Too Much to Do and Not Enough Time or Money

29 June 2012
10:51 PM

Sunset at	12:41 AM	in direction	343°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:08 AM	in direction	17°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

The list never ends, but the summer does.  We have, well mostly Gary has accomplished several tasks so far this summer.  He winterized the upstairs windows, which had not been done well in the first place.  The result is fabulous.  No cool air seeps around the edges of the window.  Today he built corner supports on the deck for potted plants.  They are up above the dogs and in stable locations.  I will, of course, cram as many pots in that little space as I can. 

I need the color, so I will take a trip down to the local neighborhood plant supplier.  She doesn't have a formal nursery, but her plants are hardy as she seeds them out of doors.  I will buy more soil, take pots that I already have and add more cheer to our deck. 

We still have several things to do, of course.  Gary has several other windows he needs to seal in the same way he did the upstairs windows.  We need to close off the under side of the deck with slatted panels so the dirt and insulated walls under it are not in view. Gary needs to cut up a spruce tree that cracked near the base and haul it to the boat parking area. There are several other trees that we need to fell this year.  Gary won't be able to do them alone, so we will only get as many cut as Jamie can help with.  Then, of course, there is putting the wood up for next winter. 

There are things we can't do on our own - complete the siding on the basement level of the house where we have retrofitted insulation and finish the drywall, taping and painting of the front living room wall as well as buy window coverings for them since the old ones will no longer fit.  All we need is more time and more money.

A Finished Champion

28 June 2010
8:45 PM

Sunset at	12:43 AM	in direction	344°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:06 AM	in direction	16°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

A new Champion - although not my favorite photo of her

Dog shows in Alaska, as I've stated before, are infrequent and chiefly held during the spring and summer months.  The purpose of the dog show is to determine which of the dogs competing meet the breed standard most closely (See Doberman Pinscher Standard). The standard is based on physical and personality characteristics bred into the breed necessary to their function.  For example, an alert and engaged attitude is desirable in dogs bred for protection.

For each breed, there are three overall rounds of competition at each show.  First, all the unfinished dogs (males) compete against each other.  The winner is awarded Winners Dog and earns points toward his championship.  Then all the unfinished bitches (females) compete against each other.  Winners Bitch also earns points towards her title.  Finally, any champions entered compete against each other, the Winners Dog, and the Winners Bitch for Best of Breed.  The following link provides the basics of conformation competitions:  A Beginner's Guide to Dog Shows.

To become a champion, dogs and bitches must have a total of 15 points.  A minimum of 6 points must be earned on two separate days, i.e., 3 points each day, for what is termed a Major win.  The significance of the word "major" is that the dog or bitch has competed against enough entrants of the same breed in a single day of a show to establish worthiness.  To ensure fair criteria for awarding major points, the American Kennel Club has defined regions in the United States based on several factors, such as population and proximity to other regions (Club Point Schedule).  Each region has its own entry requirement per breed to be awarded a minimum of 3 points and earn a major win.

Due to the small Doberman Pinscher population in Alaska, a major can be awarded if there are four unfinished dogs (males) working to attain their championships.  We need five unfinished Doberman Pinschers females entered to have a major win for bitches in Alaska.  By comparison, in Florida, 10 dogs must be entered to earn a major, and 14 bitches to do the same.

Finally, no matter where you are in the United States, your dog or bitch can possibly earn major points in the final ring: titled entrants, the Winners Dog, and the Winners Bitch.  Those points are tricky to anticipate.  For example, JayJay earned her second major win in a show that had only four unfinished bitches entered.  However, she took Best of Breed over a finished champion which meant that she won over five total dobermans entered and was awarded 3 points and a major.

Right at this moment, we have only one dog in all of Alaska that is not a champion and competing in the show ring.  There are only four bitches that are showing in the ring in Alaska and one of them just finished her championship, mine.  Fortunately, people do fly up for our shows.  Some do so because they consider our small population an easy place to put major points on their dog or bitch.

We have disproved that thesis several times with our dobermans.  JayJay, alone, disproved that thesis four times, three of those this season.  This year she won against a bitch from Washington in March.  She won against a bitch entered and shown by her own breeder and co-owner, Michelle Santana, in May.  And she just won and finished against two bitches from Outside, one from Oregon and the other from Washington.  There were seven bitches entered and JayJay was awarded 5 points in one day of the show to finish!  JayJay won one of the days at each show she entered this year and four other Alaskan dobermans have won at those same shows.  Per capita, we are more than holding our own.

