Summertime Blues

Yes, I know. It's been ages since my last post. But it's the dog days of summer and sometimes it's just so hard to crawl out from my cool spot under the bed. This is one hot dog tapping out the missive today, so if it's shorter than my usual posts, you'll understand why.

First there was the fire, which everyone was babbling about. I didn't see much of it myself, but the smoke was everywhere and started to get me down. Mum stopped me sleeping out on my couch and made me come in the house, although it wasn't much better there. Then we weren't allowed to go for our daily walk on the trail anymore. The whole of our forest got closed and I had to walk on my leash on the hot pavement for all the walks. It was miserable, and then Mum and Dad had a great idea. They took me camping!

Suddenly things got interesting again. We drove off in the car and went into the woods at the top of the mountain near the mining town. It was cool, and sometimes raining, and the smells... Ha! I pretty much know everyone and everything that comes through our neighborhood, but up in the woods there was so much to keep on top of that I barely had a chance to take a nap. When I wasn't watching out for deer and rabbits, I had to be on constant alert for the cheeky squirrels that would try and scamper through our campsite every time my back was turned. And then there was THE BEAR. I've heard about bears, and I've smelled them a number of times, when we've been camping in Colorado and California, but this is the first time I've actually seen one. I learnt a couple of things about bears. 1. Bears don't seem to be able to hear that well. I barked my most ferocious bark and this one didn't even bat an eyelid. Now what does that tell you? Had to be deaf. No other explanation. 2. Bears hear really well up close. All it took was a loud snore from the man in the tent where it was stealing food, and the bear went running. Now I didn't have time to get up close myself to prove any of this, (it was breakfast time, after all) but sometimes you just have to take a dog's word for it.

I wish we could always live in the woods. It's the best! We went for long hikes everyday, and it wasn't hot and dusty like at home. A couple of nights Babushka and her family came up to sleep over, then we all got to go on a hike together and I had to show Babushka the ropes because she's never been in the woods like that before.

Now we're back in Sedona, and it's hot and sticky, and I haven't had a friend come visit in WEEKS. Even getting an ice treat has lost its allure. There has been some talk of more camping and a trip to Colorado. I've been hearing Camp Bow Wow bandied about quite a bit, which is apparently where I'm going. Not sure what that is, but the campfire treats sound like they might be promising. I'll keep you posted.