Men Folk on the Dirt Bike Pilgrimage

The men folk have made their Spring pilgrimage to the West Virginia lands to ride dirt bikes.  Mark's last foray on the trails earned him rotator cuff surgery.  There are few fortunate accidents, but that was seemingly one of them.  The fresh injury (from a trip over the handle bars in a deeper than suspected water hazard with the hand caught on the handle bar) when assessed revealed a much older injury.  That old injury had been a plague causing some limited mobility and increasing pain with age.

Now, all fixed up, he is pain free.  And he is fully healed from that dreadful deer-Ducati intersect.  Hopefully the trip will yield only fun.

With Macy (Am Bulldog mix) gone, our pack dynamics (from 3 to 2) changed markedly.  Macy was always in the middle of everything (prior to her health decline).  First down the steps, out the door, in the door, and constantly cruising for food -- hers, theirs and the cat's!  She was also constantly barking at any cars going down the road.  Even though we live on a road that ends in a cul-de-sac, there is a remarkable amount of activity -- all of which she alerted us to with her blood-curdling 'beagle-bark/howl.'  A reminder that all of Macy's bad habits were a result of our lack of training--a mistake we will not make again.  Ella and Daisy (English Setters) are doing more together outside. 

Macy and Daisy were ball dogs.  Macy and Daisy would race to get the ball.  Sometimes Daisy ended up with it, but mostly she stood on point until the ball was released and chased Macy.  It was great fun to watch.  Daisy will actually take a ball and play with her herself:  tossing it up or out, and then chasing it.  It is very funny to watch.  I've tossed the ball to Daisey a few times, but her interest in it what clearly as the secondary chaser to Macy.  Now, she is content to run through the woods when I take my walk, with Ella in hot pursuit.  Such a different environment.

Yesterday was a beautiful day.  I set out a blanket on the deck and sorted through mail. The amount of mass in the recycle box tells me this:  I am subsidizing the junk mail. I'm talking exponential amounts: 100:1 in weight--junk mail to non-junk mail.  (I should do a scientific study--but I had 2 boxes of junk compared to a file folder of stuff that I needed.  If the post office would simply raise the rates to marketers/soliciters, it would improve their finances and hopefully reduce the amount of crap in my box.

Sigh.