A MORNING WITH DOUGLAS

click on pictures to enlarge I finally got the yard mowed and the mower sorted out. The last problem with the mower was not a serious issue. It seems a dried piece of grape vine wedged itself up behind the transmission selector belt and dislodged it rendering the transmission useless. The guy at the mower shop layed under the mower while it was still on my trailer and got the belt back on the pulley after some tense moments and audible verbiage I can't repeat here. He had a tuff time of it. I said "what do I owe ya?" He replied, "oh thats alright; nothing." I reached in my pocket and fired that guy a twenty and said "it's worth it to me, and thanks." I haven't had time to spend alone with Douglas lately so I made time today. I somehow got Douglas through the yard gate without Shade and Happy charging through at the same time. We are now together on the Gheenoe at the bottom end of Tellico Lake. I decided to find a spot to beach the boat and let Douglas be a dog. This morning reminded me of my old TWRA days where just he and I shared a government boat all day long. Douglas was his old self on the point of the Gheenoe today. As we cruised the lake at full throttle; he stood tall at the bow with his muzzle high and his sensitive black nose constantly twitching, taking in all the smells wafting by him. His head would shift to the side when a fish would jump as we passed by. My photography today is primarilly of Douglas and the gorgeous mountains that surround this lake. The head of Tellico Lake will be congested with ski boats and beer drinking tourists. Jet ski's will be ramming into the wakes left by ocean size cruisers resulting in the lakes's surface churned into froth and turmoil. The water down here is too unpredictable with shallow, sand bars and under water obstructions for the large boats to navigate safely. The result is peace and quiet; for the most part. We are headed near Chota which is a sort of Cherokee Indian burial ground. I have written of Chota previously in this blog. I was on the water last night at Chota, floating just off shore with the engine off listening to Whippoorwills and Chuck Wills Widow's singing from the trees on shore. Chota has the largest concentration of Whippoorwillos in the U.S. I could identify fourteen individual Whippoorwills and I think eight Chuck Will's Widow's. The Whippoorwill starts right into his Whippoorwill song., clear and distinct. The Chuck Will's Widow's song is preceded with a quick "(chuck" sounding note. "(Chuck) Whippoorwill." "Chuck) Whippoorwill." It is a thrill to be in the presence of this unique chorous. Another unique characteristic is that they start singing at 9:30PM and not before. Quite a bird. And a secretive bird too. I've seen them flitting tree to tree, but never let themselves be exposed for observation. A kingfisher is making his displeasure known about the presence of unwanted guests. They are funny. Kingfishers are very difficult to photograph as they move about quickly, never sitting still for more than a few seconds. I've been wondering how many chigger bites I'll get after this little adventure today. As usual, I forgot my anti chigger spray. Oh well....... This little boat has been a wonderful craft. There is no need for a large, heavy, speedy boat for what I do. I can fish out of it; go camping in it; pull it clear up on the lake bank if I desire and load and unload it easily. The fuel economy is excellent. Douglas seems to like it also. He has been swimming for a half hour now, really enjoying the cool water which is 56 and 58 degrees at this end of the lake. It is hard to believe he is grown and a fine young, powerful Golden. I remember when he was just a puppy getting into things. He's my friend. The best..... The forest adjacent to the lake is open under the trees with little scrub to present difficult walking. I will walk with my boy awhile to give him a chance to investigate and search things out, as his breed love to do. I will look for photo opportunities and practice setting up pictures with varying depth of field settings. This camera is amazing. I've never owned one with so many capabilities. Douglas is getting a workout today. That is just what he needs. He will be tired tonight. Wonder what's up in the woods. Wow! This camera is amazing! I'm using a Canon 78 - 135mm Tele lens. The macro capabilities of this lense renders quite acceptable photographs. It is requiring experience to determine how close I need to be to the subject. All in time. The vine wraps itself around the tree and remains with it until the tree succumbs to some catastrophic event that kills it. Here we see a tree that has fallen and the ever present vines continue their relentless grip even after death. Sort of like humans who just can't let go of a loved one after they pass on. Humans just won't let go. Or maybe I should use the IRS as a better analogy. OK; I'll stop... I saw a little critter dodge into a hole in the ground. It may have been, and probably was, a field mouse. But he has a great little home; and a lawn, by the looks of things. Bet he doesn't mow. I always liked pine cones. Douglas is starting to tire. The water is cool and the hot sun is feeling good to him as he dries out. I'll let him swim a bit longer and then dry off as the Gheenoe speeds down the lake. "OK boy. Get in the boat" Where is he? "Douglas! Douglas! Come! Oh, there you are." "Come on boy; get in the boat." He's a tired little boy. Dreams of chasing squirrels. The lake is a grand place to view nature. It provides avenues for investigation that the road and wheels can not offer. Much of the shoreline is untouched because nature has created strong defenses against intrusion by installing dense growth. The varied types of trees, shrubs, bushes, flowers and mosses create a perfect habitat for the myriads of creatures that rely on this thick diverse foliage for food and shelter. Humans, being lazy, will not try to encroach on this thick mess of green, but will seek more open, easier places to frolic and create trash. Boat ramps are a great place to see how humans respect the natural world. Oops; getting onto a rant. I am keeping the boat at half speed as we travel back to the truck. The morning is beautiful and the shoreline is underscoring that statement. I'm not sure where the roses come from in the wild but I have a opinion. Before TVA and the Federal Marshals confiscated the farms and homes that are now under water; an abundance of flowers were, no doubt, flourishing at homes and along property lines. I'll bet these roses went wild. They may be survivors of a time past. Wherever they come from; they are wild and they are beautiful. I never take this beauty that is Tennessee for granted. No matter how tuff the day is or how frustrating a situation proves to be; these lakes provide a soothing withdrawal from that whithering place filled with humanity. Can you find the bird in the snag? He's just a little guy. So on down the lake we go. The morning is just about over. Douglas will be wanting to lay in the coolness of the room. Just as we approached the take out place; we saw a couple in a pair of kayaks. I found them interesting folks to talk to. These were fishing kayaks and were of the "sit on top" variety. The lady said they weigh about sixty pounds each. Too much weight for me. But they do look interesting. One thing I do like about them. They're quiet. Thats it for today. I hope you found something of interest in this mess that's called a blog. Douglas says goodby for now.

