Sun in the Mist

Well, whadyaknow! Pops inserted a poem here last night! Must have been up late, 'cause I was sound asleep. Surprisingly, he was up early this morning - the first one up! Must have slept good after writing the poem.

For today, we all went to Baker Beach for a quick run-around. The fog today is even thicker than yesterday. In fact we caught a few rain drops on the way out. I didn't get much of a run today and was still pretty riled up after we got home, but nobody wanted to play! Oh well, guess some days are just like that.

Here's another one of the paintings Pops did of me in our Travels with Dharma Dog series - something nice and sunny to balance out the kinda gloomy day. See y'all in the doggie blog-o-sphere!

Possessed

He ran possessed
by the upturned faces
of flowers blooming
uncomplaining of grey skies
needing no reason to be beautiful
He ran possessed
by the fog cascading
down the hillsides
leaving dewdrops on his hackles
silencing everything but
his breath
He ran possessed

Headlands Retreat

It's Monday, a day of retreat for Pops. Weekends are a bit intense for him. He likes being with his friends and all but he's basically a loner, so come Mondays he can't wait for some quiet time. I'm the only who gets to hang with him when he wants to be alone, heh heh. Well, he got his wish today. The Headlands was covered - or smothered - in fog. We both love the fog. It makes everything look dreamy and softens up sound too. Pops brought his camera and while he was busy taking pictures I got to roam. He trusts me a lot more now, and I can wander off real far before he starts to whistle for me. Most times I just come back to him on my own anyway. I remember him telling me once, "If you're a good boy and come when I call, I'll let you off leash, Okay? We can have so much fun together if you're good."

Well, we had a lot of fun today - just quiet kinda fun, like, kinda moody. Lately, I've heard Pops say, many times, "Man, I can't believe it's June already!"

I wonder why he says that. Is he running out of time? Was he supposed to have done something? Every once in a while, he'd come up to me, like, right out of the blue, and give me a big hug, like he's kinda sad or somethin'. Seems more like he wants ME to give HIM a hug, or kiss him, but I just can't bring myself to do it, know what I mean? Human lips, ew! Now, his fingers, on the other hand, are real yummy. All right, enough of that.

Anyway, we had a nice time up in the Headlands. Pops calls it his church. After we got to the top of Hill 88, we ran all the way back to the car. We got into a good rhythm too! I guess his knees don't bother him any more. I was pooped by the time we got home.

A Day in the Park

Today we went to Golden Gate Park. We haven't been there a while and I didn't realize I missed it so much. We went to the Polo Field and saw all the geese out there again. That's where Pops got the idea for the painting you see here. Cool, huh? Don't I look bad like a wolf? Heh heh... sometimes I feel like a wolf, like the time I chased a deer. Boy, if only Pops would let me go at these geese. They'd be history. Or a good meal.

Sometimes people ask Pops, "Is he a wolf?"

Pops always tells the truth (dang!) and says, "No, he's just a dog."

"JUST a dog," he says. Hah! One of these days I'm gonna bare my teeth - just to scare the shit out of them. I know Pops has been real tempted to say "yes" a couple of times but he doesn't want us to get in trouble with the law, know what I mean? Yeah, guess we don't want to spoil the good thing we got going here.

Golden Gate Park is cool. Pops and I like running into the reg'lars, like Mr Alexander - Jacob is his first name - he's been walking the Park since way before I was born. He's always in a good mood. Guess it feels good to be out there walking. I know how that feels. He always says "Happy Tuesday!" or Wednesday or Thursday, or whatever the day is. He never gets it wrong. And Pops has such a hard time remembering what day it is. Sometimes he and Pops give each other a big hug. I wish he'd give me a hug!

Then there's the lady who lives in a camper. We see her parked at different places in the Park "The cops all know me and don't bother me," she told Pops. "I keep quiet, clean up after myself and don't let my dog run around messin' up the place. I work, you know."

"What do you do?" Pops asked her.

"I temp for offices on the Peninsula. The agency calls me whenever they need me, and I get dressed up, clean up at the rest rooms here. Hell, they don't know! I do good work. They like me. I told my daughter, I don't wanna live in a house."

Oh yeah, and there's that Russian couple wo ride their bikes through the park. They're old and not as strong as Pops and me, but strong for their age, and you gotta give it to them - they're out there everyday. Pops thinks the lady must have been a racer at one time, " 'cause she's got real good form," he says.

And there's that Latino couple who walk along the Great Highway all the way to the Sutro Baths. Sometimes they see me and Pops walking and they say, "No bike today?"

Oh, the absolute best person was that nice Russian man with the same name as Pops - Leon. Leon LOVED me. He always greets me before he even says hello to Pops. "Nyikki!" he says in his Russian accent. Then he bends over and pets me on the head and pulls out a big doggie biscuit that he always carried in his pocket just in case he ran into me. He used to have his own dog, but the dog died. "Why don't you get another one," Pops asked him. Well, that's when we found out Leon was sick. You wouldn't know it from the way he walked - chin out and back straight like a soldier marching. In fact, he always gave Pops a salute when he saw him. Leon was a Navy man - in Russia and after he came to America. He was an engineer - a very smart one, at that! You could tell Pops liked him a lot, not just 'cause his name was Leon but I think it's 'cause they are both old guys from the Old World. Pops said Leon was an inspiration because of his pride and dignity and positive spirit. I'm not sure what all those big words mean but, yeah, Pops really liked him. Pops was really sad when Mr. Leon passed away.

