remember when i told you that there were all those cute agreeable good-natured dogs posing happily for their people in the tulip fields and mine wasn’t one of them?

in the first two photos, atlas was attempting to rush me. in the last three, i tried to make him stop and stand still, just for a second, so he looked everywhere but at me while trying to sneak by me anyway.

can you see the spray of drool in the last photo? that’s how quickly he moved his head past me. he really is a creature of movement. i wonder if this is a weim thing.

by the way, all of this took place in less than three minutes. i need the arm strength of an amazon and the speed of a jungle cat to live with this dog. i have the first. clearly i’m still working on the second.

i was actually going to title this post the evolution of  a nickname until i saw these photos.

why? yesterday, atlas acquired a new nickname: waffles.

wondering how on earth he got that one? easy. it went from woof-y to wuffy to wuffles to ruffles (have ridges) back to wuffles to waffles.

and the world rejoiced, for spring had come.

tulips are definitely definitely definitely my favorite flower.

(can you see the tiny bug on the pink tulip in the last photo? i really wanted to brush it off to avoid a black speck in my photo but decided that would be rude.)

all those cute agreeable good-natured dogs posing happily for their people in the tulip fields – and this is what i get. (if you can’t tell, this is the tail end of a yawn.)

to be fair, i am only realizing now that he must have been staring into the sun. no wonder i had such a hard time getting him to look at me.

i love him anyway. and in our next life, when i am the dog and he is the photographer, i will try to make up for it and pose agreeably for him, at least once or twice.

i am delighted to inform you that the secret garden is now open for 2013!

the secret garden is my patron program. it’s my way of filling your year with surprise, delight, and anticipation.

i hope you like what’s in the circles this year!

once upon a time, far across the sea, there was a kingdom where lavender was as prized as diamonds and pearls and rubies are today.

from a distance, the kingdom actually sparkled like a diamond. this was because the lavender radiated warmth and light like the sun at midday and twinkled like the stars at night.

the king and queen wore robes of lavender: dark purple for feasts (useful in case of spills), light purple for ceremonies, and pink for everyday.

one of the many marvelous things about this land was that there was no shortage of lavender. every family had lavender in their garden. it grew profusely and there was more than enough for everyone.

in this kingdom, instead of crossing your fingers for someone or wishing them good luck, you tucked a sprig of lavender into their pocket or behind their ear. the smell of the lavender swirled around them throughout the day and reminded them of magic and wonder and dreams-come-true.

sometimes, a round jolly striped bumble bee would follow the person, attracted by the smell of the lavender. bees were seen as tiny winged messengers from the gods, so the buzzing filled the lucky person with a deep sense of peace and joy.

on saturday, we took our guests to the ocean. you would not believe how happy atlas was to be out and about on an adventure. (never mind that we had gone on an adventure right before we left for the ocean – to the recycle bin. hahaha.) he had the biggest smile on his face as he dragged me all around.

unfortunately for atlas, i didn’t let him run. we also did a fair amount of sitting and waiting while amy and katherine went on without us. but he was still happy. and we were so happy for him.

the good news is that his splint earned him lots of extra attention and sympathy and scratches and a giant dog treat.

i must say, atlas really hasn’t slowed down at all. we went to the vet today to get his splint rewrapped and one of the girls there commented that she had never seen a dog move quite so fast with a splint on. he is as speedy as ever. i guess it is a lovely testament to adaptability, even if i wish he would move more slowly.

it looks like the splint might stay on for two more weeks and then he can do the rest of his healing without it. here’s hoping.

“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven.”

– Rabindranath Tagore, Fireflies

i think this is one of my favorite quotes about trees. i found it a long time ago but neglected to write it down at the time. the memory of a beloved quote about trees and heaven pops into my mind occasionally, so i am finally writing it down somewhere in order to always remember it.

while keeping atlas company on the couch, i am amusing myself by writing tiny stories.

since this week is a holiday week in the states, and i know many children are on vacation, i thought i’d share one of them. it’s about a boy named jack and a wandering tree.

feel free to read it yourself, read it to children you love (or have them read it to you), or pass it along.

children, you know, are the original wide-eyed wonderers.

click on the link below to open the story. it’s in a nice little pdf, ready for reading or saving or printing.

jack and the wandering tree

it seems like i find a new funny series of atlas photos whenever i look through my archives. this is the latest series that got me to pause in my search for photos in order to click back and forth and back and forth. notice how he slows down as he gets closer, silly pup.

these photos make me smile.

especially the first photo. (his head looks like it’s scrunched.) and the third photo. (dumbo!)

and definitely the last photo. doesn’t it look like atlas is about to eat the ant-people on the beach? (it’s dogzilla!)