My fellow Alaskans will continue to compete for championship points by entering their dog and bitches in July at the Kenai Kennel Club shows in Soldotna and the Cook Inlet Kennel Club in Palmer.  We are no longer gaining points for a Championship, but JayJay can now compete as a "Special".  These are dogs and bitches that are finished champions and are only going into the ring to garner additional accolades - you know, Creme de la Creme.  The champions vie for recognition against other champions and against the Winners Dog and Winners Bitch of the day.  JayJay was moved to Best of Breed competition on Sunday and although she did not take Best of Breed, she was awarded a Select point toward her Grand Championship.

It took me FOREVER to understand how this all worked, but now I write about it like I'm a pro, which, of course, I am not.  Now that she is a champion and does not need an professional to show her (Leslie, Stephanie, and Kelly), I will start handling her more. I need the experience and although accolades are FUN, they are not absolutely necessary for me.  She has met the basic standard of conformation worthiness.  Besides, I can't wait to get her into agility where we work as a team in an entirely different way like Aria and I are doing now.  And then there is breeding ... but that is a whole other story and one I may not get to this year.

Rain Brings It On for Racers and Winter Preparations

27 June 2012
8:09 PM

Sunset at	12:44 AM	in direction	344°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:04 AM	in direction	16°	North-northeast

The same storm front that brought lightening and fire to the Interior now has brought rain and cool weather.  Yesterday it rained for the better part of 5 hours.  Frankly, it was lovely.  I thrive on the sun, I admit it, but the rain after a long spell of dry, hot weather in the Interior is a blessing.  Our well was drawing from deeper levels due to the dryness, like it does every June before rains start.  The trees pull the deeper water, forcing our well to do the same and it grinds and moans while filling water holding tanks in both houses.  The noise has already eased when the well pumps.

It looks like the Sluice Box 100 bike and foot race will consistent of muddy paths, sloshy trails, and puddles.  The description of the race on the website sounds ever so inviting as it describes a trail that boasts "12,000-foot elevation gain, swamp crossings, and crusty sourdoughs with guns."  People in these parts thrive on meeting the challenges of Interior conditions in both summer and winter.

The rain provides an interesting complication in winter planning as well.  We did not order our birch fire wood early in the season and now that it is raining, it will take longer for any trees cut now to dry.  We have been told 4 to 8 weeks, depending on how wet it is.  Last year we bought late in the season and our supplier, a really good man, only had wood that had been cut that year and had dried for several weeks with the branches intact.  His method for drying followed the basic instructions found at How to Season Birch Firewood with one major exception.  We took the wood the same year it was cut.  The first load into the garage was still very wet, and we stacked it two deep and 5.5 feet high across one of the garage doors.  Within a week it was visibly cracking and by the time we were ready to burn it, it had aged sufficiently to not sizzle in the wood stove. Each load thereafter improved, but overall, waiting a full year is more desirable.

We have talked off and on about taking wood from our yard.  I identified six birch trees that I would be willing to part with, letting more light onto the lawn and flower beds and removing an obstacle when we back our car out in winter.  I also know of three big spruce trees I would like to fell as they block winter sun from the house.  We could cut them this year and next have wood from our own lot to burn.

In the moment, though, I am still waiting for blooms from the everything but the rose and columbines in our front garden!  The new plants are responding well to the rain and within a week or two, the entire area will be in bloom.

Fire

26 June 2012
8:13 PM

Sunset at 12:45 AM in direction 344° North-northwest
Sunrise at 3:03 AM in direction 16° North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

Each year hundred-thousands of acres burn in Alaska.  I just looked at statistics for numbers of acres burned in May: Fire Activity in May - 2000 - 2010.  I have posted photos of what it looks like in May.  It starts out bare limbed from break up and then leafs out.  The bogs are filling with water instead of ice; the wildflowers are nudging up leaves; the new grass is pushing aside last year's fodder.  Spring has barely hit the Interior and we are moving toward summer, but not nearly there.