Today we went really late 'cause Pops slept in late. Guess we missed everybody. It's so nice when its early but... oh well... next time!

ho-hum week

OK, I see why Pops slacks off on posting. Sometimes there's just not much to report, so I've been slack too. Let's see now, where was I last? Oh yeah, J-town Arts garage sale. SCUZE me! Can anything be more fun that that? (Sarcasm intended). First off, Pops rode the bike down to J-town with me in tow - all city streets! Nothing but concrete, asphalt and idiots in death machines, i.e., "cars" to the rest of you. The he hitches me to himself while he helps set up - back and forth, back and forth, schelpping all this junk out to the parking lot. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the parking lot in the dreary weather. Good thing I don't mind the cold, unlike them humans, who were complaining ALL frickin' day. The worst part of it was they had all this fabulous meat, I mean MEAT, cooking on the barbie and what does Pops say? "No feeding the dog!" What's up with that? I got a few scraps from him, but man! Life is not fair! Oh yeah, check out the picture, you can tell just how wild it was. Duh... snore... By the way, I never did figure out just what the heck they were doing, but Pops sure was having a great time... all that yackin' and hand-shakin and laughing. Sheesh... I'm like, can we GO already?

The next few days were a little better, though it's a bit hard to remember one day from the next. They say that happens when you get old - can't remember anything - but I'm only 3! That's 21 in human years, barely starting prime of life. Well, I know one day we went to Baker Beach with Trina and Moms. That's always fun, but I just can't remember what we did. Probably chased her around and grab her by the scuff of her neck. She doesn't like that but I just can't help myself. I love Trina Jieh-jieh and that's what I do when I love someone.

Oh, I know... Pops been getting back into running again, so we ran a few times. That's always fun. I just pretend Pops is the lead dog and we're on an iditarod or somethin'. Well, you know, you gotta have 'magination.

OK, I'm rambling... let me get back to y'all when there's more to report. Oh, Hey... don't forget to check out my book - I mean, the book Pops made of me. Of MOI! How cool is that? Remember, Travels with Dharma Dog, available at blurb.com. Hurry, while supplies last!

Later...

The Deer Hunter

Moms, Trina, Pops and me - the whole pack went to the Marin Headlands today. Pops and I have been lovin' it there for a long time but now Moms and Trina always want to come too. I don't mind. Trina Jieh-jieh and I have a lot fun sniffing around and exploring and finding new ways to hide from Moms and Pops and then showing up unexpected somewhere and... oh, yeah, the coolest thing happened today. We were just walking and all of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move on the hillside to my left. I looked up and it was two deers! They were the same color as the grass and bushes around them but they didn't fool me! All I had to do was watch for movement. I stared at them and felt my heart beating faster and faster. Soon the blood was rushing to my ears and Pops' voice started to fade out. My whole body started quivering and then I found myself tearing up the hillside, brush snapping and flying by all around me. The wind was blowing my way and I could smell the two deers - one was faster and the other lagged behind and I could see their little white tails bobbing up and down and they were terrified and I felt BAD-ASS! Nothing in the world existed except me and the deer, the deer and me, and the great big sky so full of fog and I couldn't even tell where the sky touched the ground 'cause I was like, IN the sky. Then... then the deers reached the ridge crest and disappeared over the top. By the time I got there, they were no where in sight. They were FAST! I stood there panting with my tongue hangin' out in the cool mist, looking, scanning the horizon and felt the wind laughing around my ears and the birds were laughing too and that was when I started to hear Pops calling me. Turns out he followed me for a while down the road but, of course, there was no way he could keep up with me. Poor Pops, he just stood there calling my name with his hands cupped facing the other hill 'cause he thought I went over there. I felt sorry for him so I came back down and reached the road just behind him. He turned around when he heard me panting and pretended he knew where I was all along. He's funny that way. I didn't call him on it. He doesn't even know the number of times I've spared him embarassment. I guess humans are pretty useless out there in nature. I gotta admit I've gotten pretty soft living with them but, man, that chase made me feel GOOD! After that it was just more exploring with Trina Jieh-jieh. We tried to go after some mice but that was nothing compared to the deer chase. Then we headed for home and Trina and Moms fell asleep in the car. Girls are such wusses, know what I mean? Pops and I were starving by the time we got home so we really chowed down. WOLFED down our food, ha ha... get it?

Mile Rock Beach

Yesterday we went to Corona Heights Park and Buena Vista Park. Pops always take me there when he wants quiet time so he can think while he's walking. He thinks a lot. Not much fun for me. Me, I just think of whatever's in front of me, know what I mean? No need to think about what to think. Makes me tired.

Today was a lot more fun. We went to Land's End and walked down the long stairs to Mile Rock Beach. At the end of the steps Pops let me off leash. This is an incredible place. Reminds me a lot of places I've been to before but can't figure out where, exactly. I tried sniffing around, but everything smelled fresh and new. Well, new to me, that is. Nothing reminded me of what I thought I was being reminded of. Very strange!

After a while we went back to the top. Pops always runs up the stairs. I don't know why. He always seems to get a lot of energy just when I'm tiring out. Go figure!