Kids and Dogs
(Well, kid and dogs)

I finally had the chance to get out of town for more than a few hours this weekend. The big deal was that I got to see my mother, who is eight hours away and so really can't be seen on one of my usual down-and-back one day dashes. But the pictures there were taken on film and I don't have them, so here are the pictures at each end of the trip.

I started by driving four hours to Norwich, Vt, which is basically White River Junction for those who know the area. Here's my youngest granddaughter, Johanna, with Destry and Ziwa. Her own dog, Scout, was somewhere in the area, but of course Grandpa's dogs were the novelty.

Dogs, however, are not as exciting as homemade ice cream, and when Mommy says you can lick the bowl, well, you can lick the bowl.

The spoon was primarily a prop, but it was good for getting into the corners where the face couldn't reach.
As you can see, the face reached pretty well, however.
Sunday, I drove down to Mom's in Mount Vernon, NY, about four hours from Gabe and Sarah's and had a nice visit with her, the first time we'd seen each other since I took this job, nearly two years ago. Then I drove back up another four hours to York Harbor, Maine, where my stepdaughter, Paige, lives with her husband Gene and their dogs.

Other people's dogs have pretty much stayed out of these pictures somehow. In this case, they weren't in the pictures because when I got up at 6:45 and took my two out in the back yard to feed them, I realized we were locked out of the house. Since we had intended to take a walk anyway, I decided we might as well just go ahead and then rouse the house when we returned if it hadn't roused itself by then. (Which it had)
The sun came up shortly after we reached the beach.
A little fill flash and you can see the doggy faces. They're only allowed on the beach until 8 a.m. during the tourist season, but that's plenty late enough. And, of course, low tide not only gives you the best running surface, but the best things to look at and smell. I don't think they were impressed at all by what was going on behind them, but I thought it was rather nice.

I also thought getting to see that much family was rather nice. Had good visits all three places and got home at noon and back to the office about 2 p.m. Monday so I could do a little editing and get things squared away to hit the ground running Tuesday morning -- the beginning of a short week that has just as much work as is contained in a regular one.

But a good start for such a week.