Trailer

One more step toward getting back on the water. Last Saturday I had a hitch installed on the CRV. Today we picked up a trailer from Car Gear in Akron. They put it all together so all I had to do was attach it to the hitch (and pay for it of course). Meanwhile therapy goes well on the shoulder so I'm hoping that real soon we'll be able to load the kayaks onto the trailer and begin the 2009 season in earnest.

Addendum: At the top is a better photo with the kayaks on the trailer and a better perspective of the trailer's size.

New York City Trip - March 2009

A few photos from our March 25th-29th trip to New York City including the view from our hotel window, Central Park, Natural History Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, MOMA, and the Cloisters. We did begin our trip with a night in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, and ended with an overnight in Little Valley but no photos were taken at those locations. Visits with Martin, Bridget, and Martha. Lots of good food and good walks. A good time was had by all. Click on the above photos to see bigger versions or a slideshow.

Deer at Midnight

Two deer visited our front yard bird feeders just after midnight. They gorged for a while and then slowly moved on. Luckily Oliver slept through the whole thing and we didn't miss the bark. If he had only known... It is very hard to adjust the camera in the dark especially knowing if the flash started working the deer might notice. The last 3 shots were unflashed.

Looking back...

Looking back over 2008 there are two happenings that stick out: our family gathering in California early in the summer and our kayaking. For Christmas I made posters for Nicki to celebrate both of those events.

Happy Holidays!

Oliver wishes everyone happy holidays! May Santa bring you plenty of treats, may the squirrels stay away from your bird feeders, and may the weather allow for walks and car rides and chasing balls in the snow.

Free Dog Food for Voting!

Oliver thinks it is a good idea.

Michigan Trip

Nicki and I were part of a guided canoe/kayak tour in several loosely connected lakes including Gun Lake in Michigan. We started with a champagne brunch on the launch ramp, entered the water on one smallish lake (where we met the swans and geese), went through a culvert to another (where we met the turtle), carried our boats across a road to a narrow waterway through the tall cattails and weeds, which eventually flowed into Gun Lake. Afterwards we had a late lunch at Sam’s Joint. The weather was perfect, the company good, and the guide got us through the maze of cattails. Nobody got wet and nobody complained. A very good day.

Oliver and his Ball

Oliver has a strong attraction to balls - tennis balls, soccer balls, great big exercise balls. This particular ball became very deflated soon after this video was filmed (teeth do that) but that doesn't stop Oliver from trying to play with it. I think a major expense for us will be ball replacement.

Evening update: We found a supplier for the exercise balls so Oliver has a brand new toy (with two extra backups handy). We even had a choice of three colors! He barked his joy watching me pump up the new one - and I think I've learned what the "exercise" in "exercise ball" means. I can see a strong possibility of a new video forthcoming.

PS: Can you name that tune?

Oliver

Meet Oliver, our newest dog. So far he's shown that he can really herd an exercise ball. And he has "come", "sit", "down", "stay", and "heel" mastered but I predict we adults may be a little lax with consistent enforcement. We'll see how that works out. It may be interesting as we get accustomed again to sharing a house with a dog.

Fallen Tree

We had a bit of a problem during a storm last night. The top third of a very large sweet-gum tree broke off in the high winds and came down in our yard but luckily leaned gently(?) onto the front of our house. It smushed the rain gutter but didn't penetrate the roof or break our big living room picture window. We weren't at our house during the fall but had a call soon from a neighbor. Early morning call to the insurance agent. Possible appointment later today with our tree trimmer guy. And maybe some roof work?

The storm also knocked out power in our section of Oberlin for almost 12 hours which gave us an evening of candlelight and a lot less technology. But nice that our cellphones did work.