Agile Taylor

   Tay hopped right up on this bench effortlessly. (Fortunately, he hasn't become bold enough to jump on the table, which I wouldn't allow.) I think he's really going to dig this agility class next month!

Wildlife Surprise

   When I let the dogs out in the yard this afternoon, I walked around a bit, enjoying how big and wild my flower beds are starting to look. Now that my plants have been established for a few years, they're really filling in nicely. As I stood near the blueberry bush, I heard a rustling and looked down just in time to see a juvenile rabbit dart under the deck. Awesome. Now I have rabbits living under there, in addition to the possum (oh yes, she's back!)
   Later, I let the dogs out for one last time before going to bed. Taylor came right in, as always. Aki lagged. I called for her again. No answer. I stepped out on the deck and called. No answer. Hmm. I went into the house to get a flashlight. I stepped into the yard and could just barely hear and see Aki circling the bushes at the back of the yard. She literally started walking around the bushes on her back legs, like she was in the circus or something. I heard rustling up in the bush. Aki knew something was in there, and now I did too. I hoped it wasn't too big, or wanted to kill me. It creeped me out a little. Then I heard a hiss and knew immediately that there was a baby possum in there somewhere. I grabbed Aki by the harness and led her inside.
   How is it that these wild animals are so stupid that they hang out in MY yard? And how is it that I, an animal lover, ended up with a dog that I also love, but who wants to kill anything she can catch?
   I came inside and couldn't wait to draw this idea... before and after I turn on my flashlight.

Around the Campfire

   The air was cold (under 40, I'd guess) so we built a nice fire and huddled around it while we cooked our dinners. (By "cooked," I mean that Renee showed me how to collect and filter water from the creek, and how to light the stove. Then we boiled water and poured it into our Backpacker's Pantry and Mountain House dehydrated entrees. Which were better than you'd imagine!) I experimented with different modes on the camera and got some neat effects.

   Later, the clouds finally parted and we got a great view of the "Super Moon," the largest perigee moon in almost 20 years!

Let there be lit-up dogs

   Madeline and I finally exchanged Christmas and birthday gifts today, continuing our tradition of waiting until a few weeks after the actual holiday. She gave me tons of cool stuff, and a couple of treats for the shibas: a box of sesame-flavored cookies from her recent trip to Japan and some super-bright LED tags for their collars. We tested them out around the neighborhood late at night. I think the dogs really enjoyed being able to see where they were peeing. ( Also, cars didn't hit us.)

Aki was pretty stoked. AROOOOO!

Flowers at night