Time

Time flies. Yes it's a cliche, but back off, I'm not even 3 months old yet. I have a very compressed sense of time. And right now, it's flying! I am 11 and a half weeks old, and growing fast.

If you consider the arc of my story so far, the last two weeks of time is a good chunk. And I have stories. I got to go back to Whidbey Island and grandma's house for three days! I still haven't met her, as she was on some sort of boat for several weeks, which I think is crazy. I mean, the ferry ride to her house is twenty minutes - where the hell can you go on a boat for three weeks?

So I'm back on Whidbey, and I start running. I'm running. I run down the street. I run into a field. And as I run, I tell you, there are long stalks of grass that hang over and if you time it just right, you can jump and bite them as you fly past! This sort of thing only happens on Whidbey. I also met an Auntie and her dog. It's kind of a weird looking thing, to be honest, and a bit snippy. Hard to blame it, I suppose, here she is all-pomeranian and I come along, cute and puppy-like. Bound to be some hard feelings there. But Whidbey is dog-tastic.

Two words. The beach. Two words. Low tide. Two words. I raged. (See pictures)

Two unfortunate words. Bath tub. Or is that one word? Bathtub. Well then, two words. Baths suck. (See picture)

And in Ballard, I have adventures. My walks are getting longer, and I can go up the street and run through various lawns. I think it's because I showed dad I can run so well on Whidbey, but he's a bit paranoid as I have yet to get my second round of shots. No one wants a sick puppy, so until then, I think I have limited options.

I learned a new word in Ballard, too. Barista. Those people go wild for me! On good days, dad takes me in the car with him and I run up to the coffee shop and get oohed and awed and cuddled and oggled. After that, he takes me to Sunset Park and I rock the lawn while people passing by all stop to say hi. You'd think I was a celebrity or something.

Today, I got hosed. Instead of the coffee shop and Sunset Park, it was a pet store. I love that place, but I wanted to do the coffee shop and park as well. Dad said, "You've had enough adventure for the day, so you stay." Whatever dude, like there's enough adventure. At the pet store, there is a wonderful woman named Leigh - she is like the guardian angel of all things puppy, and she is very good at her job. While I was crashed in her arms, just in awe of her presence, I didn't even notice her tell some guy to give me a pedicure. Pedicure, yeah right. They just clip your nails, but when you only got 3 paws, it's only 75% bad! Still, I got hosed. A pedicure and no park.

I began with a cliche, so I'll end with one. It's a dark and stormy night, and I just did my night-night pee so guess what? This is Trip and I'm out!

Visitor

So the surprise was... I had a visitor! The first time someone flew into town just to see me! It was fantastic. She said she was my 'weekend mommy' - I gather she was really my dad's friend. But she smelled nice, and I liked biting her earrings. We played and I got kissed and held a lot. I miss women, they hug so sweet and talk so different. Even though it's cool being in a house of men (woof woof and hoo-rah and all that shit), women can be nice, too.

One really cool thing about my weekend mommy visitor from a land far far away - she heals things. And not like, heel dog, stay at my heel, but like heals things. Makes them better. And getting a hug from a woman with a touch like that... I just sink into it and sigh... until I see earring.

She's a dog person, too. I could smell it on her, but really, even if I was smell-challenged, I would have known. She's got that vibe about her and sure, I'm still a puppy, but I'm not ignorant. I have instinct, and this one has it going on. If you could see what I see, and sense what I sense, you'd want to swim in that sort of energy. Take a bath in it. Like a mineral hot spring of good energy. I loved her... and her name was Erika.

She's gone now, and you know what? I'm tired, but I feel so good to know she's part of my pack. Yep, you guessed it; this is Trip and I'm out!

Trip's Travels

I've been on the move this last week. I went and met my doctor. She was nice, and apparently does something called Agility with her dogs. Other than the snide comment about me not doing any agility work due to my unique nature, I thought she was swell. I wasn't afraid even a little bit, and other people that work at the doctor's office were also pretty nice. I'd like to get to know them better, particularly the women. I love women.

After going to the doc's, I went to Sunset Park for the first time and met a gigantic, horse-sized dog whose name I forget. He was just too big to remember a silly thing like a name.

On Wednesday, I got to go for a long car ride. We stopped and I got out to walk in rows and rows of cars. I heard the words dock and ferry, but my dad was clever and found some grass for me to pee in. As usual, he got very excited about me relieving myself. After that, I got some puppy hair on a woman's black pants and went back in the car, and then seriously... we drove onto a boat. Crazy. The motion was nice and I was asleep in no time.

That long car trip ended up at a really great place... and I mean fantastic place. My dad said it was my second home, or Grandma's house; I gather it's on an island (hence the boat trip). There is a deck I can run around, and beach logs that taste like 40 years of dried salt and story, oh my. Carpeted stairs to run up and down. And this funny little red building that apparently used to be a train car. A caboose!

Things about Whidbey Island that are cool: the caboose; the smells of the sea; the logs from the sea; the deck; the view from the deck; the view from all over; the tractors in the lot across the street; the workmen on the tractors who told my dad I was cool; the places to hide; the coffee stand where I met Hawley (another Golden, but not my mama); the air - my god the air is so good to breathe; and the unbelievable beach, which could possibly hold every great smell on earth (see picture of my Dad and I).

All in all, it was quite a week. I went back home to Ballard after a day, but I'm doing what I can to talk my people into going back there soon. I loved it! And when I got back to Seattle, the next day, another surprise! But that will have to wait, because it's late, so this is Trip, and I'm out!

First Few Days

Moving sucks. This is a universal truth. One of my writing teachers said, begin with a universal truth and you hook your reader. Well world, moving sucks.

There is just so much new stuff to get used to, adjusting is hard. It's pretty cool being the only dog, I get a lot of attention. I get a lot of love and a crazy amount of praise for going pee and poop outside, but I don't get away with much. Every time I try to bite a piece of furniture, they stick a toy in my mouth. I want wood, damn it!

Moving brings changes: new rules, new sleeping arrangements, new yard. I did find some wood in the new yard - sticks - and one visitor brought a pheasant wing on a string that is just too fun to chase. For a day or so I had free reign and was scooting all around, finding bark, biting the flowers and doing my best to eat a rock, but they caught me. Now, they keep me on a leash most of the time, and I still get to run, but I don't get to create nearly as much havoc.

I'm trying to get used to being left in a crate; they call it "my room" but I sort of think of the whole damn place as my room (see picture). Sometimes it's okay if I'm sleepy enough, but if I'm awake, I want out!

Speaking of out, I should go pee again and watch how excited they get - it's funny. So yeah man, moving... what can you say? For now, this is Trip, and I'm out!