while on a hike, i stood on a dock for a while to admire this view, bird song and frog song all around me. the frogs croaked in turn, so it was fun to follow their song around the water.

in the midst of this chorus was a croak that was so loud, i thought the frog must be under my feet, or at least right next to me. while i looked for the owner of the croak, i recorded the frog chorus on my phone.

i tried to get a clean sound, but atlas kept inserting himself into the mix in his own peculiar way – apparently he was very very thirsty. in the end, the recording made me giggle, so i thought you might enjoy it too.

(in case you’re wondering, i did find the elusive frog. he was spring green in color and hiding under some grasses to my left & behind me. i was amazed to discover that he was the size of my palm – i have a child-sized hand – so clearly he was an expert at projecting his voice.)

clearly spring-summer is here, because atlas is eating a salad a day again. he usually chooses greens along the trail but, in a pinch, he’ll eat the greens in front of the house. after all these years, this habit still makes me giggle. i used to tell him that if i wanted to hike with a cow, i would have gotten a cow, but i didn’t. instead, i got him – a dog who eats grass whenever it’s in season, simply because he likes it.

on saturday, we went for a hike. it was a nice day, but a little too warm for atlas (he likes it cooler than 70 & it was 80 that day). he was so hot – even though he hiked in the shade and drank from a fish pond & the river & the lake – that i shared my ice cream cone with him. after a few licks, he apparently forgot we were sharing, because he chased the cone with his tongue and then took a sideways bite and ate the whole top off. and then he wanted to eat the cone too! silly pup.

i’m hoping that atlas will swim this year. so far, no such luck. it’s hard to blame him; the water is icy. one afternoon, i found a nice stick on the shore. when i showed it to atlas, he was intrigued, so i threw it in the water. he went in after it, but when the water touched his belly, he stopped and looked at the stick for a while, then turned around and came back out. maybe i need to throw in a hamburger or a hotdog.

atlas can now add beavers to his wildlife sightings. the dead beaver interested him more than the live one – possibly because the live one was out in the water. i guess we’ll find out if we run into a beaver on the trail or in the swamp someday.

atlas says hello, and offers two spring-summer suggestions:

• lie down on your back on the grass and wriggle.
• lie down on a blanket in the shade for a nap.

report back, please!

here, the earth is all a’bloom. one day, i wished for buds and blossoms. a few days later, it seemed, i saw soft fuzzy pussy willow buds. a few days later, it seemed, every tree had exploded into bloom and wildflowers were waving at me from the grass. (today, my favorite is the tiny wild violet.)

here, the sun is bright and the days are warm. atlas is in summer mode, rolling on the green grass, napping in the shade, and complaining about walks in the sunshine. today, he followed a tiny frog around the yard. every few steps, he’d nose it curiously and then wrinkle his nose and shake his head.

here, my arms are red – after peeling a five gallon bucket of carrots in the sunshine without sunscreen. and tired – after a week spent spring cleaning my grandparents’ yard (with the exception of the four largest downed branches, which i left for others, because i grew bored of sawing before they broke in two and my dad didn’t think i could start the chainsaw). there are ice cream cones on the deck, games of tennis, and bare feet on the grass. it is possible that i will attempt a swim soon, even though the water is almost as cold as ice.

here, spring and summer arrive in tandem. i had forgotten this. (and still, yes still, there are patches of snow.)

two sundays ago, while (not) waiting for me to take a photo, atlas managed to hobble a back paw while wrapping the leash around and around a front paw and felled himself like a tree on some very prickly grasses. he cried. i had to quickly climb up the ledge and rescue him (from himself).

this past sunday, atlas flung himself down on every single patch of green grass in the yard and wriggled around on it with glee.

on monday night, atlas saw ten deer in the three mile drive home from the lake. he has been running in his dreams ever since.

in my head, i have a long litany of atlas stories, so i thought i would share a few of them with you. i am feeling very tender toward him today because last night, he had an episode that was possibly/probably a seizure. he is fine now, but it reminded me that it is good to love him extra-hard, while he is here in the world with me.

blow, atlas, blow.

savannah likes to incorporate atlas into her bubble play.

she puts the bubble wand in front of atlas’s nose and says, “blow, atlas, blow”. sometimes, he ignores her. sometimes, he lifts his head up, looks at the wand, licks it, then licks his lips with a very puzzled expression. i imagine he is wondering why she’s offering him something that is clearly not edible.

she also likes to blow bubbles “at his toes!” or “at his head!”

pee on the snow.

atlas started peeing in the front yard. i think it’s because it’s the only place with grass.

my mom said no – that section of grass needs all the help it can get. the cars are parked there in the winter, to stay out of the way of the plow, so the grass never really grows.

whenever atlas tries to pee in the yard and i say no, he walks across the road and clambers to the top of the snowbank. with the recent warm weather, the snow is extremely soft. one night, mid-stream, he tried to move his foot to re-adjust, and sank down into the snow while he was peeing.

it was hilarious. as is the sight of him peeing on the top of a snowbank at all.

atlas smells the wild.

the windows in my room are almost always open. one night, i woke up in the wee hours to find the smell of skunk wafting through the open windows.

atlas popped out of bed and delightedly sniff-sniff-sniffed away. he wanted to go outside.

i most definitely did not.

however, i couldn’t be sure that he didn’t also want to go outside because he needed a potty run, so i finally brought him outside anyway, putting him on a leash and peeking out the door before i opened it.

atlas did not appreciate the leash. how could he find the delightful smelly creature with me attached? i, on the other hand, was pretty sure that if he had found it, he would have escaped unscathed while i wound up getting sprayed, so i did not feel remorseful about the leash at all.