The numbers graphed were for number of fires and acres burned.  The lowest number of acres burned - in May only, remember - were just under 100,000 for 2003 and @ 1.1 million for the highest number of fires in 2011.  I read this morning that the High Park Fire in Colorado had consumed over 83,000 acres and over 280 homes.  For Colorado, that fire represents a disaster of gigantic proportions, representing a sizable portion of the total acreage of the state.  It is on a par with the number of acres reached in May, 2003, the easiest fire season of the decade in Alaska.  The following year, a total of 6.523 million acres burned in the state.

My mind has no way to make sense of that information that I've just shared with you.  But practically, I can tell you there are days in the summer when I don't want to leave the house and go into the office where the ventilation systems bring in air from the outside to mix with water cooling devices.  The air is not fresh or clean, but laden with smoke.  The haze across the flag quad is so thick, it compares with the really, really bad smog days I remember in Los Angeles from my youth - before emissions restrictions began to mitigate the stench and filth somewhat.  Staying home I can close the windows and although stuffy, it remains breathable.

The fire in the photos was one of 14 that resulted from lightning strikes near Healy, Alaska on the north slope of the Alaskan Range.  I took them from points along the highway as I traveled along the arm of the final ridge of the mountains before reaching the Nenana and Tanana River Flats.

Wildflowers

25 June 2012
12:03 PM

Sunset at	12:46 AM	in direction	345°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:01 AM	in direction	15°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

We have lost roughly 5 minutes of "sunlight" since the solstice by the above indication, but no actual ambient light.  To live here means living with extremes and rapid change.  There was not much difference in ambient light between Fairbanks and Anchorage right now, but there will be a more noticeable difference at winter solstice.

I drove to Anchorage this weekend and took time to stop to take photos of wildflowers that grow in Alaska that I spotted along the way. Many were along roadways where there was no competition from trees and other understory plants, although these flowers are found in meadows and other grasslands through out the state.  You can see really excellent photos of Alaskan native wildflowers at Alaskan Wildflowers.

I also saw from a distance, but did not photograph - so I can't be sure ...

• Northern Bedstraw
• Oxeye Daisy - introduced
• Ball Mustard
• Alaskan Poppy
• Cotton Grass Flower

And of course, the infamous dandelion has taken root everywhere and entire hillsides of grass in Anchorage have been replaced with this hardy perennial "weed".


Slideshow of wildflowers

Summer Solstice in Fairbanks - III

21 June 2012
7:28 AM

Sunset at	12:48 AM	in direction	345°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	2:58 AM	in direction	15°	North-northeast

Civil twilight all day Sunset to Sunrise .. and early morning

Just before Sunset - 6/21 12:47 AM 

I took photos at 12:48 AM, sunset from the day before on 6/20/2012, and then others until sunrise.  I feel asleep and missed the opportunity to take photos at 5:00 AM, but I did get early morning.  I also found two of my files on the camera were recordings which iPhoto won't load - which is probably a good thing since I didn't deliberately film anything and who knows what is there!

Darkest hour is around 1:50 AM - 6/21 1:32 AM

In the early morning photos, the light is somewhat brighter than what I was seeing, but not by much.  When I went out at 1:30, the sky overhead nearly glowed.  I felt certain if I could just fly up a little ways, like a bird, I would be bathed in sun light.

Just after sunrise - 6/21 3:00 AM

6/21 7:08 AM

6/21 7:08 AM

Just before sunrise, in the northeast a gold halo was forming, but the sun is blocked by hills in that direction.  

By 7:00 AM, the light looks much like elsewhere for that time of day.  The remaining photos are of early morning at our house.

Summer Solstice in Fairbanks - II

20 June 2012
11:12 PM

9:00 PM to 11:00 PM

Facing North - 6/20 9:17 PM

Just after 9:00 PM, there still was plenty of light hitting the tree tops near our house.  The first view is from the deck outside our bedroom looking north (I didn't notice that I caught the roof in the upper right hand corner of the shot.  But the photo captures a moment in time, fleeting and only once this year, so I submit it as it is.  The one below shows the same section in the neighbor's yard as earlier today.  While there was still lingering sun down the utility trail behind our lot, the understory around our house was in full shade.

Looking northwest - 6/20 9:17 PM

I have taken this same perspective of our driveway as the year has progressed.  One of the first caught the midday, winter sun skimming along the tops of the trees in the center.  We live among the trees on the southeast side of the hill that is just starting to rise noticeably at our property, so even though it is very light out, we no longer had direct sunlight anywhere on our property, nor on that of our neighbors by 10:30 PM.

