09/30/09

Living here by this river, I must say, I've spent quite a bit of time at the river's edge either fishing, swimming or playing with the kids and dogs. I have enjoyed the last 5 years here immensely. And now, I don't think I would want to live far from the water ever again.

Watching my dogs play in the river brings to me a joy I've never felt before. Dogs have no other ways to tell you they're happy outside of the ever popular tail wagging and my dogs can wag some serious tail!

When I ask Pebble if she wants to go to the river, she gets really excited, wags her tail, wiggles her body and barks like she's telling me she thought I'd never ask. She is the swimmer, she is the canoe'er (if that's a word), she totally runs way far ahead of us on our 2/10ths of a mile walk down there and before we're half way there, she's already went for a swim and is running back to us to show us how pretty she looks with wet fur and sandy feet!




Iggy here, is only just 4 months old and as you can see, she's a lab mix. We have had her now since she was about 5 weeks old, if that. I can't tell you what she's mixed with, but with her blue eyes, I suspect huskey runs through her blood somewhere. I always just assumed that labs like water, but with Iggy, she wants no part of anything wet! She's your, "ooh, I don't like the way that feels under my paws" kind of dog and we can't seem to get her "in" the water.

Today, I grabbed her leash and basically pulled her into the water. She has a harness on and she's not that big so it wasn't that difficult, however, I had to get wet doing it! And did I mention its 1 day from October? So the water wasn't warm! Anyway, here I am, holding her at half leash and trying to get far enough into the water where her underbelly gets wet. I started to run with her because I knew if I ran, Pebbles and Spanky would run too. So we ran up and down the river trying to get her used to the water and she is so hard-headed that she tried every which way, short of tying me up with her leash, that she could think of to run toward the shoreline, in front of my legs, behind my legs, and at one point I think she tried to run through my legs. Quite the sight let me tell ya! I'm completely sure that I worked off every bit of the nothing I'd had to eat today! I think I'm beginning to realize she just may not be the water dog that the other 2 are. But, I'll keep trying to get her to be!




Spanky here, he's my man! kinda...He is a fun-loving guy who just wants to be everyone's friend. He doesn't bark, he loves to be photographed, he loves car rides, water, food, cookies, short walks and he hates everything else! He hates fireworks, loud noises, clapping, party hats and whatever else that you put in your hand other than food or a camera! We rescued him from becoming a pound puppy when he was 5 months old, he's part Beagle, part St. Bernard..I'm not kidding. He weighs in at 99lbs and is approximately 36" at the hip line. He's 3 1/2 years old. Lovely guy, just don't spook him or he'll go into hiding for the rest of the day.

He doesn't swim, he walks out into the water, and he can get pretty far in because he's so tall, but he gets out there just to get his body wet. We throw a stick in for Pebble and she rushes out to get it, he follows her until the water reaches his neck, then he waits. He waits for her to get back to where he can reach her, and he goes after the stick, puts one end of it in his mouth and the two of them carry it back together! That's his idea of being a gentledog I guess! Or maybe he's just out to irritate her. Either way, that's what he does.


These dogs fascinate me! I love watching the way they interact with each other. They are innocent and curious creatures. Pebbles is going to be 6 in December and she's old and set in her ways, Spanky is big and thinks he's little, has a spring in every step and he loves to sniff the shampoo smell out of your hair. Iggy thinks she's bigger than Spanky, loves to lick your face (the other two won't touch you with their tongues), fears nothing but the water, is very hyper and loves to play with toys. 3 different dog-dynamics surround me and I love to be a part of their lives. Its been said that pets are therapeutic and I believe that to be true. There is quite a bit of laughter in my home because of these dogs and I'm truly honored to have them as part of my family! I look forward to each and every day I get to spend with them. I hope we have many more years together!


kT

Autumn in Big River Hills

The beginning of Autumn is very kind to Big River Hills, its very beautiful out here, and its earthly idyllic design just amazes me!

