Princess Bride of the North

What the heck have I been doing? Let me tell you it's been taking up all my time doing whatever it is. We have a visitor. Cousin Kathy from Kal-i-for-ni-a. (Now I have her to supervise and instruct) We exercise (I must constantly prod) We shop (only second-hand stores) She uses the washroom EVERYWHERE She insults my fashion choices while I only encourage hers. She flounces around in this silky, layered,printed thing like the Princess Bride and do I say anything negative at all? Why, of course not. She does appreciate a fine meal, though, I'll give her that. She, like PonyGirl, requires constant training but I see that in both cases, it is starting to pay off. Love, love,love.

'Meth Lab'

Well, the snow is melted (mostly) and two of the grizzlies have been "euthanized" so we braved the trail yesterday despite the signs still being up. I went on a nice run in the opposite direction of where the bears were causing trouble and took the sacrificial dog with me, of course. She is always happy to oblige and I am fairly sure she will do her best to distract any large, furry, land mammal were we to encounter one on the trail. I am assuming she will be mesmerized by the sight and smell and will lose complete control and never even notice me hightailing it in the opposite direction. This fact is sometimes her saving grace for the many, many times she misbehaves and acts like annoying french street mime on crank....yes she is a purebred and rare, 'Meth Lab', one of the very few of this new and fascinating breed, not yet officially recognized, but nevertheless, gaining in popularity. An athletic and fearless dog with a loud, intimidating howl (used to alert us to any thing ordinary and mundane) and an uncanny ability to elude capture in a joyous display of swiftness and tight turns. Yes, my dog (aka 'MyCrossToBear') is nothing if not a delightful addition to my insanity.

worth it !

This climb is always worth it...so much so that I have committed to climbing it every Monday for the rest of the summer. Yikes! Ladies...are we serious?

Monumental Madness

...this is one of the most eerily, lovely spots to wander around in our town. No, it is not spooky or scary, except for the occasional grizzly bear sighting, but what the hey (eh)? We are afterall, in Canada and if you can't deal with a bear once in awhile then you should consider moving back to Southern California. What I adore about living here are the encounters with wildlife that happen on a regular basis. I think all living beings deserve to share the bounty. I would not want to be in a world with only human beings....yuk. Compassion includes accepting the 'messiness' of animals. It is a much purer 'mess' than human beings make, by far. I digress. Maybe, I like the cemetery because of the ultimate fairness of dying. Everyone from the most arrogant to most innocent ends up the same way. You can only choose the way you live and how you interact with the world. The cemetery is good place to think about that.