MOWING BLUES (THAT WOULD BE DARK BLUE)

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE So, here I go again. Three weeks ago I got the ol zero turn mower out and commenced to mow the almost four acres I'm responsible for. I get about a quarter of it done when the engine lost power. It almost wouldn't turn the blades. Back home I drove to hitch up the trailer and load up the mower. Of course this is a day off work. Now, to drive the sixteen miles to Lenoir city where the small engine repair shop is. The guy says "it will be awhile till we can get to it. Maybe couple weeks." Great! Nothing I can do. Three weeks later and about six torrential downpours I went to pick it up. That was two days ago. It poured rain yesterday. But, today was overcast and cooler. I drove up the hill and fired up ol reliable. I had to raise the deck to cut the grass high as the lawn looked like a hay field. It was a foot and a half in some places. The wet grass packed tightly under the deck and I had to stop frequently to clean it out. The blades were evidently bent as there was a slope effect across the expanse of grass I had just cut, exactly the width of the blades. Off I went to Maryville, sixteen miles the other direction, to buy new blades. Once back on the hill with the new blades and thirty minutes after that, I was mowing again. Fifteen minutes into the job; the mower simply stopped forward motion. The engine was running perfectly. Now what! No reverse either. Back to town I went to hitch up the trailer. It was practically impossible to load the thing myself and it had no forward motion. I had to lever it off the lawn and into the trailer with a two by four. I had to finish the mowing of the main yard. Another couple days of growth and a bush hog would have to be rented or a company would have to be called in to mow it for the owner. The owner, incidentally is out of town on a trip. Out comes the ever reliable Snapper self propelled walk behind mower. I walked behind that thing for three hours until I had the yard in front of the house done. The zero turn is on the trailer. I will take it back to the engine repair place in the morning. Of course that's my day off too. I wrote a piece about my thoughts on mowing and lawns in this blog a few weeks ago. This goes hand in hand with that writing and reinforces my belief about mowing grass. Lawns and lawn mowers are money pits and an absolutely total waste of time. To follow that machine around an area covered with weeds, or ride on one of those damn things is a mindless adventure in futility. The weeds (grass) will simply grow tall again. Whacking weeds down close to the ground and calling it grass is senseless and expensive. Look at my situation here. The first problem this season costs $70.00 labor and about $15.00 in gasoline for the truck round trip to haul the thing back and forth to and from the repair shop. Then I had to buy blades for it as the others were bent. There goes $56.00. Then theres the $6.96 each spark plugs I bought and installed when the engine lost power. And here I go again back to the engine repair place to fix what I think is the hydrostatic transmission. I believe we've used seven gallons of gas so far this year mowing the damn stuff which is about $19.00. That should add up to about $172.00 so far this year just to whack weeds into grass length. And of course the mower cost around $3200.00 when it was bought three years ago. It's nuts! And this is a lawn that is in the middle of 40 acres on top a mountain that no one can see. The tragedy is that the mower is broken again and I bet it will have a hefty service repair bill. I guess the bottom line is; (see below) Which engine would you rather be messing with on your day off. Photo A or Photo B. PHOTO A PHOTO B

