early spring

Ah, the backyard. After living in an apartment for all of my adult life, I cannot get over the simple pleasure of sitting in my backyard, enjoying the peaceful quiet, listening to the birds chirp. As I always say, living in New York, the only thing I missed was having some private outdoor space. But I really missed it. And now, I enjoy it immensely.

Allan and I both couldn't wait for the snow to melt and the weather to warm up, just so we could sit outside, have a cup of tea or a glass of wine, and watch the dogs play. Yesterday was our first opportunity.

Cody's our first dog to ever have her own backyard (Buster lived briefly in the old house, but he couldn't play off the leash, and the backyard wasn't fenced in, so it wasn't the same). Now Tala is our first dog to never know apartment life.

When I watch them play, I still sometimes feel bad that Gypsy and Clyde never enjoyed this simple luxury. It's ridiculous, of course. We took them to the park all the time, we all went upstate together, they went hiking and swimming. We gave them the best lives we possibly could, after rescuing them both from certain death. But I can't help it. When I see Cody and Tala running around outside, or just relaxing on the lawn, any time they want, I wish I could have done this for my G and little munchkin, too. Ah, well.

Those dogs never had a mommy with a digital camera, either! I just put more photos up at Flickr. It's just more of the same, but I can't stop enjoying them.

tala cody backyard 03 131


tala cody backyard 03 122
the snow melted... and the sticks reappeared!


tala cody backyard 03 116
happiness is just a stick away


tala cody backyard 03 105
tala doesn't care about sticks. she's too busy with her kong.


tala cody backyard 03 050
these two are in love.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

sharia

This morning I see that Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario, is banning the Muslim religious court known as sharia . This ends months of debate about whether sharia would be legal and binding in Ontario. I'm quoting at length from the story in today's Toronto Star because many US readers are likely not up on this. In a surprise announcement that caught both supporters and opponents of sharia law off guard, Premier Dalton McGuinty says he will move quickly to ban all religious arbitration in the province. McGuinty made the announcement in a telephone interview with The Canadian Press yesterday after months of debate and controversy surrounding use of Islamic sharia law in family arbitration. "I've come to the conclusion that the debate has gone on long enough," the premier told the news agency. "There will be no sharia law in Ontario. There will be no religious arbitration in Ontario. There will be one law for all Ontarians." The announcement prompted t...
Read more

can of worms

I'm opening a sticky subject here, my need to understand causing me to throw caution to the wind. It's about Alberta. Alberta vs. the rest of the Canada. The Globe And Mail runs something about Alberta's gripes every day, and I try to follow along. If it weren't for wmtc's resident Albertan , and the ensuing arguments in comments, I would've had no warning. It's not something Americans know about. As is, observing for more than a year, I have only the smallest of clues. Here's what I know. Please pardon my ignorance and oversimplification, but I have to start somewhere. The province of Alberta is rich, because it has oil. The province of Alberta is conservative, relative to the rest of Canada. Hmm. Funny how those two go together. Because of its great oil wealth, Alberta revenue helps fund services in the rest of Canada. (These are transfer payments?) Apparently many Albertans resent this. They want to keep Alberta's money in Alberta. They don't...
Read more

low confidence

I'm excited about today's no-confidence vote . Only three months after moving here, we'll get to see a government fall, a campaign, and an election, in a system very different from what we're accustomed to. Even the expression "the government will fall" strikes us as oddly dramatic and revolutionary. My sense of current Canadian politics, for what it's worth, tells me that very little will change from the upcoming election. I'd be surprised if the Liberals didn't win. So it's kind of cool to see this happening without a lot at stake. On a semi-tangential note, have I mentioned I'm completely down with "Corner Gas"? Excellent show; I love the deadpan humour. (Great website, too; check it out .) So was that really Finance Minister Ralph Goodale ragging on Brent Butt's camera last Saturday night?
Read more