Double Trouble

I looked up and it was June 1.

How did that happen?

I mean, I’d started this blog on May 23 and then BAM! it’s already June. So much has happened and I’ve been very very lax in telling you all about it. While I tend to be thoughtful and introspective in my blogs, this one is going to have to be a bit quicker because I’m covering 10 days instead of 5…so I figured the best way to do it was sing it. Yes, sing. Me. On a blog. That is written. Without sound.

Bear with me…

Somewhere over the rainbow…

Okay, so maybe singing isn’t a great idea 1) because I can’t really carry a tune and 2) because the only song I know well is Over the Rainbow and I don’t have any shots of a rainbow. What I have are photos of the view at my Uncle’s house, which is where we spent the long Memorial Day weekend. But if I tell you about that then I’d be kind starting in the middle or the end of the middle and that might throw you all off.

Hey Rubin?

Yes, Gretchen?

I think you are throwing them off by not trying to throw them off. You should just start where you want to start and then tell a story.

But there are so many stories to tell about these past 10 days.

I know, but close your eyes.

Okay.

Take a deep breath…

Okay.

And tell me the first thing you remember about the past 10 days…

Micah!

Good! Start there.

Micah is our neighbor. He’s 11 months old. He’s very cute and he smells yummy. He came to visit us when our friend Jessica and her dog Quillette were visiting. Jessica is a nanny and she LOVES her some babies. I think they’re pretty cute, but once Micah stole my yellow ball with the feet, I wasn’t so sure Micah was cute anymore. I had to practice some serious patience.

Well done! Now close your eyes again…take a deep breath…and what pops into your memory now?

Roux!

Good. Go ahead. Tell us about Roux.

Roux is kind of a new client. We met her a year ago and have walked her twice before. Her mom doesn’t need us very often, but when she has long days at work, she gives us a call and we give Roux a break. And boy, is she ever appreciative…Roux, that is, and perhaps her mom.

Anyway, Roux loves to play chase, which makes it kind of hard because I love to be chased as much as she does so while I’m trying to get her to chase me she’s trying to get me to chase her and we get awfully confused.

Then we get tired and all is right in the world.

Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and…

Paige! Monty! Rain!

I remember that day.

Yes, well the only thing that made it tolerable was that I didn’t have to wear a raincoat (Paige did) and we got to go on a walk we rarely go on — a hike through Camp Long…in the pouring down rain! It would have been miserable, but I was surrounded by my two best friends so no misery was found!

Good. Try again. Close your eyes…

Squirrels!!!!

This is a much longer story…

Okay, I’ll be quick. We went to Uncle Paul and Aunt Patti’s house in Oregon this past weekend. We did lots of stuff. We got eggs from the neighbor’s chicken coop…

…we ate lots of really good food (most of which required eggs…how convenient!)…

…we celebrated Grand-paw’s 83rd birthday (Happy Birthday Grand-paw!)…

…we went on hikes through the amazing countryside where we romped through really tall fields of wheat…(look closely at the second photo…that’s me leaping in the distance!)

We searched for Poison Oak…and found it!

We took in the breath-taking views…

We gave the neighbor’s dog, Karma, a bath so she could visit her human dad in the center where he’s recovering from a broken hip…

Karma is famous, by the way…a cover girl!

…and when we hiked through walnut groves, a squirrel raced by my cousin Ringo and me…

…and went straight up a tree. I may not be a country dog, but my time in the city has taught me that squirrels don’t just go up trees…they go across them, scampering across the branches and then leaping fearlessly to another branch on another tree. So, while Ringo was barking at the tree the squirrel went up, I was following following the pesky guy across the branches with my eyes and when he made the leap, I kept following only he didn’t make it. Nope, he fell and he fell right on top of my head!

Oh happy day. All those hunting lessons from my friend Paige came in handy. I grabbed the squirrel’s tail with my chompers, but the little bugger wiggled away and then the pursuit was on. He went one way and I followed. He spun on a dime and I did the same. Back and forth, back and forth — he was just inches from my lips. Then he turned one last time and dove into the thicket.

Now, this is where Paige wouldn’t be very proud of me. I did not dive in after the squirrel. Paige wouldn’t have hesitated. She would have sacrificed her body to go after that squirrel. I did not.

Still I had fun and I think that was one of my best memories of the past 10 days….even though NO ONE GOT A PHOTOGRAPH OF THIS AMAZING EVENT!

Sorry…it all happened so fast! But there were other memories, too, yes?

Oh yeah. (I’m closing my eyes…) like hanging with Rosie and Tyson.