Living

photo from Jacqueline Sheehan’s website

Have you read Jacqueline Sheehan’s bestselling novel Lost & Found?  The sequel Picture This?  Or Now & Then?  I have read all three of these captivating novels written by this well-known Northampton author.  I couldn’t resist the black Lab Cooper in Lost & Found and following his journey in the sequel Picture This.  I loved that there was a sweet Irish Wolfhound in the intriguing time travel tale Now & Then.

Whether you have or haven’t read these books, or Jacqueline’s fourth novel The Comet’s Tale:  A Novel About Sojourner Truth, you’re in for a special treat on June 6, 2013, at 7:00 p.m.   Jacqueline Sheehan will talk about combining psychology with creative writing to create strong characters.  Copies of Jacqueline’s books will be available for sale and she will be happy to sign your copies.  Come and enjoy!

I love Lilac time.  Our farm property is surrounded by old Lilac bushes.  The scent is intoxicating.  I spend as much time as I can outside drinking in the fragrance.  Heavenly.

It’s a treat for the dogs when I set up a table in the backyard and work on my book or simply lie out on a lounge chair watching them as they quietly peruse the backfield for creatures from atop their hillside lookout.  Camera in hand, today I tried to sneak up on Annie and Lily.  I spotted the two of them, sitting up on the hill like a pair of statues, both facing the back-most hayfield.  They looked so picture-perfect sitting there together (Lily –a dark blue English, Annie – quite white).  I slowly crept along their well-worn path at the top of the hill, but, Lily caught sight of me through the corner of her eye.  She was gone in a flash.  Annie remained.  Quickly, I went back down to the bottom of the hill and caught a glimpse of Annie peeking out through the leafy green leaves.  Setters love to be very, very quiet while on the hunt.  I snapped my shot and let her be.  I returned to my lounge chair.  The scent of the nearby Lilac bushes soon sent me off to sleep!

On Monday, Annie met up with her pal Rowan, a one-year-old red Standard Poodle, for a dog walk on New Boston Road in Shutesbury, Massachusetts.  It was a clear, windy day, with temperatures in the high 40’s.  Burrr (it’s the middle of May!) Dogs love this kind of weather.

Annie’s friend Rowan

We walked, and walked, and walked.  With no problems overheating,  I think the dogs could have kept on walking.  I, in fact, lost track of time.  The old, wide gravel road kept beckoning us on.  It was so peaceful.  The ancient road follows along a gently flowing stream.  Not a single person or animal passed us by.  We had this natural kingdom all to ourselves.

Annie slept the rest of the afternoon.

By the time we returned to our cars, we had walked for over two and a half hours.  I was invigorated, but tired, not having realized how long we had been gone.  Annie immediately fell sound asleep in the car on our way back to Rowan’s house.  There, we enjoyed some refreshments, then headed back home, tackling errands on the way back over the River (the CT).  Annie loves a good walk and so does Rowan.  Next time, perhaps, the walk will be in our neck-of-the-woods.  There are so many great old roads to walk on.

Me posing with Donn Fendler

When I’m not home on Bridgvale Farm with the dogs, my favorite place of all to be is Maine.  Three generations of our family spent 51 wonderful summers living on a lake in Maine.  I miss that very much.  So – what better way to spend Mother’s Day Weekend then to head Downeast with one of my daughters?  Jeanne, too, spent many great summers at the family summer home on Long Lake.  She was the life guard and swim instructor at the Town Beach throughout her college years.  We both have a strong pull to the pine tree state.

Yes – the weather was not ideal.  But, for us, just being there was fun.  When we hit Portland, usually around 9:30 a.m, we stop at the fabulous Standard Baking Company for a marvelous freshly baked treat and coffee.  We exchange greetings with the folks at the bakery who know us well, then head out for an adventure.  Sometimes, we take the ferry and ride out to the islands in Casco Bay.  Often, we head over to Cape Elizabeth to walk along Crescent Beach.  I have a thing about bringing home one – or two – uniquely shaped, smooth rocks that has washed up on the shore and hunt and hunt for just the perfect ones.  Due to fairly cloudy, rainy weather, we headed to Freeport.  I have to make at least one annual visit there.  I am one of the still surviving people who remembers the original LLBean building.  My father took us kids there when we first started going to Maine in the early ’50’s.