From the leaves that blanket the earth to the gently flowing river down the road, its just a beautiful scene this time of year. I love taking pictures and the beginning of spring, and the beginning of fall are the perfect time to do just that. Stopping time by photograph is an old but great way to preserve wonderful memories.

The soughing wind through the trees is a very serene sound you just cannot capture in a photograph. Standing there, watching the trees sway, smelling the fresh air, you feel it, deep inside you, it takes hold of you in an instant and you know autumn is here. As fast as time cruises through, seize the moment and remember its beauty because it will fade. Time is a thief and it steals all youth, all memories and all beauty. What a demoralizing thought! Time has a way of taking all things from us little by little leaving us no choice but to preserve as much as we can. Let autumn consume you with its captivating aromas and picturesque scenes. Let the last bit of sunlight touch your face and warm your soul.

I love....
Pumpkins and Halloween
The smell of cinnamon and cider
The warmth from the oven while baking an apple pie
Raking leaves into a pile only to run as fast as you can and jump right in them
Drinking hot cocoa and eating roasted peanuts by the fire in the evening
Being surrounded by family and friends while reminiscing of "the good old days"
Strolling around Laumeier Park holding hands with Mikey looking at all the ingenious art sculptures.
Seeing the leaves change colors
The brisk Autumn mornings and the smell of Dad's coffee brewing
Camping trips
Marshmallows on a stick
Old flannel shirts with the holes in the elbows
Warm hoodies



mmmm what wonderful thoughts. I'm excited for this Autumn and I cannot wait to see more of the beauty that's yet to come or more of the memories yet to make!

When winter sets in it will be a different kind of beautiful and I'm not quite ready for it yet, so until then, I will continue to soak up Autumn and try my hardest to slow the "evil hands" of Father Time.

Have a great Autumn my friends
kT

Some Days are Better Than Others.

Libra is a balance, and I sure am born under that sign!

I look for a healthy balance in my life, sometimes I get it, sometimes I don't. But I continue to look for it nonetheless.

Its when you're most content with life that the crap starts flying and sometimes you can't catch it all so you get hit by what you don't catch.

I'm getting slammed at least 1 day of the week and its usually on the day that I want harmony!

So what do I do?

Today, I want to run away! Run far far away until I feel guilty for leaving and end up coming back.

How come the people you love so much hate you so bad? How come the people you love so much talk so badly about you? You're the adult, so you can't just dish it right back. You just let it go and hope that the people you love see the truth for what it really is. How long does it take? No one knows. In the meantime, you get hurt repeatedly and there's really nothing you can do except take it. Take the abuse as it comes your way and hope that it doesn't do too much damage to the mind over the long-term. You can't talk to these people, they've been brainwashed into thinking the absolute worst about you and they expect you to just do everything for them even though they're old enough to do it for themselves. You have to do it all and you have to hear how much you are worthless and how much they hate you but you still have to do it because they claim it falls under the unconditional love plan....

Sometimes, life just sucks!
kT

This blog is re-opening!!

A tremendous weight has been lifted off my shoulders, I dropped all the classes I was taking at Meramec today. I thought is was going to be a bad thing but after I dropped the classes, I felt so much better. There's a life out there to be lived and that life is mine. I don't want to spend my life in a classroom any longer or be graded by some professor that gives grades based on his/her own personal opinion of how things should be. There are memories to be made, tall tales to be told, I want action, adventure and fractions of seconds of time snapped by cameras. I want to have wonderful, colorful memories of life. I don't want to struggle trying to remember formulas for algebra or names and places of time's past. Unless of course those names and places are directly linked to myself! This is me! Whoever I am, wherever I go, I will write about it here...no more wasting time, no more playing on facebook, no more sitting in front of the television....I want to go somewhere, eat at a new restaurant, work an extra shift to pay for it all....I want to see my nieces and my nephew up close and in person. Look out world, here I come!!