ALL ABOUT SHADE

Douglas;  we miss you, golden son

Shade's post card picture

I had to trick Happy into staying in the house this morning so Shade would have a chance to get to the truck first.  These dogs are like little kids at times.  Happy went to the lake the last two trips and I really wanted to be with Shade today.  She proved to be sensational on the boat.

I was working the lake in the afternoon today and would be travelling along the Holston River, my favorite area.  This is where the sandy beaches are.  I love to stop at those beaches for a break with Shade.  She loves the feel of the sand under foot and lets off a lot of steam running back and forth along the sandy shoreline.

She has grown more confident while on the boat and has become less intimidated by the sound of the engine when it throttles up.  No longer does she cower and hide at my feet like before.  She ventures to the bow and stands with front feet on the extreme edge and holds her head up.

When underway, her ears catch the wind and lift from her head.  She seems to enjoy the feel of the wind passing by.  This dog has never spent much time on a boat and has been very aprehensive about the experience.  She, only now, is beginning to accept the environment and finding joy in the ride.



A passing log catches her attention

She will even spend time at the rear of the boat now, beside the big engine.  That was taboo for her up until just recently.  I'm proud of her.


She moves about the boat freely without apparent concern.  I am delighted with her progress.  I would not, however, force her to be on the boat if she did not show happiness.

This beautiful friend has come a long, long way in the past month.

We had been riding water for four hours straight and needed to walk on ground.  I beached the boat on a nice part of the sand and just relaxed and drank water---lots of water.  It was hot today!  I tossed sticks in the water for Shade to retrieve.  She has only just started to really retrieve since the loss of our beautiful boy.  Shade is finally letting go.  Wish I could.

Get it girl!



What a good girl!



Bring it here girl

This beach is actually part of a farmer's field.  There are cattle that frequent the area and I can see old fence posts protruding from the ground here and there.  Most of them are many years old and have not been kept up.

There isn't much land around Cherokee Lake that is wild.  There are areas of little habitation but, for the most part everything is owned by somebody.  I really miss the wild places I knew back near Tellico and Calderwood.  But, it's nice here for the most part.  This lake is a job to me and it's a nice place or, maybe I should say an interesting place.

Shade was having a great time sniffing anything and everything.  She ran up and down the beach running off energy that was building while on the boat.  I needed to stretch my legs too.  7.5 hours is a long time to keep a boat running constantly.  Gotta have a break.

There was a beautiful field of purple flowers and I coaxed Shade to run through them.  I can only do so much with this little camera as it is slow to operate.  I did get a couple shots of Shade among the flowers.  Pretty neat!


Shade's post card shot



Ahh;  pretty girl



It's actually getting pretty late and I need to make one pass downstream on the opposite side of the lake before loading the boat on the trailer.  Shade is beat and probably will fall asleep on the way back.  Great dog!  Great friend and companion!  I'm proud of her.  Very proud.....

I've got to mention this fisherman I met today.  He had caught 16 largemouth bass in an hour.  He had none in the boat but elected to throw them all back in the water.  I thought;  "sure, right."  He could tell I didn't believe him.  As I was questioning him he said; "I'll catch three fish in the next ten minutes for ya."
I said, "I'd like to see that."
While I was asking him survey questions he yanked a largemouth bass out of the water beside a bridge pier.  As fast as he could get his line in the water he pulled out a second.  He repeated the action and pulled out a third as I asked the last question on the lake survey.  He then tossed his line back in and pulled out a forth.  Wow!  I took a picture of him holding up the fifth largemouth he caught.  What a fisherman!  In reality, the fish were schooling beside those bridge piers.  Never the less;  He knew how to fish.

The picture is fuzzy because a passing boat set up a heavy wake and I couldn't hold the camera still but, he is holding a pretty nice fish up in his right hand.  Heck of a nice guy, and knowledgable about fishing. 


Good by for now