Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

This morning the rain returned after a several week hiatus. Though this rain is much needed, the prior sunny weather allowed us to get a jump on the outside yard work. We are having major renovations to our pool after 13 years of service. The dogs and I have found the ongoing work to be very interesting.

Though a pool is not as costly as a boat to maintain, it still is a sinkhole of expenses from chemicals to electricity to hours of maintenance work. We are now awaiting the proper time to re-plaster with the final coat. In between the rain and the debris falling from the trees, we need a few more sunny days, with no pollen to stain the white plaster. A very difficult task to figure with the fickle weather here in New England.

Still the pool has kept the girls’ interest while they try to figure out where the water went.

This long weekend Barb traveled to Maryland with our son Brian to visit our two grandsons Ethan and Alex, and their parents, Mike and Emma. She took the camera, so I couldn’t get any more Golden pictures to liven this blog.

Here are Ethan and Alex, already rugged boys.

Barbara left me with strict instructions in keeping the house clean, and keeping our 20 year old cat in good health. She usually vacuums at least daily here.

I found that being a guy and all, the floors looked pretty good just the way they were at the end of the day. It is amazing how blond dog hair will show up all over your clothes, but on the floor it is nearly invisible. I also discovered a secret about floor fur balls. They start out small, but overnight, they breed and attract any other dog hair in the area. Must be through static electricity or something. So in the morning, I just picked up these tumbleweed sized fluff balls resembling cotton candy, and didn’t need to get out the vacuum at all. Now Barb is home, and has already chastened me on the condition of the floors. I just think her eyes are much sharper than mine…

The rainy days in March have passed onto drier conditions. Hopefully the mud season we went through on our runs at the High School is now over. On those wet mornings in March, the dogs quickly became reacquainted with their favorite puddles of standing water.

Mud intermixed with their shedding winter coats always makes for lots of extra cleaning work. Not Barbara’s favorite time by far.

On a sunny day in April though, there is a Spring rite of passage here when the pool cover finally comes off. The dogs enjoy sniffing the tepid water and look for any poor little animals who had the misfortune to find their way underneath the pool cover over the winter.

The girls love to watch when real work is involved. Sitting in a group as usual, they kept quiet watch while Barb and I wrestled with the pool cover.

Out in the front yard, they were less than helpful, and decided to make a game out of the pool cover cleaning.

In order to finish our work, we ultimately had to put them inside, where they watched with great yearning along with our cat.

This endearing quality of wanting to share every moment with you is a classic Golden Retriever characteristic. Another, is making an adventure out of every possible daily activity. We all finished the afternoon very tired but content.

My mother has taken up a new cutting edge career at the youthful age of …!

Along with my sister in California, she is becoming an expert in a proprietary software/hardware program that allows one to determine the subtle energy fields of people and living beings. Called Electro Physiological Quantum Feedback Xrroid, (EPFX for short), the idea is to help try to restore wellness and reduce stress through the balancing of our body’s many internal energy fields. While based on the ancient science of meridians and Chinese medicine, it involves applying advanced mathematical science in the electrical potentials of our tissues and determining what is out of balance. Then it delivers a micro current of electricity to help quickly correct the problem. Sheesh, that is some heavy language! Did I get that right mom?

While sounding like something from Star Trek, this computer software and special hardware is being used in many different walks of life to help reduce stress and increase performance. From professional athletes to medical practices to expensive race horses, there is a lot of experimenting going on to reach beyond the four dimensions we usually inhabit. (Those are: Height, width, depth, and time). Micro energy on the cellular level is another dimension. With Emma’s Spring heat due, and her infertility issues from her missed litter last year preying on my mind, I decided to let my mother evaluate her.

So Emma and I traveled to my mom’s home. She had to lie on this special electrical pad that is used for dogs and horses. Since this was the first animal that my mother tested, we had to call California to get the process correct.

The answers were quickly forthcoming and then we started.

Emma was a little restless at first being in a new environment, but a timely offering of a bone became her focus of attention. The program quickly detected that she was thirsty ( I had just run her), and also said that she was showing TMJ stresses. Amazingly accurate, since her jaws were working very hard on this new bone.

After a hour and a half of looking into various parts of her anatomy through these energy levels, the good news was that she was suffering from no specific maladies or malfunctions besides some mild GI inflammation. (This is probably due to her recent love of chewing her sister’s pooh). Her energy levels were excellent, mental issues were non existent, and she was not demonstrating any internal stresses of significance.

While I am a very traditionally trained physician, I have decided to keep an open mind on this very new “soft science”. The equipment and software involved costs almost half a private year college tuition, so this is some serious stuff. Our plan will be to have my mom come over and test the rest of our goldens so we can get some baselines, and then see if any of the dogs test very differently than the others.

Typing this blog tonight, Emma is sleeping comfortably at my feet. She showed no ill effects from the sampling and optimizing of her cellular energies earlier today. She remains one very well adjusted golden retriever. But of course I knew that before we tested her.

Our early morning run today was much colder than I reckoned on. There was a brisk wind blowing through the empty fields, and the leafless trees did little to stop its frigid breath. Still, the outing was enjoyable for other reasons. The land has not reawakened yet, so it was very quiet and absent of wild or human life. There was a golden hue to everything that was stunning.

The dog’s coats blended into the landscape perfectly. With no snow to trudge through, the girl’s really got to stretch their legs and muscles. Mostly I saw only their tails as they ran far afield.

Walking home cold  but happy  with our exercise time, I wondered when mother nature would decide to start the Spring heats of Emma and Riley. When the land starts to warm, and the flowers bloom, the pressure for a successful litter will start to build. So I enjoyed this morning with no expectations except to enjoy my canine family and the invigorating weather.

Barb and I get a lot of laughs and smiles from the stories and photos we receive from both golden friends as well as from those folks who have our dogs. It is amazing how these animals cuddle their way into our hearts and daily activities in so many ways. I thought I would share some recent pictures…

First we have Mare who sent a picture of her golden “Sierra” staying warm during a recent nap.

Then Cindy sent us a snapshot of “Katie” with her St. Patrick’s Day Hat.

Janet takes “Logan’s” dental health very seriously as you can see.

And amazingly, he returned the good turn by helping nurse Andy back to health when he had the flu this winter.

Still, I am reminded daily by some of their not so endearing behaviors, that they are still dogs and have their own inborn ideas of the world. Last night I heard the sound of chewing suddenly change and looked over to see Solo had made a good start on my wallet. The credit cards had only teeth marks on one corner so I got off lucky.

When I picked up a new wallet today, I also had to pick up another leather case for my cell phone. That disappeared last week down someone’s gullet and the only remaining part was the metal clasp. Never mind that these items are on a bureau that I thought was high enough to be safe. At least these items were not as costly as the eyeglasses I had to replace last year.

Like the other human members of our family though, we take the good with the bad and forgive readily, because family is what our lives are all about.