Glass Doors

Some people hit glass ceilings on their way to success....

The girls think glass doors are a barrier to getting close to Mommie, the toy box, and anything food.

Glass doors and glass ceilings have been serious thresholds for people to cross.  I've bumped up against a few myself.  It seems that one of the things we do in our world is to set barriers for any of us to succeed or to find happiness.   Labs are totally against any sort of barrier.  I think we need to adopt that attitude.

Murphy's Day.

Eat Pray Love

We finally watched Eat Pray Love and now the girls are wondering whether we are going to embark on a journey to clear our heads, find our souls, and more important to them, eat really well.

I'm thinking: Sedona, Arizona, Manchester, Vermont, and Missoula, Montana.  Some nice, small fly fishing streams near-by, good restaurants, and places where I have left my heart.  Plus, Sage has already been to Sedona and loved it.  Labs are the state dog of Vermont, and both girls have swam in the Clark's Fork in Missoula.  What's not to like?

Hmmmm.

Murphy's Day.

Blogging Not As Popular

Several days ago an article in the New York Times caught my eye.  Apparently among young people, blogging is not as popular as tweeting and Facebook.

Twitter just doesn't do it for me and Facebook is nice, but the girls just feel they can't express themselves as well.  Blogging requires some thought and....oh, never mind.

Murphy's Day.

Winter?

Despite forecasts this year, our winter here in the PNW has actually been fairly moderate.  Poor Sage and Annie have been looking for snow.  Only a few flakes here in Seattle.  They stare at pictures of grand-niece and nephews galavanting on Mt. Diablo, with envy (I am noticing neither Sophie or Maggie in the pics?  Hello!  Dogs love snow!).

So now, these same forecasters are taunting us, again.  Snow in the forecast.  Don't they realize how these tauntingly wonderful forecasts get us a little giddy?  We want snow!

Murphy's Day.

Changing Routines

For the past three days, we changed our routines.  We ran at a different time, we ate different foods (ok, I did, the girls ate their usual gourmet dog food), and we watch movies rather than sports.

I wanted to see if we could get out of our "norms."  I've been noticing more than ever, that almost all of us get into "norms."  We have, in almost every single instance, a pattern.  Politicians have become predictable.  I can repeat lines each "side" will make on any given issue.  I laugh every time I hear a developer say that any restrictions on where they can build will hurt "moderate income housing."  Tell me, did very many developers worry about moderate income housing when they scattered McMansions throughout the countryside?  Or how predictable the discourse becomes whenever anyone suggests there are issues with our education system...you get my drift.

So, indeed we were able to not only get outside of our comfort zone, but we actually enjoyed it!  The girls seemed more energetic.  I enjoyed the change...

Hint to our political class: maybe changing your discourse will actually lead to answers!

Murphy's Day.

Finally Renting Movies

I stayed home this weekend and other than the long long dinner with friends on Friday night (how many bottles of wine did we drink????? which fortunately they live a block away so I walked!), I rented movies both Saturday and Sunday night.  I am a huge Annette Bening fan, so I had to rent "The Kids Are All Right."  And, "Secretariat."  Both about heart, in different ways.

The girls were upstairs, snoozing away, but the minute they heard dinner and the movie, they came flying down and got close.

My triple crown winners are all right!

Murphy's Day.

Westminster On My Mind

This past Monday and Tuesday we watched the Westminster Dog Show.  Well, I should say, we watched some of the show.   For some reason, I just can't get my mind wrapped around the toy dog group.  That said, there are some nice looking dogs out there (Annie is despondent because she is not AKC registered so she couldn't be in the show.  I told her she could go in drag, maybe as a poodle?).

But I keep thinking of all the primping and fussing the handlers do over the dogs.  And then I think about my two.  Who live quite amazing lives.  They have a routine.  They get outside for long walks or romps no less than twice a day, then an evening stroll just before bed.  They spend their weekends running amok.  They travel to wade in legendary rivers, swim in lakes, and bounce on hotel beds.  I guess I also fuss over them, but perhaps not their "grooming" (labs grooming is as follows: 1. throw ball into water.  2. Tell dog to go fetch.  3. repeat).

I recently saw one of those dog 'issues."  A young, unspayed female got "knocked up" and had puppies.  The owner of the dog can barely keep one dog, then got this female, then had puppies.  It was, in my judgmental moment, all wrong.  One can only wonder what those puppies lives will be like.

So if I had to chose between what goes on to get a dog to Westminster, or those puppies who are living in a broken down dog house with a flea ridden blanket, following their young mom roaming the neighborhood looking for food....well, primping a dog for the "ring" seems so much better.

"May we please have Sage and Annie: Labrador Retrievers Number 1 and 2."

Murphy's Day.

Fields of Mud

It's been raining like crazy here in Seattle.  Lots of wind, causing the rain to really pound.

And Annie is quite happy about it all.  Her favorite ball field is now a mud spa.  The back yard looks like the corral behind the barn at our ranch in McKenna.  It's not pretty.

If it's mud the labs will come.

Murphy's Day.

Just Nosing Around

My mother had a lot of great lines.  If someone (or one of my dogs) was silly she would say they were "full of the old nick."  When I would ask her what she was doing for the day she might say: "oh, just nosing around."

It's what Sage does.  And what Murphy did as she got older.  Their noses drive them.  Sage is content to just amble around, smelling the world.

And, I have to admit, if she often is full of the old nick!  Which is great.

Murphy's Day.

