wagmorewednesday

Send It

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Linus, looking innocent.

Linus, looking innocent.

Fayston, Vermont. Our house sits at the end of a gravel driveway, off of a dirt road. We travel about two miles down the mountain to fetch our mail and to buy groceries. My mom’s family is from rural Pennsylvania, where the trip to the mailbox is down a long driveway. During my rare visits there, dinner was generously served comfort food, created from home-grown ingredients and prepared by the women-folk. Post meal, if a man-folk’s digestion became odiferous, the women would scold “Go check the mail.”

Linus, go check the mail!

Linus likes to curl up next to me after dinner. The moment doesn’t last very long. He eats the same food as Lucy and Charlie Brown.

RS_Linus_couchpillow

 

Lab Partners

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Luna and Huck

Luna and Huck

Waitsfield, Vermont. With Lisa Davis, Luna (black lab), and Huck (yellow lab).

RS_Lisadavis_Huck_IMG_2066Huck Reinhold, who’s named after the mountain climber, is my husband’s dog. [My husband Josh and I] were introduced after we both had lost our labs. And shortly later I adopted Luna. Then a friend had bred his two pets and wanted to give Josh a dog. We consider Huck a rescue because we don’t know where he might have ended up if Josh hadn’t taken him for free.

Luna is from Lab Rescue. I got her when she was 18 months to 2 years old. Her name is Luna Juno because the movie “Juno” was out at the time.

She picked me. I went in to pick up a foster dog, and Luna had just come into Lab Rescue. She jumped up on the counter and introduced herself to me, and I said “I’m taking her.” I wasn’t even sure I was ready to take a dog yet.

She has been a vigilant mother to our son since he was born. She sleeps in his room. He went straight from a crib to a full-size bed otherwise he would have had to share a toddler bed with a lab. She sleeps with him every night.

I assumed that Huck’s namesake is Reinhold Messner, a mountaineer, adventurer, and author who is perhaps best known for making the first ascent of Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen (with Peter Habeler). 

Lisa Davis is the Executive Director of the Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce. Thank you, Lisa, for participating!

 

The Replacements

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On deck: Lucy & Charlie Brown

On deck: Lucy & Charlie Brown

Fayston, Vermont.  My son recently left home for his first year of college.  He is an only child.  Before he left, he was often asked how I was coping with his departure. His usual deadpan reply: “She’s replaced me with dogs.”

“How so?” I asked him one day.

“Well, each dog represents part of my personality,” he explained. “Linus – he’s kind of lazy. He can lie around the house all day.”

Following his thinking, I noted “That’s pretty normal for a teenage boy.”

“Lucy,” he continued “is always wagging. She’s always happy.”

I smiled. My son’s personality is very happy-go-lucky, like Lucy. “Go on,” I said.

“And Charlie,” he concluded, “doesn’t always listen to you, Mom.”

“But he’s easily bribed with cookies,” I replied.

“True,” he said, as a big grin slowly spread across his face.

My son Erik attends Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. I miss him so much, I might need a few more dogs. JK!

Linus takes over my son's vacated spot on the couch.

In the hole: Linus takes over my son’s vacated spot on the couch.

Beautiful Day Celebrated

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Lucy takes in the view atop Mt. Ellen.

Lucy takes in the view atop Mt. Ellen.

Fayston, Vermont. In last week’s post, I outlined how we planned to celebrate National Dog Day. I had to put that ambitious itinerary in writing, so I needed to follow it. However, the boys Linus and Charlie Brown accompanied “Dad” to trail work, leaving Lucy as my hiking, swimming, creemee sharing, grooming, and napping companion. Lucy and I hiked to the summit of Mt. Ellen, took a different way down that featured a thicket of thorns, then Lucy cooled off in the pond as I pulled nature from my shins and arms. We had barely settled on the couch for our nap when the boys arrived back home after a long day on the trail.

I took a few photos of our day, except that we were both quite sticky as we enjoyed the creemee so no photos of that part. Although every day is a dog day in our house, the designated day provided a really good excuse to channel Ferris by ignoring my schedule and “have to’s” and enjoy a beautiful summer day with my best girlfriend. We need more days like this!


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A Day for All Dogs

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Which way? Lucy on a hike at Mt. Ellen.

Which way? Lucy finds her way at Mt. Ellen in Fayston, Vermont.

Happy National Dog Day! We’re celebrating by taking a long hike, then a swim, definitely a car ride, sharing a creamee, enjoying a good brushing, and indulging in a long nap. That doesn’t leave any time for work, does it?

A Muse’d

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Hutch admires the scene at the Great Vermont Plein Air Paint-Out.

