Pets

Sara has a new pet; Baxter, a King Charles Spaniel. Actually she has two names; Baxter Cheyenne. The Cheyenne part comes from the name of our first dog; Doctor Rusty Cheyenne (Doc). Doc was a Brittany Spaniel and he was a special dog. I've heard it said that if you can have one great hunting dog in your life then you should be happy. Doc was that dog.


But Doc had a lunatic side to him, and I don't want that transferred to Baxter through "physoctic name transferrance"...I made that name up but I'm sure some dog whisperer thinks its a real thing. You see, Doc was so attached to Gana that he would worry himself crazy if she was not with her. He eventually found the only windown in our home not locked and would push the window up with his nose and jump out into the lawn. Great plan, but that window was on the second floor of our home. We had red-tip photenias planted right where Doc would land. He did this so often that he'd worn out a little landing strip on the ground from his recurring crash landings. And the red-tipped photenias; I'm just glad we didn't come home one day to find them to be dog-tipped photenias.

Doc's antics were quite extraordinary. Here's a short list, the detailed accounts will have to wait:

• The vetinarian's pet bird...doc IS a bird dog.
• The neighbor's pet rabbit...I guess there were no birds around.
• Romancing from afar...taking care of his family obligations.
• The bus ride to school...why didn't that bus driver see Doc walk onto the school bus?
• The Thanksgiving feast...and why it is a good idea not to leave turkey scraps in the garbage.

Anyway, I hope Baxter does not assume those same personality traits.



Now Randy has issues. Randy is Sara and Haley's Chihuahua they got while in university and then since they couldn't split the dog when they parted after school, well of course Gana and I now are the caretaker of Randy. No person owns Randy. Randy is the master and commander of our "ship" and makes sure anyone walking within a quarter mile of our home knows to keep away. What a yapper! While Gana and I are off to work Randy spends his days with my Mom and Dad...keeping people away from their home and scoffing up the bits that fall (with Mom and Dad's help) from the table at breakfast, lunch and dinner.



I see God's plan in Chihuahua's. He made them small for a purpose. Just think if they were the size of a pit bull, they'd have to be declared a lethal weapon. And then they'd probably STILL want to sit on your lap all day. Here's a picture of Randy doing what he does best.
We have two other dogs, but their stories will have to wait.

Frio River

Went to Leakey Texas and spent a couple days on the Frio River at the cabin of a dear friend. Gana and I had a ball! First, the weather was not great with off and on windy and chilly conditions, but the skies were absolutely a gorgeous blue and the Frio was crystal clear.

It's clearer than tap water! We went into town to buy some grub for the cabin. Gana already informed me she was not cooking (no big surprise there) so I picked out my rations of rat cheese, tomatoes, wheat bread and diet green tea, paid the lady and headed out.

Now this being my first trip through Leakey did not prepare me for the traffic jam in this town of 300+ citizens. The traffic problems were caused by a never ending stream of yuppie, leather clad, bandana wearing, balding bikers with their leather-skinned biker-babes attached to the back seat. For some reason they all have to "goose" the engines at different times so one cannot travel within 5 miles of any hill country road without hearing a cacaphony of biker engines. It's an interesting phenomenom this biker boom; and one I'm not a part of.

Also competing for the traffic congestion at the one light in town was the Corvette convention. These are the yuppies that would be riding the Harleys but their biker-babes don't like to get their hair messed up so they choose the Corvette as a more convenient method of clogging up the back roads of Texas. It's really strange to see 30 or 40 Corvettes motoring through the countryside; it's like seeing a train pass on the tracks with the difference being that these cars are connected by some mysterious bond that forbids them from passing one another. It's odd. It seems to me that one acquires a Corvette to go fast yet these guys were content to ride slowly through the countryside like they were on a joyride out from the old-folks home.

Back to the Frio. Gana and I hunkered down for the night. We bought the DVD "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" and plugged it into my computer and sat down with a delicious toasted, rat cheese and tomato sandwich. It don't get any better than this.

Saturday...we slept in. Or at least Gana did. I lurked around outside trying to take photos of the birdlife and unload the Kayak. After Gana woke we ported it to the river and put her afloat. I was first in. What a great way to travel up and down the river. Next was Gana's turn. This time she stayed afloat as the picture at left indicated.

About 2pm or so we loaded up and went riding around the hillcountry. Our destination was not important so we headed in the general direction of was Kerrville. It was a great drive on a beautiful but windy day. Harley riders and Corvettes were passed on many a road. We returned to the cabin on Frio around 6 pm.

About 6:30 Gana and I walked up to the rapids to check them out. On our walk up I saw some Axis deer getting ready to cross the Frio. I hurried up to a spot where I could photo them and snapped some shots as about 20 deer crossed, well actually jumped over the Frio at its narrowest part. Below is one of the photos. The deer was backlit by the sun so it is dark but it makes a nice outline against the shimmering Frio.

After the deer crossed we went on up to the rapids, sat down and relaxed. What a peaceful way to spend a late afternoon.

For dinner that night we had...grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. Did I tell you they are my favorite? They are best with a bit of salt, pepper and garlic added. Heavy on the garlic and pepper is ok by me.

The next morning we packed our bags, loaded the kayak and headed home. Thank God for good friends and opportunities for peaceful thought. They are both welcome.