The Company We Keep

Uncle Eddy came up from Missoula for an adventure on Sunday.  He is poodle's Uncle, and my brother-in-law.  I was going to put him to work in the gallery, but he was too busy sitting outside and drinking water and sniffing Roxie's toys and having a snack and taking a nap.  Here he is:

Eddy died today.  He was having a really hard time because of a tumor growing near his throat.  He was a constant and faithful companion to Eletra and Wayne - and was an extra special friend to Dylan - for many years.  We will miss him very much.

Blessed is the person who has earned the love of an old dog.

-- Sidney Jeanne Seward

Summertime ... for a minute

A client of ours told me yesterday that in the month of June last year, here in the Flathead Valley, it rained 27 out of 30 days.  She knows this because she grows wine grapes so keeps track of weather details.  We have had more sunny days this year in June, but today isn't one of them.  Sunday (aptly named) was beautiful; high 70s with a little breeze.  The wild daisies are just beginning to bloom.

The wild rose bushes are blooming and they smell really good if you get up close.

I think one of the larger rose bushes is being invaded.  Anybody know what this is called?  I'm thinking it's a monkey-something.

Poodle and I played ball and although this is normally a thrilling experience for her, this time momma almost had heart failure.  A doe came out of the woods and watched us, then started running after the ball with Roxie.  Made me a bit nervous.  I tried to chase her away by waving the Chuck-It stick at her, but that didn't work.  After five or six trips back and forth (during which poodle was totally focused on the ball - I'm not even sure she noticed the deer was running behind her), the doe caught up and started pawing Roxie's back as she was running.  Momma was VERY upset.  It's a good thing I don't own an assault rifle.  We stopped playing, and I taught that deer some new words.

Turns out the doe was protecting her babies and she decided my entire yard and the entire field by the house is her territory.  Before we were playing, in fact, she chased Bones all the way around to the front of the house.  When we got back from a walk later in the afternoon, this is what we saw:

I think she brought them out of the woods so I could see she had babies to protect, because I haven't seen them at all in the past five days.  Those little buggers were tiny.

Anyway, here is a lovely picture of dog butts.

And here is a story in pictures.  It goes like this - Bones gets in the pool.

Bones splashes in the pool and tries to bite the water.

Roxie sees, and is convinced Bones found something good in there.

One in, one out!

Funny dogs.  Thank you, Bones, for sharing your pool.

Still nothing in the painting department.  I have an idea for a landscape I want to try and I will be wickedly surprised if it works out.  I will keep you posted.

Wrapping it Up

I still have some catching up to do on here from last month but I've lost all my mojo so it has taken a bit longer than I expected.  I will start with this:  remember that marathon relay team I was on?  Here we are, post-event:

It was a grueling day.  We left the house at 6:20 a.m. and got to Burlington by 7:00ish.  Walked up to the starting area in rainy and 42 degree weather.  Cold.  Windy.  Icky.  The race didn't start until 8:03 a.m. so there was plenty of waiting around.  In the cold.  And wind.  And rain.  Abby was in charge of the first leg of the race - 3.3 miles - and Johnny ran with her.  She was a rock star.  Johnny continued on with the second leg - another 6.something miles.  He wanted to say he ran the distance of a half marathon, so he ran with me up to the 13.1 mile mark.  Or, I should say, he ran but after my first 4 miles or so I stopped to walk.  Johnny was a rock star.  I was responsible for the third and fourth legs of the race - 11.something miles - and it was brutal.  Everything that could hurt or break, did.  Right knee, right hip, left knee, left hip, lower back, piriformis, tops of my feet, bottom of my left pinky toe.  Delaney was waiting an awful long time for me to get to the start of the fifth and last leg.  She was a rock star.  I don't know what our team's official time was, but we didn't care about time - we just wanted to finish.  (Delaney even stopped for about 10 minutes to take off her jacket and re-pin her bib onto her t-shirt.)  It was, for the most part, a miserable running experience but I'm so proud of our team and I would do it again next year.  Both Delaney and Abby wore their official race jerseys to school the Tuesday after the race.

On Memorial Day we went with Evan and three of his fellow Cub Scouts to replace the flags in the Hinesburg Village Cemetery.  I couldn't get a good picture of all four boys together, but here is my favorite picture of Evan:

Last but not least, I wouldn't want Liam to feel left out, so here he is, in all his teenage glory.  This is an awesome picture:

Awesome.  What else.   I went to Killington for a couple of days and saw my dad for the first time post-brain tumor diagnosis, radiation and all that nonsense.  I got to see the plastic mask he had to wear during his radiation treatments.  Creepy, in a "Friday the 13th" kind of way.  Dad was on his best behavior but, of course, a couple of days after I got back to Montana he went back to the hospital for three nights and four days.  Craziness.  Someday I'd like to see my dad's medical file - I bet it is so huge it takes up an entire filing cabinet.