Hutch admires his mom’s work at the Great Vermont Plein Air Paint-Out.

Waitsfield, Vermont. With Catherine Elliott: Hutch is a true artist’s dog. He is an English Labrador. Goes with me everywhere to painting events. His father is an international award winning show dog, but we just love his sweet temperament and good nature.

Hutch

Hutch

To see his mom’s artwork visit: www.catherinemelliott.com.

Author’s notes: Last weekend, I was on assignment at the Vermont Festival of the Art’s “Plein Air” Paint-Out where I met Hutch and his person, Connecticut artist Catherine Elliott. Hutch immediately became a much-adored paint-out mascot! He didn’t seem to mind sharing the role with Mabel and Jenny, the McTigue sisters’ cats who live at Bridge Street’s All Things Bright & Beautiful.

What’s a “plein air” paint-out, you ask? It’s an event where artists gather to paint outside, in the open air, then show and sell their fresh work. If you missed the paint-out, check the Facebook page of the Valley Arts Foundation for my photo album.

Paint-Out spectators came in all sizes. I didn’t photograph every dog, but here’s a gallery of my three favorites:

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Tail Lights

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Following the pack on a recent walk.

Following the pack on a recent walk.

Fayston, Vermont. Sunlight dances through the trees, illuminating dog tails held high on a recent walk into the magic forest.

Where will you explore today?

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Rainbow Sprinkles

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Linus sees a rainbow.

Linus sees a rainbow at daybreak.

Fayston, Vermont. My dogs begin each day with the excitement of Christmas morning: They burst from the back door and race into the yard to find the “presents” of smells left for them overnight. Sometimes Charlie Brown likes his gift so much that he rolls in it with joy. Those days do not feel like holidays. But sometimes, as I’m pouring my coffee while they are unwrapping their presents, I see a gift left for me: a rainbow, or a giant moon setting, or a hummingbird feeding, or maybe a plucky little forest critter who challenges Linus to a race. (The critter always wins.) On those days, my coffee always tastes a little richer. Like sprinkles on ice cream.

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Laws of Attraction

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Lucy strikes a welcoming pose, in her signature black stockings

Lucy strikes a welcoming pose, in her signature black stockings

Lucky you! Your calendar is filled with a variety of social events and parties this summer. Whether the invitation calls for black tie or backyard casual, here are a few rules to make you irresistible to that special (four-legged) someone:

1. Black pants attract blondes;

2. Tan pants attract brunettes and redheads;

3. White pants attract archeologists and outdoor adventurers;

4. Dry-clean-only pants like silk or linen attract aquatic athletes;

Lucy, wearing a foliage and berries-on-the-vine wrap of her own design

Lucy, wearing a foliage and berries-on-the-vine wrap of her own design

5. The newer and cleaner the pants, the faster the attraction will occur.

6. Bonus Rule: Keep in mind that your menu choice might also make you overwhelmingly popular. This attraction is temporary: Adoring, fawning behavior is merely a ploy to gain access to your wealth, which you’ve garishly displayed on your plate. If you carelessly drop or misplace your bounty, pirates will swarm to recover it. Be assured that medics and ambulance chasers will arrive quickly to assist should you meet an unfortunate accident while enjoying your meal. You’ll be cleaned up (and out) in no time.

Have a great time with friends old & new this season. If you have a comment or a dog story to share, please use the form, below. Cheers!

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Happy home

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Maya high-fives Cathy

Maya gives a high five

We had kind of a sad story before her.  Our previous dog – a friend took us to a dog park and a German Shepherd attacked her. And then we were out visiting my grandparents in Ohio, and my grandmother is the kind of person who feels that something is lacking or there’s something you want, she’s going to do whatever she can to fix that. She said, “I’m going to find you a dog.” Our previous dog had been a Schnauzer, so she found in the paper that there were “schnoodle” puppies for sale.  The lady tried to sell us Maya’s dad, but when we saw Maya, we just knew.

RS_Cathy&Maya_050915_wagmorevt_01

Maya, the Schnoodle

Maya just turned eight. We got her a year before we got married. She sleeps in the crook of my knees.

Cathy Plas and her husband Pat live with Maya, a Schnauzer-Poodle mix, in Duxbury, Vermont.  When Cathy is not teaching high school French, she volunteers for the Central Vermont Humane Society. Cathy explained that she’s wanted to bring home other dogs, but Pat is allergic to dogs and Maya, who doesn’t shed, is a one-dog-in-the-household pet.  Maya did tolerate the pet rats Cathy adopted from the shelter, but Cathy noted that Maya clearly has “small dog syndrome.” Cathy says, “Maya enjoys being spoiled.”

Cathy & Maya

Cathy & Maya