Same old, same old, but different - 6/20 10:32 PM

So, I took a drive to take pictures that could better tell the story of how amazing solstice is here. Describing our emotions about summer solstice invariably falls short of how we are affected by it.  Folks who live in Fairbanks year round embrace winter, the dark, snow, and the cold.  There is no way a person could survive sanely if there was not some part of him or her that understood, accepted, and even deeply loved winter.  Having said that, after the long winter, nearly everyone is overjoyed when spring and summer seasons are upon us.

Farmer's Loop Road looking east - 6/20 10:42 PM

Resident mowing the lawn - 6/20 10:43 PM

Late June and early July we revel in the sun's never ending dance with the earth and how the rhythm of that partnership can swirl into a powerful counterpoint to winter.  The photo below was taken from a narrow section of neighborhood road near the top of McGrath Road above our house.  Folks are out later, for obvious reasons, so every time I found a perspective that was best from some angle of the road, a car would come within a minute or two.  I was not happy with my first attempt because as I was beginning to focus, I could hear someone driving down the road toward me and took it quickly.  I turned back to try again.  Thankfully, the road was quiet with no one on it but me  - just long enough.

Northwest tip of Fairbanks and the Tanana Valley beyond in the summer evening mist - 6/20 10:58 PM

The needles on the white and black spruce reflect the lengthening of the sun's rays as its path dips toward the north for sunset.

Summer Solstice in Fairbanks - I

20 June 2012
8:04 PM

Sunset at	12:47 AM	in direction	345°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	2:58 AM	in direction	15°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

I read a friend's comment on facebook that today was solstice and she was not going to miss one hour of it.  She would be in the sun and day from the time the sun rose until it set.  I actually show tomorrow as solstice here in Fairbanks, but then, how can you really tell?

Jun 20, 2012 - Sunrise : 2:58 AM .. Sunset : 12:47 AM
Jun 21, 2012 - Sunrise : 2:58 AM .. Sunset : 12:48 AM
Jun 22, 2012 - Sunrise : 2:58 AM .. Sunset : 12:48 AM

But then I thought, wouldn't it be great to be up from sunrise to sunset?  That thought was immediately followed by the realization that my work schedule interfered mightily with that plan.  But for those of you who can't imagine what it is like to live in a place where it does not get anything near dark for days, here are the first of a set of photos.

Photos of the yard .. 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM

Walking home from the bus at 6:30 PM 6/20/2012

Our manicured front yard in summer sun 6/20/2012 .. 6:30-ish

My favorite knoll to the west .. 6/20 6:30-ish

A view of the front doors to our house 6/20 .. 6:30-ish

View from just outside our bedroom door looking northwest .. 7:48 PM

Family Dinner

18 June 2012

Sunset at	12:46 AM	in direction	345°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	2:58 AM	in direction	15°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

A welcoming summer view of of our house

Yesterday we invited Jamie's parents and twin sisters to our house for dinner.  It gave T & J a break after the big birthday bash party; I kept the meal simple.  Being with Jamie's family is a pleasure.  They lingered far into the evening talking about most anything.  Being together and talking could be their chief entertainment, they are so comfortable with themselves .. no drinking, partying, or dancing can compete with their enjoyment of one another.

They stayed until nearly 10:00 PM .. all the light, you know.  After they left and I finished cleaning up, I couldn't sleep.  It wasn't that I wasn't tired, and I hadn't had any alcohol, sugar or caffeine - I think it is just the effect of nearing summer solstice.  Three days to solstice and then we have several more weeks of 24 hour civil twilight.  The plants are starting to take off quickly now.  All the gardens will grow like there is no tomorrow (or winter is coming soon) over July.  I will have more photos soon.

Pig Roast

17 June 2012
1:27 PM

Sunset at 12:45 AM in direction 345° North-northwest
Sunrise at 2:58 AM in direction 15° North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

A wonderful aspect of community living in Fairbanks is the outdoor summer parties that last all day and into the night, sometimes all night.  Folks bring dishes and desserts to share or maybe beer, wine, soda pop or juice - whatever they fancy.  Sometimes a keg is provided, some times not.  Music is a part of it in some way.  And since being in possession of recreational amounts of marijuana is legal, I am sure there is some of that going on as well, although at my children's house, that doesn't appear to be the case.