Speaking of wrapping up things, I wrapped up several of my paintings last week.  Two went to Connecticut, one went to California, one stayed here in Montana and one is almost on its way to Switzerland.  Most of the paintings were purchased by my wonderful family.  I have been getting loads of support and encouragement from my family regarding my art career, which probably means I should start painting again.  It's been a few weeks but, as I said at the beginning of this post, my mojo is gone.  Getting it back is on my To Do List for this week!

Is it June yet?

Hey!  Where have you guys been - it's been ages!  Heh heh.  Loads of things have happened in the past month, and none of them have involved painting.  Oops.  The recap will take several blog posts, and I will start by saying I planted my flower boxes at home on Mother's Day.

Planting the flowers signifies sure-fire spring for me, although it has rained here a crap-ton and even snowed once since Mother's Day.  Chances are good it will snow again.

Poodle and I also met our new neighbor.

She was two weeks old when I took these pictures.  There are currently four baby mules down the road, each one a different color.  This is the first female.

In other news, and temporarily skipping a bunch in between, my birthday was on Monday and every year my mother-in-law sends me a copy of the "Year at a Glance for Gemini."  Here are the pertinent bits from this year:

"... what you do this year sets the tone for the next twelve years.  Step forward; trust that resources will appear to support you."

"You are capable of accomplishing miracles this year...."

"Focus on the here and now, bring order to chaos, take risks in spite of fears."

"You need to be with inspiring cohorts.  This may require a new setting.  Old comforts could keep you in victim consciousness, smother you in self-doubt.  Don't hold out for the perfect situation, better to experiment and move on if the conversations don't set your hair on fire."

Awesome.  Sounds like it will be a big year for me!  The trusting in potentially non-existing resources and taking risks in spite of fears parts are scary for me (see?  there's that fear now) but sometimes the best rewards come when you step outside of your comfort zone.  Remember, "Do, or do not.  There is no try."  So says Yoda.

Next up I will post some pictures from my vacation in Vermont.  Stay tuned.

Vampires, Mummies and the Holy Ghost

I'm not sure whether to thank Jimmy Buffett or curse him.  Remember way back when I mentioned that when I run I frequently get a song stuck in my head?  More precisely, I get one or two lines of a song stuck in my head.  This week it has been "No aliens, psychopaths or MTV hosts scare me like vampires, mummies and the Holy Ghost."  Yessir.  Curse that Jimmy Buffett.  But then thank that Jimmy Buffett, because this is infinitely better than any verse of The Wheels on the Bus, or even "devil with a blue dress, blue dress, blue dress, devil with a blue dress on."  Five miles of vampires and mummies, then poodle and I had to stop back at home so I could shed a shirt.  I was wearing a really lightweight long-sleeved shirt under my t-shirt because I sunburned the crap out of my arms on Sunday (sunburn, Sunday - awesome).  We hit the road for three more miles, at which point we were both totally done.  So we added one more mile.  I tell ya, I would much rather finish a run with a wee bit left in the tank than be past the point of mental and physical exhaustion.  Poodle agrees.  So we stretched, rolled out our back on our mailing tube, took a shower, went to town to run a couple of errands, drank some Gatorade, then figured we would lay low for the rest of the day.

But someone wanted to play ball.

When she was resting, we had a photo shoot:

What a pretty poodle.  She was tired.

Then Bones came over.

He had been for a swim in the river and was still soaking wet.  Bones and Roxie have a game they play called, "I'm gonna bite your head off!"  "No, I'm gonna bite YOUR head off!"  It goes like this:

See her fancy maneuver in that last photo?  She's sitting on him.

PHOTOBOMB!

Whenever Bones has a stick (or a toy or a twig or anything) Roxie wants it.  She's not a professional sharer.

Sunny Kitty was out getting a tan, too.  She started out on the deck....

"Oh my brain is so big it makes my head so heavy.  I better rest it here."

Then she went up a level....

And then....

Ta Da!  Reigning supreme.

Here are pictures of the potentially clever experiment I mentioned the other day.  It's growing on me.  No pun intended.

Yeppers, it was sunny outside.

I wanted the words to be subtle, but they may have ended up TOO subtle.  I love the flowers - more of that 12 gauge copper wire I have by the boatload.  (Speaking of which, why is there a "u" in the word gauge?  That makes no sense.)  The canvas panel is 15" wide by 30" high - pretty big for me.  I'm going to live with it for a few days and if I still like it, I will frame it.

And that's it.  We're having our third high-70s day today and I'm wondering if spring has finally sprung for good.  I hope so.  I don't think I will be able to plant the flower box out front before the artwalk and Mother's Day, but I'd like to get it done before I leave for Vermont in two weeks.