The Mother’s Day Weekend visit to LLBean was meant to be…  one of my favorite authors happened to be there signing his book.  Donn Fendler himself, now 86 years old, was there signing the republication  of his book Lost on a Mountain in Maine which was first published in 1939 (subsequently reprinted many times through the years).  Now published in paperback, I had Donn sign my copy for my grandson who, at 18 months of age, is already quite the adventurer, accompanying his parents on hikes and camping trips in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and canyons of Moab, Utah.  My hardcover copy was given to me by my Maine friend Sheila (a fellow teacher) in 1992, introducing me to this timeless true story of Donn Fendler lost on Mount Katahdin at the age of 12 and his amazing tale of survival.

I was humbled to stand in the company of this great man.  We had a wonderful chat.  He, too, had come to love Maine as a youngster spending summers on a lake as I had.  I told him that I read his book aloud to my 6th grade students who loved it and asked me to re-read it.  Most of them then borrowed my copy to read it again themselves.  He loved that!  What a Mother’s Day treat it was to have him pose with me for a photo!  I was gushing!!!

My beautiful Sunflower bouquet

Time spent with one of my daughters is the best Mother’s Day gift of all.  Thank you, Jeanne, for this special time together.   And, a bouquet of my favorite Sunflowers (such happy flowers!) to top it off (along with a future date for Tea & Scones at Alice’s Teacup in NYC).  The bouquet is on the porch back home now on Bridgvale Farm, a perfect place to sit and enjoy them, reflecting on a perfect weekend.

After putting in a very busy week with Bright Spot Therapy Dog duties, the dogs and I spent a fun, relaxing weekend at home spending time with my two daughters, Jeanne and  Margie, Margie’s husband Jay Stebbins, and their English Pointer Moose, the famous FidoLoves dog.

On Saturday, the fabulous weather lured us to take an early hike along the Chesterfield Gorge.  I had been there just two weeks ago with high rushing water.  Now the lack of rain has resulted in low water levels prompting Moose, a water magnet, to take a swim while Jay, an amazing professional photographer, took photos of the photogenic dog who loves to strike a pose on cue.  After the hike, we just hung out back on the farm, the dogs playing together in the back hayfield.  Our dog Annie and Moose are great buddies, born on the same day, in the same year, the duo will turn 6 years this July.  The pair have been playing together since they were just a few weeks old.

When our company left, I spent an hour or so puttering around in the garden, planting a few new plants, doing some weeding, and some necessary watering.  The dogs hung out by the fence watching me work, lying in the cool grass.  I need to spend more weekends like this…  just relaxing, sitting out in the Adirondack chairs, chatting with family or friends.  A Great Weekend!

It was Annie’s turn for her spa treatment.  Bathing is a breeze for the dogs in our wonderful stainless steel professional dog tub.  The dogs walk right in.  They feel completely secure enclosed in the tub.  It’s especially good for our English Setter James who, at 12 years, has some stability problems due to weakness in his hindquarters.

Bathed one day, Annie jumped on the grooming table the next day to get a much-needed trim.  Annie is a lot whiter than Lily who is a dark blue belton English Setter.  Annie’s spots are pronounced while Lily’s are muted.  Positive and negative when standing together.  With Annie’s spa treatment complete, all three 0f our English Setters:  James, Lily, and Annie are looking well-groomed.  Bi-weekly baths and regular brushings will keep them fit until their next in-home spa day.

Therapy dog Lily will be heading back to her job as a Bright Spot Reading Buddy at Westhampton Elementary School (WES) in Westhampton, Massachusetts, on Tuesday after a week-long school vacation.  So, into the tub she went for a nice cleansing bath followed by a trim.  It has been about two months since her last trim and she had gotten a bit bushy (normally a slim girl, she was looking tubby due to the excess fur).