Yesterday was my son-in-law's 40th birthday bash and in honor of this milestone, combined with a celebration for Scott Miller's birthday as well, they held their traditional pig roast.  Of all the things that outsiders might be curious about, uniquely Alaskan outdoor parties, this is the event I forgot to bring my camera for .. no kidding!

Gary, my husband, had gone earlier to set up the sound system, so I rode over with Lorien, my son.  As we approached their driveway, a sign indicated no parking down in the house area, so the road side was filled with cars several yards above and below the driveway.  Walking down the driveway, I was greeted by my daughter, Teresa - looking wonderfully Hispanic and summery.

The house is three levels: garage built into the hillside, first and second floors reached via outside steps and inside stairs.  Coming down the driveway, steps leading up to the north side of house and formal gardens are on the left.  The garage faces west and the driveway/parking area extends out from the garage doors into a large level area for parking cars, trucks, boats, and the pig roaster when not in use. All of this area had been cleared of vehicles.  A blue canopy had been stretched from the garage door opening, across the concrete pad that leads into the garage and out onto part of the dirt drive.  Chairs had been set up in under the canopy facing the concrete pad when a band was setting up.

Gary's sound system was situated behind a large trailer bed about 30 feet from the stage.  Sound man and musicians were busy tuning when I arrived.  Beyond the canopy, the pig roaster that Jamie wielded from an old propane tank was set up with chefs already cleaning out the meat.  All that was visible of the pig was its roasted head facing the party goers.  In front of the roaster was a card table set up with a festive red and white checked table cloth where meat was being piled into aluminum roasting pans.

Inside the garage behind the band were two large make-shift tall tables where guests were putting out their offerings to the party.  An orange cooler was filled with water and the keg tap, affixed to one of the downstairs refrigerators, was already a favorite spot; Lorien, had brought up a keg from the award winning Talkeetna brewery.  Plastic wear, napkins, and paper plates were out - which folks held on to knowing that Teresa and Jamie often ran out of those particular items at their parties.

As guests arrived, food was placed out only to disappear immediately, to then be replaced by the next wave of guests.  Food coming and being eaten as quickly continued through out the entire day.  It was truly "pot-luck" as you ate whatever happen to be out on tables when you arrived.  Rosemary, Jamie's mom, had a plan going into the party to eat some of everything provided.  She confessed that it was tricky because many times something was already gone by the time she got over to it!  Yet, not one of didn't have enough to eat.

Several early attendees drifted in between 3 and 4 PM and left within a few hours, while the bulk of guests arrived between 6 and 8, many of whom did not leave until 9 or 10 PM.  At its peak, their neighbor and our family friend, Vera, told us she ended up walking.  She'd driven up, but the parking places were so far from their driveway, she would have been parking near her own!  Later, as I cleaned up some dishes upstairs and filled the dishwasher, Rosemary asked how long the party was expected to go into the evening.  I told her I had no idea since many parties lingered well into the next day.  But, the pig roast was usually centered around food and music rather than music and drinking, so maybe not as long as that.

As it turned out, by 9:30 PM things were winding down and I began to gather up recyclables to help with cleaning.  Later Jamie and Norm, his dad, did the final clean up of the pig.  Rosemary commented that she was surprised at how popular the pulled pork was; she'd seen folks heap their plates with meat and cooked salmon.  There was very little left as Jamie's roasted pig is well-known and loved by neighbors and friends.  Teresa and Janell began putting away chairs as I gathered up dirty plates some had left lying about.  Then Gary began breaking down his system and we got those items packed into the car.  We were home by 11:00 - an early night for Alaskans in summer.

The sun had not set yet.

Interior Skies in June

15 June 2012
11:09

Sunset at	12:43 AM	in direction	344°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:00 AM	in direction	16°	North-northeast

Civil Twilight all day

I have taken many photos with my new digital camera, trying to capture the complexity of interior cloud formations - without complete success.  I need to read the manual that is on the disk that came with the camera.  There is a +/- symbol which I used to try to modulate the amount of light feeding into the camera, but the effect didn't change it the way I'd hoped.  The LCD message stated  "tracking" was enabled as I set that option on and off - not quite what I was expecting.