FAREWELL TO A FRIEND

click on the pictures to enlarge Tonight is the night that Tommy, the Irish Setter, would meet his new parents. They drove in from Maryland to pick him up and take him to his new home. I have never met them but I heard they are wonderful people who adore Irish Setters. Their Irish passed away recently of old age. I'm sure Tommy will have a splendid life with them. I hope he can learn to contain that Irish Setter puppy attitude of his. He is, after all, only about a year old. He's a gorgeous boy. I always find it hard to see one of my guys leave me. It's a weakness of mine. Maybe it's because I interact so closely with each one of them. We all share the same room and I get to know each personality intimately. Tommy attached himself to me immediately. He was apprehensive of the other dogs he would be living with and would use me as a buffer between him and them. It is always difficult to see a new family member run the gauntlet, (find his/her place in the pack hierarchy). Douglas, the Golden Retriever, is the main guy back here, next to me, and he brutal with a new addition to our numbers. Such was the case with Tommy. Douglas was unrelenting in his chastisement of Tommy. I think that is due to Tommy's size; Douglas viewed him as a threat. But no harm was done and Tommy became friends with each of the other dogs. Douglas never warmed up to him. But Tommy got to my heart immediately. He practically glued himself to me when I was home. If I was in a chair; he would lay across both my feet. He would sometimes sit beside my chair and lay his chin on my knee and stair at me and make chop, chop sounds with his mouth. Tommy would never lick me or anyone. He would make the smacking sounds with his mouth without sticking his tongue out. A sweet boy. He is total affection. It is plain that he needs what I can not give him. Tommy needs a human who will focus on him and him alone. I can not do that. I have others who need me. My attention has strayed from Douglas over the past two years and he has become aloof with me. We are still partners but something has been lost with the coming and going of so many other dogs. Tommy needs to be in the woods and the fields. I have been afraid to take him with the gang to the lake because I couldn't trust him to stay with us and I don't have the time to train and work with him. Thats not fare to him. At night he would jump up on the bed to be with me and I would keep putting him off due to his size. He would then sit and stare at me. I always have a flash light that I put under the pillow for potential mid night problems and when I would shine it on him after kicking him off the bed; I would find him still sitting there staring at me.. He got to me. All I had to do was say "ok, come on up Tommy." He instantly hopped up on the bed and lay down behind me. He loved to put his head against the back of mine. Of course that means he had half the pillow. Look at the photo above. Sweet dreams! So, you can see how these sweet dogs affect me. I guess my problem is how I view the circumstances of their stay with me. I know they will be moving on someday. And I know they will receive loving, caring parents who will nurture and care for them forever. But I have this incessant thought process that keeps telling me that "you've gained his trust and devotion and now you are sending him away." It's a feeling I can't get rid of. I become too attached to them. If they lived in a fenced in yard and stayed out there it would be different I think. But it's not that way. They gather about me each night and stay close to me; watching me; wondering when it is they're time to receive the scratch behind the ear or the ultimate; a bear hug from me. Tommy loved two arm bear hugs. He would bury his face in my neck and make those smacking sounds with his mouth. Tommy was picked up awhile ago and taken to his new parents. They will stay at a friends house with Tommy for the night. I have been invited to meet them but I would have to say goodby and walk away from Tommy. I've cried over too many dogs and I would cry for Tommy also. And in the morning, Tommy will be on his way to Maryland and his new life. Our paths probably will never cross again. He has gotten into my heart as many of them have. But Tommy's very special. I sometimes expected to hear him speak to me. I've known sweet dogs but none sweeter than you, Tommy. Tommy, Tommy; you're causing my throat to tighten up and you're making it difficult for me to see to write this. Farewell and good luck to you sweet one. It's been a privilage to be able to help you. And Tommy; as much as I love you, and as much as I'll miss and think of you; please understand that another has come first and his paw prints have left a forever impression on my heart that can never be replaced. We know who that is. Farewell sweet one. Farewell.....