Lily is so cooperative through the entire process.  I actually break up the two procedures. Late in the day, I pop her in the tub, then towel her to dry.  The next morning, she gets trimmed.  If my clippers aren’t jamming, I am able to complete the trim in about one hour.  Lily just stands so sweetly on the grooming table for the clipping and scissoring – and of course, nail trimming.

Therapy dogs should always be clean and well-groomed when visiting.  After a week of fun out in the backfield spending hours with her pal Annabelle hunting for wild things on the hillside, therapy dog Lily is all set to step back into her role as a Bright Spot Reading Buddy.

While on school vacation this week, Bright Spot Reading Buddy Violet and I headed to the Chesterfield Gorge in West Chesterfield, Massachusetts.  This is one of our favorite places to hike. The last time we were there was late autumn.  The river was low with plenty of exposed sandy beach and rocks to play on.  The current was gentle, barely moving.  On today’s hike, the river was very high, as would be expected after all the melting snow.  The current was so strong, the river rushed by us with a thunderous roar.  There was no playing down on the bank of the river this trip.  We stuck to the gravel road, which makes for a pleasant stroll through lush woodlands.  We encountered a few patches of still-frozen snow and numerous mud puddles.  These, of course, attracted Violet.  She has a penchant for water and mud.

We walked in along the East Branch Trail for an hour, then turned to head back.  We passed a few people out to enjoy the warmth and sunshine of the beautiful spring day.  For the most part, though, we had the trail to ourselves.  By the time we reached the car, Violet was covered in mud.  Well, Bright Spot Reading Buddy Violet is on vacation, after all – and this is her favorite type of enjoyment.  She headed home for a bath!

photo from National Geographic

My dog James is the first one out the door with me in the morning for a pleasant stroll down to the end of the road and back.  At this time of year, the dog walk turns into a study in nature.  James is a dog with keen senses – a strong nose and listening ears.  This morning as we were quickening our pace due to strong wind and – burr – frigid temps (isn’t it spring?), James came to an abrupt stop.  His ears perked up and his nose was twitching.  He was the first to hear the birdsong, and to smell it’s scent.  He stood still-as-a-statue looking up into the trees.  Finally, I, the human companion, spotted what he already saw minutes earlier – a magnificent Pileated Woodpecker, the giant among Woodpeckers.  The two of us, dog and human, stood motionlessly watching this gorgeous creature tap away on a tree trunk.  Once the Woodpecker flew off, James was back into a trot, back to the business of his much-loved walk.  I know I would have missed that sighting had I been walking alone.

photo from National Geographic

We’re a good match, James and I.  Yesterday, I was the first to notice the striking Bluebird with burnt orange breast that had landed in a branch above our heads.  It was the flash of electric blue that caught the corner of my eye leading me to look up.   We’re both on the look-out as we experience the rebirth of nature.  As much as James loves his food, I do believe he cares more for these special walks he and I have together.  I know I do.  With today’s cold weather, it may not feel like spring, but clearly nature’s creatures know it’s here.

Beatrice – the Easter Bunny – was my first therapy dog.  The dog that started it all.  Because of Beatrice, I have spent my life – since 1992 – working with therapy dogs and founding a therapy dog organization dedicated to bringing comfort and caring to those in need through visits from trained, certified therapy dogs.

The American Kennel Club breed standard for English Setters states that the temperament of an English Setter is gentle, affectionate, friendly, without shyness, fear or viciousness.  Beatrice epitomized all of these qualities. Simply put, Beatrice was wonderful.  Our three daughters showed Beatrice to her Championship (Ch Chebaco Miss Louella Parsons).  With Beatrice, all three qualified to show in Juniors at Westminster.  For our family, she was our wonderful family dog.  And, for hundreds of residents at a local nursing, she was their dog every Friday afternoon where therapy dog Beatrice visited for nine years.

Beatrice loved attention – even when it involved dressing up as the Easter Bunny.  In honor of Easter, I pulled this c. 1995 photo from the archives.  HAPPY EASTER!