the climb.

after the snow went through some rounds of thawing and freezing, there was a reasonably solid crust. atlas could walk on it without sinking too deeply or too often, so he started following his nose into the snow.

there is a hill (two plus houses high) near my house. we call it the dirt hill and it was the scene of many youthful adventures.

atlas and i were out for a walk one day when he caught a scent near the hill, clambered up the snowbank, and started climbing up the snow-covered hill. every few feet, he stopped and looked back at me, a very pleased expression on his face. i cheered him on happily. (i tried to go too, but when i sank to my knees in the snow, i turned around.) he finally crested the top and disappeared.

eventually, he came back. when he finally reached the road, he looked so delighted with himself and his adventure.

oh, dogs. aren’t they wonderful!

they are so good at taking the simplest things in life and turning them into a joyful adventure.

i am enjoying photos of my beloved lake. soon, it will be blue again. i was hoping there would be green grass and tulips by my birthday but i suspect it is unlikely. on the bright side, it is 40 degrees today. i could wear shorts and a t-shirt, but the reflection of the sun on the snow would turn my white legs red. also, i am thinking of others; the glare of the sun on my white legs might blind oncoming traffic. when i was young, i would lie on the front porch on days like this (in my swimsuit, no less) to get a head start on my tan.

there was a box in the basement labeled “joe’s bones”. joe is my (very much alive) brother, so i am still giggling at the label. maybe it’s just me. anyway, the box was full of skulls and bones that joe and my dad found over the years, including the most beautiful deer antler. it took some begging, but the deer antler is now mine. it makes a gorgeous paperweight and constantly delights me. soon, atlas and i will hunt for our own shed antlers. antlers are sold as higher-priced dog chews, so these will really be for atlas. (he was more intrigued by this antler than he ever was by the ones in the store; maybe it still has the scent of the wild.)

my lips no longer need moisturizer! i am quite delighted by this. i used to (need to) apply it a million times a day. when my lip moisturizer ran out this winter, i was only driving on blue sky days so couldn’t replenish it immediately. while i was waiting for good weather, i started to wonder if not using it was actually more normal than using it, so i decided not to buy any more. there was a horrible period of withdrawal but eventually my lips normalized. if i want to use something now, i use ghee. (atlas loves this. he licks his lips whenever i put it on.) apparently there are products in most lip moisturizers that strip the lips of their protective coating. also, did you know that petroleum jelly and petrolatum are oil byproducts. i put them on my lips! i find this both fascinating + disturbing.

there is room for three more people to receive postcards from atlas. if you were thinking about it ~ for yourself, for an elderly house-bound relative, for a beloved child who would love their very own mail ~ now is the time to join in! it is going to be full of joy.

atlas here.

i am a pup with a biiiiiiiigggggggg mission.

my mission: to brighten your day.

because i am my person’s pup, i know just how to do it.

i am going to spread joy through postcards.

wouldn’t you love to find a postcard from me in your mailbox?

imagine your surprise.

imagine your delight.

i know i can make you smile!

this is going to be so much fun. won’t you join me?

you know you want to!

you can find all the details right here.

the postcards will start in april.

on saturday, atlas turned 11, so i thought it would be fun to wander through his life in pictures.

and so it begins.

2003: i have a new puppy! this is a year that includes surgery (for me), parvo (for him), and the love + fun + adventure + growing pains of our new life together.

2004: this is a year that includes training, daily adventures, trips to sheep dung estates & san diego, and a move from sacramento to folsom.

2005: this is a year that includes more training, more daily adventures, and the pleasure + pain of both a jackrabbit chase & a squirrel catch.

2006: this is a year that includes a move to oregon, a road trip to seattle, camping, hikes, time at the oregon coast, and the beginning of an annual corn maze tradition.

2007: this is a year that includes a road trip to seattle, a road trip to michigan, an adventure in colorado, and fun dog + person classes.

2008: this is a year that includes lots of time at the oregon coast, an autumn trip to detroit lake, the first kitty-friend for a kitty-obsessed puppy, and many more daily adventures.

2009: this is a year that includes the call of the wild dog camp, lots of hiking, more fun dog + person classes, and more daily adventures.

2010: this is a year that includes a new dog-friendly work environment (meaning: i leave my job to be my own employer) and a road trip to the central oregon coast.

2011: this is a year that includes a road trip to the olympic peninsula and many many many daily adventures.

2012: this is a year that includes hikes, adventures, and three months on the couch due to a fractured puppy toe.

2013: this is a year that includes a move to michigan, an adventure in north dakota, a hike up a mountain, encounters with deer + bear poop + foxes + partridge, an arctic-like winter, a household that always seems to have meat + gravy, and many many daily adventures.

happy birthday, atlas!

i love you more than all the stars in the sky & all the fish in the sea, and i am beyond grateful for every single one of our years together.

i renewed my web hosting and i have a heart full of love & appreciation.

for me, for having the courage to be vulnerable.
for you, for your support, appreciation & heart-felt presence.
for life, for the way it encourages me to soften & grow.

a spring thaw allowed my stir-crazy pup to run & smell & explore to his heart’s content. as i watched him, my smile was wide and my heart was full.

he so needed this.

my parting thought today is one of love.

all we really have is this moment.

life is fleeting.
love is forever.
even if it changes in form.

when i saw this photo, i giggled, because it perfectly & succinctly expresses atlas’s current opinion of cold + snow.

he is ready to run! without slipping and sliding. without sinking into the white.

soon, little puppy, soon. (she says hopefully.) and maybe with all your pent-up energy, you will finally catch your rabbit. (she says much less hopefully.)