Adding perspective

Still, I am sharing a few of the better photos of the amazing skies as fronts move in and out of the Interior.  Probably no camera can capture the depth, variation and sheer beauty of the sky and mountains in the distance as I see it, but I feel certain my can capture the image more truly than what I have done.

The photo at the right is without magnification, but gives perspective to the distances, and captures the cloud cover directly overhead.  Often a grey blanket of cloud lies directly Fairbanks as it snuggles in the crook of The Chena River's arm on one side and the hills to the north on the other.  The grey is edged by blue sky and white clouds.  The zoom image below provides more of the detail that my eye actually sees, the images that enthrall me.

Flat bottom clouds sitting like foam atop a cup of coffee

Layers of earth and sky

Interior skies often have bands of thin grey across the horizon, perhaps the same grey blanket that will flow over head leaving only the edges visible.  But the stratification is often as pronounced as the photo to the right reflects.  The contrasting bands are enchanting.  First the band of boreal forest extending from the city across Tanana Valley Flats provides the foundation.  Then a thin band of cloud and mist, just visible above the trees, often appears.  If we are lucky, as I was with this photo, one band is the Alaska Range itself. Then a few more layers of dark flat clouds in the foreground crisscrossing the cumulus in the back ground.  Behind the thunderheads, deep, wide white silk that appear to touch the stratosphere.

The following photo was taken after the front had moved through and there was a break in the rain.  The colors can become brighter and the sky bluer when grey, flat clouds are not directly overhead.  Finally, the last photo catches the brilliance of the sky in midday sun while cumulus clouds begin to build toward the next series of rain showers.  

The Alaska Range clear looking across the Tanana Valley Flats

A friend wisely notes I am a sky freak.  How can you be anything but one who embraces the sky when living here?

In between storms

How Are Mosquitoes Like Some of the Rich?

12 June 2012
11:05 PM

Sunset at	12:37 AM	in direction	343°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:04 AM	in direction	17°	North-northeast

Civil twilight all day

The little ladies have been very hungry lately, and also very, very greedy.  It is this unfortunate tendency toward greed that is their undoing, however.  They gather blood from one source, but don't feel it is enough and want more - just like a greedy banker.  So, they fly about aiming to take more.

This is where the analogy fails because those with great wealth who are so inclined, can always get more of our money than we want to give, but mosquitoes, when filled with blood become heavier.  As they become heavier, they need air currents to fly to their nesting ground.  But if they have lingered away from those currents in the hopes of more, they are burden by their weight and move slow.  When they move slow they are easy targets.

It is both satisfying and disgusting to swat a mosquito that has just made a meal of you, your spouse, one of your cats or one of your dogs.  Satisfaction comes from the knowledge that she will not lay her eggs.  Disgust follows seeing the blood of you, your spouse, one of your cats or or one of your dogs smeared upon the wall, the window, or you hand.

Still, Alaska in June is my favorite time of year - despite my ongoing war with the ladies.

SP Kennel Visit

11 June 2012
6:06 PM

Sunset at	12:35 AM	in direction	343°	North-northwest
Sunrise at	3:06 AM	in direction	17°	North-northeast

Civil twilight all day

I visited the SPK puppies yesterday.  Wow - it has been such a long time since I have held something that new and that young.  There are two new litters.  Aliy has posted Quito's and Biscuit's second breeding results on her website, SP Kennel Dog Log.  They are healthy, about 6 inches long about 2 pounds.  They are just now starting to open their eyes.  I helped Aliy move the whelping box inside the garage - okay I acted like I helped.  She is so strong, she could have moved it by herself.  We moved it because the kennel can be very hot at random times in the afternoon and then cool again later.  Aliy wanted to even out the temperature swings for the pups.

Another whelping box out in the yard is shielded by a tall puppy wheel and trees.  Those pups are sweet Scooter's and sired by one of Jake Berkowitz's dogs.  They are the start of Ryne's own kennel.  There are three boys and one very small girl.  She is a good eater, but small, so they are watching her closely.

It's not the Dog Days of summer yet, but don't tell these guy that.

No matter what type of mood I am in when I head out to the kennel, I always come back feeling as happy as I could be.  Seeing all of my buddies always feels really, really good.  And now I spend as much time with the humans as I do with the dogs.