Farmington Valley Golden Retrievers

Last weekend our daughter Kristen was able to come home and spend some time with us. Sunday was a beautiful day, and we had a few games of “Horse” in the driveway like times of old.

While Kristen was practicing, Riley especially had fun chasing and trying to dribble the ball. It was Lucy’s first exposure to a basketball and she wasn’t too sure what to do.

When Kris and I started playing, the dogs retired to the bleacher seats, but the heat got to them. So they moved to the dugout area and watched contentedly.

Kristen beat me handily. Maybe that was because I was wearing my heavy dog walking boots. Or maybe it was the weird flashbacks I kept having, to Steve Martin’s movie… “Father of The Bride”, that caused me to miss so much. It was great to have her here with us.

Summer is officially here and our pool is finally almost functional. The pool has come a long way from the dirty pond water we found when we took off the cover in May.

The crystal clear water we have now almost seduces you to forget the month of daily expensive obstacles to getting to this point. For those of you who have never had a pool,
they are very expensive water features that cause lots of frustrating moments until everything is working. From water chemistry to pump problems, electrical issues to gas line clogs, leaking water pipes to mice ruining the heater mechanism, if anything can possibly go wrong it will. Getting quality service people here in a timely fashion is another impossible task. Now that our children are grown, every year Barbara asks when we are in the middle of another pool crisis, can we fill it in now?

Every year I say no, mostly because of the happy memories we have shared with family, neighbors, and dogs.

This past weekend was one of those nice moments. The water was clear, most of the pool features were working, and the dogs were enjoying their tennis balls in the enclosed hot tub space (one of the nonworking issues at the moment).

Lily our eight year old has never been interested in the water, while Emma and Riley are content to wade up to their legtops. Solo is a definite water bug and the puppy so far has found more interesting adventures in the yard like chewing and digging rather than swimming. Now if only we had California weather so this hard yard work was productive of more than two to three months enjoyment before the season changes again…

Watching me work is a favorite pastime of Riley and Solo.

But they all took a more active role the other day when I was trying to straighten out one of the garden beds.

Not content with just eating plants, they started digging and chewing. They also have this knack of laying just where you are working, oblivious to what you are trying to accomplish. Helps keep a perspective that weeding is not something to be enjoyed in big doses. Much more important chores to be done, like napping or guarding the yard.

PS. One of my physician friends bought a pretty black lab from the “reputable” puppy store here in the valley about 10 months ago. She told me when I bumped into her yesterday that her dog has bilateral hip dysplasia already. The price people pay when they can’t wait to get a dog from a quality breeder keeps on increasing as the puppy grows older. My friend will do anything to keep her animal healthy, but breeding for profit without a committment to quality, makes me very angry. And it is the animals that pay the ultimate price.

Today was a spectacular morning for exercise and reflection. The high school fields have become one big blanket of sweet smelling clover.

The sun was coming up and you could see its rays of light reflecting off the mist from the overnight showers.

There was not another soul around, and it was peaceful and good.

Of course with all the rain lately, the dog’s private swimming holes were back. Now however, the ground is relatively dry. The mud is gone and the girls don’t get as dirty.

We all came home physically tired, and for myself, spiritually refreshed.

And what better time on this beautiful morning, to annouce that our oldest son, Michael Jr., and his wife Emma called with the birth of their second son, Michael Alexander, at 8 AM this morning. Born in Washington, DC. at 8 pounds 12 ounces, everyone is doing well.

We give thanks for our blessings.

Today our day started as usual with the sun still below the horizon and the girls going out back to do their morning duties. A field mouse had fallen into the pool overnight and was still swimming merrily along. The dogs were very attentive and not happy another creature had invaded their domain. They kept circling the pool following the mouse.

Fortunately for the mouse, he found a crevice to hide and rest in at the bottom of the waterfall. Riley wasn’t about to let him get away so easily and for a few moments, I feared for my plants sitting precariously on the stonework above.

In our house, only one command will distract a golden from its chosen mission, the words: “Let’s Eat”. It worked once again and my plants were safe. As for the mouse, hopefully he will find his way out unnoticed later in the day.

A short time later we were at the high school fields and everyone congregated around what I thought from a distance was a rock..

Nope, a painted land turtle. A lot of sniffs later we were back on our run.

Then home later, the dogs noticed a chipmunk family in our front island bed.

They have great noses, but they are not great catchers. Instead they were bred to retrieve and hence their name. So like the field mouse, the chipmunks continue to coexist very nicely with our girls.
So while we didn’t run into any impressively sized wildlife today such as a deer, or bear, these critters certainly caused some excitement among the pack that may lead to some sweet dreams tonight.