Summer days, fall evenings

We're hitting that time of year here in South Florida. The hot afternoon sun fights for dominance with dark, loud, fast-moving thunderstorms. But once the alternating bright sky and gloomy clouds make way for nightfall, we can enjoy some gloriously breezy, pleasant evenings as we say goodbye to the humidity of summer.

For us humans, those nice evenings are merely our first taste of the wonderful months ahead of us. But for our hounds, days like today make you think that maybe they don't know whether they're coming or going.

Exhibit A: Our old friend Maggie in Delray Beach, who really does not like the sound those nasty afternoon thunderstorms make. Mom Joan dropped us this photo this evening:

Maggie and the munchkins in Delray Beach
Maggie hunkers down through a Friday-afternoon thunderstorm, seeking protection from her Munchkins, Cassie and Smidgen.
----------
Dusty, in the meantime, slept away much of the day by herself, as I had a few errands that needed running. I did get back to her in late afternoon to put her in the Kia Koach for one more errand that involved her. Her excitement about her ride in the car was short-lived, though, when she realized we had pulled into the parking lot of that nasty Animal Hospital of University Drive. No issues -- it was time for her annual checkup and vaccinations, and everything went without a hitch. But she really does not like that place -- that nice Dr. Ansara is pleasant enough, but he tends to poke his fingers into unpleasant places and sticks needles in her butt.

Dusty wants to go out and play
"Dad, let's go outside and play."
----------
We got out of there quickly, though, and came back home to settle in for a nice dinner and some pennant-race baseball on the TV. We weren't relaxed for too long, though, before the girl got restless and demanded to get outside and enjoy the beautiful evening. And we had a gloriously long late-night walk around the neighborhood, one of the best we've had in months.

My, was that ever good. Be gone, summer. Bring on the fall. My girl and I are ready for some quality time in the great parks here in western and central Broward.

Comments

Post a Comment

Highlights

Speedy's brand new world

Image
Lily shot this photo of Dusty, Speedy and Luna. ---------- Speedy officially has been initiated. The 8-year-old Macau import hasn't yet moved into his permanent home with Dusty and me. But he got a taste this morning of what his new life is going to be. Dawn and her girls drove up this morning to meet us for a leash-walk outing at Plantation Heritage Park and got a chance to see Speedy take in all kinds of new sights and sounds and smells. Lily and Rosie chilling with the hounds in a shelter area at the park ---------- Speedy's having quite an awakening. Dusty and I got him out three times last week for a stroll around the block in Friends of Greyhounds' neighborhood in Sunrise. He remained in constant attention, total focus, during those walks. Dusty and I got quite a workout trying to contain him -- he pulled on that leash with everything he had to get to the next place as soon as he could. He wheezed and coughed practically the entire time -- the the ma
Read more

About Dusty and me (Part 2)

Image
W hen a racing greyhound suffers an injury, like Barts Moondust did in a race in Miami last August, her handlers generally drop her into a kennel for a couple of days to see if the injury heals on its own. If it doesn't, the owner retires the dog and in most cases leaves it up to the handlers to dispose of her. Dusty at Friends of Greyhounds, August 2016 ---------- Her injury was really bad -- obviously enough that her owner gave up on her immediately. I don't know the chain of events between Aug. 13, when she hobbled through her last race, and Aug. 15, when a Friends of Greyhounds blog post says she landed in the FOG kennel in Sunrise, FL. I had been volunteering at FOG for just a few weeks at that point. I reported for duty one day after Aug. 15, and Michelle pointed out the new arrival -- a young, gorgeous shiny black dog in the end kennel with a blue soft cast covering the lower part of her right hind leg past the hock and down to her toes. Michelle told me she ha
Read more

A Star is home; Yuki's orientation

Image
Winning Star is now Noel Star with a new home. The happy family: Pat, Nico, Star and Andrea ---------- Star, who turned 8 years old the day after she arrived at the Friends of Greyhounds kennels three weeks ago, landed Wednesday in her family home in Hialeah with her new name. She was adopted by longtime FoG volunteer Andrea and her mom, Pat. She also has a canine sibling, Nico, a senior chihuahua mix who will help Star get adjusted to her new life as a domestic pet. Star and Andrea met at Miami International Airport as Star was being loaded onto the FoG van shortly after her arrival from Macau. Star was the hound who rode loose in the back of the van with me tucked among the crates of the other four arrivals. I held onto Star's leash to steady her as she snuggled with Andrea, in the front passenger seat. Andrea decided during the ride that she wanted to adopt Star. Andrea sent this photo of Star enjoying a snack on her new bed in her new home with her new toy close b
Read more

FoG's Macau dogs making themselves at home

Image
Andrea welcomes Pearl River (Zhujiang Winds) to the FoG kennels. Pearl is the cutie of the bunch. She's 8 years old. We think she arrived in heat -- to be dealt with in the next week or two. ---------- They appear happy and healthy. And thrilled to be off those damn airplanes. Winning Star is celebrating her  8th birthdaytoday. Andrea bonded with her right away and hopes to adopt her if she proves cat-tolerant. ---------- The five Macau imports taking up residence at Friends of Greyhounds enjoyed some quiet, restful sleep Wednesday night, their first on the ground in Florida. Michelle, longtime FoG friend Andrea and I spent more time Wednesday picking them up at Miami International Airport than we had anticipated. Getting all five loaded with their crates into Michelle's van was a bigger challenge than we had hoped. But we got the job done with little real problems, and the hounds are happily in their spacious kennels devouring their meals like little pon
Read more

Gotcha, Speedy

Image
Uncle Jerry and Michelle help load Dusty and Speedy into the Kia Koach. It was a little emotional, as Speedy's might be the last of more than 2,400 adoptions out of Friends of Greyhounds. Retirement beckons. ---------- Speedy has landed. For the first time in his 8.5 years of life, the former Macau racer has a family he can call his own. Dusty and I welcomed him into our Northwest Lauderhill townhouse around 5 p.m. Wednesday. We drove over to Friends of Greyhounds HQ mid-afternoon and made the adoption official. We came home, unloaded from the Kia Koach, and immediately -- before even going into the townhouse -- went on a short walk up the block to visit our friend Inge, who always welcomes Dusty to her door with a handful of treats. Inge didn't disappoint -- but Dusty got most of the treats. Speedy got one or two but was entirely too distracted by all the new sights and sounds and smells to spend much time snacking. Speedy wasn't the only Macau alum that left F
Read more