Yesterday was another hot - now smoky - day. With the property next door clear-cut, I am determined to get an unobstructed view of the Three Sisters mountains. (Sacred is a word I could use for how I feel about these mountains). To that end, I spent the day cutting 20' off the top of a wayward plum tree. I wanted to do the pruning before the hundreds of thousands of plums ripen creating a huge sticky mess, swarms of yellow jackets and upset canine stomachs. Climbing the tree; using a handsaw off a 4" diameter, sucker branche; climbing back down; pulling down the fruit laden, tangled branch; lugging it to the burn pile; repeat... necessitated multiple cooling swims throughout the 96 degree day. I grabbed the camera for a few of these swims.
Being as I am a determined sort of person, while treading water and using a camera without a view finder, I remain determined to get a good photo of the iridescent blue dragonflies on the waterlilies. I am getting closer.
This morning Trask woke me by dropping a bag of stiff elk hide on my face. Oh Sh#*! I flew out of bed knowing exactly what he had gotten into this time.
Trask is proving to also have a determined personality. He has gotten into things none of the other dogs ever even thought about: sewing cabinet - check; dog food storage, locked garbage can - now metal, strapped and screwed to the wall; screw down lid compost bin - check; sunflower seed bin - check; all cupboards - check; box full of computer and misc cables - check; backpack - check; garbage can now also strapped and screwed to the wall... I have no more high places to put stuff he has desired. During the night he opened a drawer containing embroidery threads, material and supplies. Then after playing with and distributing them, he opened a drawer containing fly tying feathers and furs. After spreading the furs and feathers about amongst the embroidery supplies and, eating several of the feathers, he brought me the elk fur as a wake-up present. Life around here is never dull.
