Whadya lookin' at?!

Dang! First nice day and what do I get? A bath! So what if I've been sloshing around in the ocean, or running around in the sand, or tromping through the bushes! What did dogs do back in the wild? Did they take baths? N-o-o-o! And if you think these pictures are cute, you're sick! A prevert like Pops!

But... I gotta admit, I look pretty damn good afterwards. Check out the picture of moi sunning on the deck! If I were a girl, I'd be in love!

Well, I know it's been a while since I posted anything but nothing unusual's been happening. Don't get me wrong, it HAS been fun. Been going to Baker Beach a lot. Pops lets me play with other dogs now. That's 'cause I've been a good boy. I come when he calls me... well, eventually I do, anyway. Heh heh... once, when I was little, I played and played and totally ignored him. I started to follow the other dog home! Oh, man, was Pops pissed! But don't tell him I said this - he's a softie. Once he catches up to me, he always says "Good boy!" and gives me a treat. He never stays mad - kinda like us dogs, know what I mean?

Anyway, just thought I'd drop by with a few words - didn't want to stay away too long. Pops insisted on posting these pictures. Oh well, gotta humor the old guys sometimes. I'm over it.

Headlands Marathon

Hey! I'm back! A whole week has gone by with not much to report except for yesterday. Whew! Pops took me on a marathon run! We started from our usual spot at the Miwok trailhead, across from Rodeo Lagoon. It was a beautiful day - sunny but cool. All the flowers were still blooming, the grasses were high and swaying in the breeze. It was still early so it was just Pops and me, nothing but the sound of his bicycle tires on the gravel, the occasional cries of birds -oh, speaking which - we heard a rustle off to the side and there were about five big-ass buzzards coming out of a ditch. I mean, they were HUGE - their skinny red heads stood taller than me! I wasn't about to chase them! Even pops got a little nervous and pulled me along, sayin' "C'mon!" When they heard us, they all took off in flight. What a sight! And what a noise their wings made as they lifted themselves up into the air - whup whup whup whup whup!

The Miwok trail is steep but Pops and I have done it so many times it seems easier each time. Before we knew it we were at the top. We stopped at our usual spot where Pops gives me water while I catch my breath. Usually, by now, I'm pretty hot. Not tired, just hot. Not used to this Southern climate. This time Pops gave me some food out of a packet he brought with him in his CamelBak. Strange, I thought. Little did I know then that he was energizing me for the long run ahead! Good thing I ate some, even though I wasn't feeling that hungry.

Soon, another cyclist came up the trail where we had come. Pops asked him if he was going down the Old Spring Trail. He wanted to know the trail conditions and the guy said it was fine, nothing technical or real hard, just a couple of sharp turns and abrupt, rocky rises and dips. "You just gotta be careful around those," he said.

"Oh yeah, I know about those," said Pops. "But it's been years since I went down there and back then it was really deeply rutted and I'm worried about going down there with him tied to me," he said, pointing at me.

Don't worry about me, I thought. Have I ever caused you trouble? Haven't I gone with you everywhere, over rocks, down single tracks, loose sand, wet mud and horse poop? You just pay attention to what you're doing and I'll take care of my end. I got four legs, remember!

"No, there aren't any ruts," the bike guy said. "That's a beautiful dog! Is he part wolf?"

And, of course, Pops said, "No."

So... we waited a while for the bike guy to go down and put some distance between us. Then off we went and, Man! Let me tell you how cool it was. First of all the view was fantasic, with the lush green valley dropping down below us to the left. The trail was narrow but had perfect, packed dirt. We went over a couple of wooden bridges where the tires went "kapop-kapop-kapop." Then we went over those sharp turns and rocky dips the bike guy told us about. No problem! Piece of cake! Eventually we came to the stretch where Pops said the ruts used to be. Now it's all paved and smoothed over with hard-packed dirt and - get this - steps! Yeah, they stepped it! That's right - long shallow steps that we rode down making loud crashing noises and Pops went "u-u-u-u-h-h-h-h-h" so that his voice reverberated as we bounced and dropped down each step. What a blast!

Suddenly we were at the bottom and rode right into the back of some horse stables. Pops had to get off the bike and walk so as not to spook the horses. I was having so much fun I didn't even notice them! Normally I'd be goin' crazy with wanting to chase them.

After resting a bit in the Tennessee Valley parking lot we headed up the Marincello Trail. Man, this was a long, tedious grind! By now the sun had come up high and I got really hot. About mid way, Pops stopped in the shade of a lone clump of trees and gave me some more water. Now I'm glad I ate the food back there. We waited till a group of runners passed by and started up again. We were going so slow we couldn't pass the runners! I could tell Pops wasn't used to riding behind pedestrians, but each time he went faster he looked over at me and slowed down.

I was glad to finally reach the top. Once we faced the ocean side there was a wonderful, cool sea breeze and I felt much better. The run down Bobcat was pretty smooth and easy. About half way, we stopped again to look at the beautiful view and to take in more of that cool ocean breeze. After we started down again we came across a lady who was taking pictures. She took some of me and Pops going down the trail toward her. When we came up to her Pops stopped and asked,

"Digital?"

"Yes."

"Can you email me some? I've always wanted some pictures of me and my dog riding out here."

"Sure," she said, and these are the pictures you see here. She was very nice. Her name is Rony.

Soon, we were back at the parking lot. We finally caught up to one of the runners and Pops asked her if she was gonna run all the way back to Tennessee Valley and she said,"Yes," pointing up toward the Miwok Trail.

Pops said, "Wow, you're strong! That's the way we went."

She smiled and didn't say anything.

When we got home I was too tired to even jump all over Trina Jieh-jieh like I usually do. I slept most of the day.

"A tired Husky is a happy Husky," Pops said.

Hmmm... z-z-z-zzzzz

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...