Posted on

The Pure Joy of a Husky Seeing Snow for the First Time

Or, What I Did the Day that Bowie Died…

If you’re anything at all like I am, you need reminders of happiness and simple joy right now. The loss of David Bowie has had an unexpectedly profound effect on me so this is a gift to myself and hopefully, to you.

We don’t get much snow here in San Diego but in a stormy winter like this one, you can drive an hour from the beach and be in snowy mountains. An extreme juxtaposition indeed! Geez, I really hope you gardening folk like photos of dogs, because you’re about to get an overload of them!

My girl Sasha is a husky-lab mix who has never ever seen a single snowflake in her short life. An unthinkable scenario given her breed. The song of her ancestors sings to her of the cold blue biting blindness but she has no frame of reference. I imagine her soul was sick as a result.

Well, no longer! Because for Sasha, das wunderhund, Winter has come! She was so excited and amazed and confused she didn’t know how to handle herself. She’d dart in one direction, freeze, spin and then flop around burying herself into the snow.

Here she is in a gleeful sprint. Just look at that face!

Sasha's First Run in the Snow.
Sasha’s First Run in the Snow.

And she wasn’t alone, she had her two friends with her, Noe and Edie. It was another dog party up on Mount Laguna, part of the Cleveland National Forest. Here’s a whole mess of photos from our delightful day…

Diamond Dogs 03_Three dog night
A Three Dog Night (Well, day).

It was good for all of us to see snow again. Being from Buffalo, I have a love/hate relationship with it. That is to say, I adore hating the snow. I’ve been served three lifetimes worth of it and am quite content not seeing it anymore.

At least that’s what I thought before last Sunday. But after seeing the dogs romp and play, building a monster snowball and being foolishly challenged by my girlfriend into a snowball fight; I’ve come around. Sorta.

Actually, I’m not sure Nury challenged me outright. Perhaps with her eyes she said, “Have at you sir!”

Either way, challenge excepted!

Oh, there was also a moment where old aunt Edie thought that Sasha’s face was edible (Thanks for the image Nara).

edie-eats-sashas-face

I find it slightly poetic that while one of my heroes was slipping away into the East coast evening, my adorable girl Sasha was having one of the most mind blowing and amazing experiences ever. As one door closes, another opens. It’s been over a week and I still find myself trapped in the grip of melancholy. I spent two hours last night looking at images and video of all my lost glam rockers (Mark Bolan, David Bowie, etc.). If The Universe takes away Brian Eno, I’m not gonna play with it anymore. Looking at the photos above really helps me to shake that feeling. I hope it also gives you a smile and some much needed perspective.

“The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”

-David Bowie 1947-2016

Posted on

A Weekend Getaway in Cleveland National Forest and Mount Laguna

We took a much needed break from all things work related this weekend up at mount Laguna nestled in the Cleveland National Forest. It was brisk and windy and absolutely gorgeous. The trails that wound around completely dried up lakes looked like grizzly country and it was exactly what the doctor ordered.

Mount Laguna_Cleveland National Forest_01
Trail map of Cleveland National Forest

I had an extremely rough week at work. Very bad, yet expected, news that had left me in a tail spin. I’ll spare you the details as there are many things in the works now as a result that I am not ready to announce publicly. I’ll just say that the winds of change are blowing at my back.

I found myself feeling melancholy and stoic and pooped and demoralized the last few days. But as fate would have it, arrangements had already been made to get the hell out of Dodge. So off we went. Just a simple two day car camping trip that proved to be exactly what I needed.

I’m keeping this post brief as I am breaking the rules right now of doing nothing constructive this weekend. I just wanted to share some of the photos with you wonderful people as I could use all the love and support I can gather right now and you guys are just so damn groovy and always cheer me up. So here’s a grip of photos…

That’s it folks. Apparently I thought it best to not take any photos of the first day/night and opted instead on imbibing in libations of the whisky and scotch variety. So even if I had taken photos, I’m sure they would not be appropriate here. I will say this though, having six inches of down and wool blankets in the tent during last nights chilly weather made for a cozy way to sleep off any chance of a hangover so I rose early this morning to fry bacon and ply myself with coffee.

These are all from todays hike. It was a wintery day that I don’t get much of here in SoCal. I found it suit my mood perfectly and took as many chances as I could to sneak off to sit and think and then not think at all. Just watch the trees sway in cool winds and the stretches of grasslands to whip and swirl as cheeks grew rosy and heavy hearts were lifted to matters beyond timeclockery and meetings and parking and traffic and shitty news.

Now I find myself warm and cozy with only the slightest hint of dread. Seeing the late Sunday clock move ever forward, marching towards my inevitable Monday doom. Much love, dear reader, for all your support and kind words. You bolster my sorrows and keep me chugging along. When this all blows over, we should all go camping together.