Middle of February

Even though February has one three day weekend and Valentines Day, it's kinda' one of those "in between months," where you really want to believe Spring is just around the corner, the snow is starting to get yucky for skiing, and somehow some of the birds haven't gotten the message that it still gets cold at night.

But this year I am in a period of my life where every minute seems precious and important.  I am not finding myself looking forward, but squarely planted wherever I am at the moment.  Labs can teach me a lot about this.  I know they do look forward (try being in the same car with Annie when she thinks she is going to the beach).  But they really do seem very satisfied in the "here and now."  So, we're going to learn to enjoy the middle of February.

Murphy's Day.

Happy Valentines

Each of us has a favorite toy.  For Annie, it is a purple squeaky ball.  Sometime early this fall she was following me through an aspen stand and she lost the ball.  I swear we covered that turf for hours looking for it.

On Saturday evening we were walking through the same aspen stand and Sage peels off, running through the trees.  She comes back and nonchalantly drops the much loved purple squeaky ball in front of Annie.

It's true love.

Murphy's Day.

Trouble?

A little flurry of emails with my friend who bred Murphy and Sage (and who found Annie). She lives on Chesapeake Bay.  Her two labs are surrounded by water.  Sage's sister, Ally, is full of mischief and we call our dogs Monsters, Inc.

The flurry of emails was over a possible job for me across the Bay from my friend.  Quite close to her...and we both laughed over all the trouble our girls would get into together.  It would be quite a posse!

Annie wasn't too sure, though.  She is getting tired of hearing: "Oh, Annie..."

Murphy's Day.

But, Isn't There Snow Somewhere?

While I may be delighted in the first signs of spring, Annie (and Sage) continue to relish winter.  They love snow.  While it snowed a lot in December, from about mid-January on it's been one long melt.  This picture was taken in December.  The same place now is slowly turning green...

So, my mind has got to go from wet dogs due to snow to finding ticks, because it's going to be a horrible tick season.  Not enough freeze...

Come on, more snow!

Murphy's Day.

Mild Northwest

Yes, I know the garden needs a lot of work, but the first crocus poked out on Monday!  Spring is indeed on the way.

The trick, now, is how to keep Annie from flying into the garden beds chasing after her tennis balls!  Mission Impossible.  She looks at the whole yard as one big ball field.

Murphy's Day!

Comfort of Own Bed

Sage loves her beds.  Yes, that is plural.  She has one in the study that is piled high with an old sleeping bag, a blanket, and her bed.  And one in the dining room, where she can command a view of much of the first floor.

Whenever we get home from a trip, Sage heads for her beds.  Sniffs, walks on them, paws at them...it's two things: checking to make sure no one was one them while she was gone and to make sure Annie knows these are her beds.

I couldn't agree with comfort of own bed more.  I love my bed.  And maybe I'll walk around mine, scratch at it, making sure Little Red Riding Hood hasn't slept there and to let Annie know...

Ah, never mind.

Murphy's Day.

There's No Place Like Home

Home after a weekend away.  It was wet, drizzly, yucky everywhere.

Home.  A fire, dinner (yes, the Super Bowl).

There is no place like home.

How Could They?

Of course, our voices are just one of hundreds if not thousands, upset over a Canadian outdoor company based in Whistler, who, merely because business was slow, inhumanely slaughtered over 100 sled dogs.  It's beyond horrific.

There is a theory that how you treat your animals is an indication of how you treat humans.  Who would want to ever use this company?

Their excuse is that once dogs have been bred for sledding they can not become companions.  Maybe true.  Here in Washington State there are dozens of sledders who, I would guess, would leap at the chance to take on a few dogs for free.  Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, Idaho, Wisconsin, Maine, the Upper Peninsula of Michigan all have thriving dog sledding communities.

How the heck do you go from business is slow to murdering, slaughtering, inhumanely, 100 dogs?  No wonder they are not making any money!  They haven't a clue how to manage their most important resource: their own humanity!

Can You Find Sage?

Remember those puzzles in Highlights that we would read at the dentist's office?  Where is Waldo?

Sage likes perspective.  One of her favorite spots in the house is snuggled into the corner of the stairwell.  She can see downstairs, outside the front door (I have a window on my door), and upstairs.  Whenever we head to eastern Washington, she finds the high spots and looks down canyon.  She is what Mark Twain once described as a "noticer."

Of course, within minutes of taking this picture, Annie was running uphill to attack her sister.  She can find Sage anytime, anywhere.  It's what sisters do.

Murphy's Day.

Laying in Wait

I told Annie this weekend that someday there will be a puppy who does the same thing to her.  Lays in wait.  This is Annie's favorite game, next to "Catch Me If You Can."  She lays down, thinking she is hiding from Sage and as Sage ambles down a trail or path, pounce, Annie on Sage.

Recently I have tried to stop this game, thinking Sage doesn't like it, until I realized it's a game of strategy for Sage.  She'll stand on the top of the trail or path, figuring out how to blast by Annie, which route gives her the better chance to avoid the younger sister.  But I keep my eye on it, and keep reminding Annie one day, one day she'll get her own medicine.

Murphy's Day.

On the Red Carpet

Is it me or has anyone noticed that at every event these days, celebrities seem to walk a red carpet?  It seems almost every day we see in the media photos of some couple, or some woman, smiling with a back drop of advertising.

Sage doesn't need a red carpet or advertising.  She is gorgeous no matter where she is...my celebrity girl.

Murphy's Day.