally finishing up (actually beginning) my Friday entry.
My apologies. It’s tough being a dog who is so much demand.
So let me reflect back on Friday and why it was such a treat.
Well, first off it was Friday and that meant I got to relax this weekend. I got to relax, but Gretchen didn’t since she worked Friday night and all day Saturday at the pool. The next reason I liked Friday is because it’s a day I get to spend with Monty, my best buddy. (I hope my other friends don’t take it the wrong way when I say that Monty is my BFF. It’s just that he’s known me the longest, seen me through my ugly puppy phases, and has taught me more than any dog I’ve ever known about manners, playing fetch, and most importantly, the importance of cleaning up my food bowl with every meal.)
Another reason Friday was such fun was really Gretchen’s treat. She got to walk with Rosie and Tyson again for an hour, something she rarely gets to do. Usually, they only walk for a half hour, but last week, every day they were scheduled for an hour and that was fun for everyone, so it seemed. Walking for an hour means they get to go to new places and on Friday, they headed down to the lake for a walk along the water.
First, they stopped by a beautiful hydrangea plant (hard to see in the background, but it’s mixed in there with all the ferns and posed, though Tyson was a bit fixated on something moving up the street and Rosie was excited to be heading somewhere new so it took a little bit to get the right shot.
They wer
e going to pose by the lake, but other dogs were off-leash and romping around so instead, they walked up through the little tunnels and posed on the grassy hillside. Now, I should let you know that Rosie hates walking through the long tunnel. In fact, she won’t get within 50 yards of it without putting on the brakes, so Gretchen thought they could practice tunnel walking through the short ones.
Rosie as a bit hesitant at first, but since she could see to the other side, she moved on through without much problem.
Good for you, Rosie! Of course Tyson didn’t understand the big deal, but when Gretchen asked him to “be strong for Rosie” he put on his most serious face and helped out. I know, I know, his face ALWAYS looks serious, but trust me, this one is different.
Another reason Friday was a treat is because we got to play fetch and if you know me at all, you know I love to play fetch. Monty does, too. Gemma? Well, Gemma likes to pretend she’s playing fetch (which always fools Monty), but really she’s all about chasing us.
The day ended, as did the week, with one big long walk with our buddy Saber. As you can see, we got tired, though Monty was only interested in a treat from Gretchen’s pocket!
And I suppose that’s what makes Friday so awesome…TREATS! While I scolded Monty for breaking his “stay” Gretchen didn’t seem to mind and we all got some goodies from her pocket. She’s much more generous on Fridays.
Hope you all are having a great weekend. I’ll try to be more on top of my job this week, so stay tuned!
Rubin
Gretchen and Rubin,
I’d like to know why y’all have made photography a part of your walking routine. Is there a connection between writing and making images?
Ms. Brown, This sounds like a question an English teacher would ask her high school students! In short, words are a documentation of our lives. We use words, as I’m doing now, to tell stories of what matters to us. In essence, it’s the same for photography. Pictures tell a story as well — we take pictures to also document what matters to us. What I find fascinating is that what we see in photos and what we read/write in words is often open for interpretation. Since I am dog and most people either ignore our stories or don’t understand them, I feel it is my duty to show the human world the overlap of our stories — the intersection between what we see and the words used to describe it all. Humans do it all the time, though they may not be aware of it, but I wanted to bring a unique perspective to our business. So I decided it was important to share with “ya’ll” (love that, by the way) one canine’s viewpoint in both words and pictures. Hope that makes sense. We’re very happy to know you read the blog from so far away! Give Summer a lick from me! Rubin
I began shooting photographs as part of my routine when I took up walking in a serious way in January. My motivation in walking was health and weight loss, and the photography kept me interested in my surroundings — old buildings and neighborhoods in downtown Hopkinsville, Ky. But now that I have a dog, Summer, I haven’t figured out how to juggle the camera and a 10-month-old Golden Retriever puppy. Maybe that will come later. Meanwhile, I’ll check back with y’all on the blog to enjoy the words and pictures.