early morning dog park
Song of the day: Neil Young, Out On the Weekend
jungle cat
Song of the day: Dick Dale and the Del Tones, Misirlou
Dogparks are for Running In. Or through.
Song of the day: Dion, Run Around Sue
sunday is always dog park day
Yesterday’s Phenology: Another summer day. High in the upper 80s, 90% sunny, maybe a bit humid, a tiny breeze. Water level on the Mississippi is very down, with lots of beach to walk on. Lots of wildflowers in the prairie are blooming, so says the weatherguide calendar, and I can verify, the small patch of “prairie” that I bike through is all abloom, very pretty.
Song of the Day: Arlo Guthrie, Walkin’ Down the Line
The Call of the Wild
Yesterday’s Phenology: A bit of a front moved through. Or something. Anyway it started raining in the early morning and rained most of the day. A good soaking.
Song of the day: Los Lobos, Will the Wolf Survive
did someone say dog-park day?
Yesterday’s Phenology: An odd sort of day. Upper 70s in the early early morning, and windy. Wind from the Southwest, but mostly from the south, didn’t seem to impede the westward bike ride. Sunny most of the day, and peaked at about 95, which is hotter than we like it. Clouded up in the early evening a bit, but nothing came from it, and the wind faded. A lot of lawns and grassy fields are starting to turn brownish, and some parts of the state are in early drought conditions. I guess a week of 80 degree sun will do that. Not so long ago there was more water than we knew what to do with, and Minnehaha Falls is still at full roar. Lots of birds hanging around the yard today, due to a number of filled bird baths.
Song of the day: the Lovin’ Spoonful, Summer in the City
dog park day: whole lotta sniffin’ goin’ on…
Yesterday’s Phenology: Another perfect spring day. Low 60s and cloudy in the morning when we went dogparkin’. this is not the best picture of Flynn, but it gives a good idea of what’s up at the dog park on any given day. Dogs being dogs. Everybody happy. Sun came out as we left dogparkland, and it warmed up a bit, upper 60s, low 70s. Lotta green now, and, as I mentioned, all the trees are blossoming furiously. Heard an unusual bird at the dogpark, but there are now enough leaves up in the trees that it was impossible to spot. More research is needed.
Song of the day: Michael Parks, Then Came Bronson. (Okay, not really a song, per se.)
Sunday (aka Dog Park Day)
Yesterday’s Phenology: A nice day. Upper 60s, perhaps, with hazy cloudy sunny sky. Mostly cloudy I guess. Tulips are blooming here and there, but not yet in our yard. Saw a young bald eagle sitting on a tree with it’s mother at the Dog Park. Mom flew off to find food. Eaglet looked annoyed.
Song of the day: the Beatles, It’s a Hard Day’s Night
One from the archives, may 2016, is there anything more funner than a game of chase? I don’t think so. Let loose the dogs of spring…
Yesterday’s Phenology: A perfect day. By that I mean that it was gray and gloomy overcast all day, temp in the low 50s, not much wind, and it started to rain a bit right after I got off work. Who could ask for anything more?
Song of the Day: Harry Nilsson, Me and my Arrow
One from the archives, September 2013, go greyhound
Yesterday’s Phenology: cloudy and cool to start, but then the sun came out, blinding the local populace, but warming things up a bit, i.e., mid 40s, perhaps? Little bits of snow dot the landscape. Flickers and cardinals are claiming their territories.
Song of the day: Joni Mitchell, Free Man in Paris
Tired dog
Yesterday’s Phenology: Well, we return to winter. About 4 inches of snow or so on the ground this morning, and, what with daylight saving’s time beginning, we are plunged back into early morning darkness. Such is life. Nothing lasts. The early morning snow was very good for displaying animal tracks, though, in actuality, it was only squirrels running from tree to tree. But squirrels are all right. They could be worse. The pond by work is all frozen over again and snow covered. And I had to dig the snow blower out after work to clear the sidewalks. But really, it was just a bit of a dusting. Can’t complain about 4 inches of snow in March. We’ve seen worse.
Beautiful big full moon this morning, in the dark blue morning sky. Kind of magical up there.
Song of the day: Duke Ellington, C Jam Blues
monday at the dogpark
Yesterday’s Phenology: Cold. Mostly due to the wind. Sunny bright. Got up into the low 20s today, but the wind brought it down by about 10 or so.
Song of the Day: The Shangri-Las, Remember (Walking in the Sand)
it’s a dog meet dog world
Yesterday’s Phenology: Winter wears on. Sunnier today, and cold, teens, with a steady breeze (in the 50 or so minutes I was outside.) A brilliant clear city night. Were those the Pleiades I saw up there tonight? A definite perhaps.
Song of the Day: Harry Nilsson, Me and My Arrow
“The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.”
Mark Twain said that. This is a good time to spend some time with your dog.
Yesterday’s Phenology: More gray damp somewhat melting weather. Got up to 38 today. Heard a woodpecker tentatively pecking a bit while on the morning walk. Saw it climbing about in the branches. He looked dissatisfied. Perhaps a bit early for real pecking.
Song of the day: Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son
house cat
Yesterday’s Phenology: Woke up to find a nice layer of ice on all the sidewalks and streets, which led to some very careful walking with tiny little steps and very gradual progress around the block with Flynn. A sunny cold and breezy day. Pretty moon in the sky in the evening, and, as is often the case on these clear cold nights, a lot of very bright stars. I think I saw Venus up there too.
Song of the day: Gustav Holst, Venus
very small sled dog…
Yesterday’s Phenology: Sunny. Cold. Slippery. Birds crowding at the feeder. Crows keeping an eye on everything. Cold.
Song of the Day: Loudon Wainwright III, Man & Dog
dashing through the snow…
Yesterday’s Phenology: Another day of changing climate. Mid 30s and grey, large pools of water filling the sidewalks and the streets, waiting for some subzero temps to become skating rinks. Ho Ho Ho! Took a brief walk in the woods, and not a creature was stirring. Merry Christmas!
Song of the day: Bing Crosby, David Bowie, Little Drummer Boy
winter is here
Yesterday’s Phenology: There was light snow falling all night, and so we woke up on Sunday morning to about 7 inches. It was a dry light snow, and quite beautiful. I take all the credit for this, as I had asked Max the day before, “Do you think we’ll be getting any snow before Christmas?”
Everyone out shoveling and snowblowing. It would have been a perfect day for cross-country skiing, but didn’t see anyone thus occupied. A good number of folks on fat-tired bikes, though. Everyone was busy digging out. The roads were very messy, but everyone seemed to be taking their time and being careful.
We went for a nice walk with the wee dog. It was a pleasant day, about 20 degrees, notalotta wind. Wee dog charges through the snow like a little motorboat; 7 inches of snow is about up to his chest. Colder tonight, and for the next few days, they say…
Song of the Day: Trip Shakespeare, Snow Days
dog park day
Yesterday’s Phenology: Okay. Winter is here. Officially. Temp got up to maybe 19 or so yesterday. Perhaps a moment of sun in the morning, and then back to the comfort of the gray clouds, like a nice flannel sheet covering us all. Tiny snowflakes starting to sift down in the late afternoon, like powdered sugar, and everything is dusted white at this point, as the temperature drops. The snow will continue, they say, through the night and through Sunday, and then it will turn colder. Yes; all the signs of winter.
Saw a big flock of something – starlings – flying east to west in the afternoon. Perhaps not organized enough to be a flock, but a lot of birds, barely visible against the darkening gray sky, silent and flying in bunches to the west. Where were they going? I also could hear geese overhead, but couldna see them for nowt.
Fresh snow is always good for animal tracks. This evening, walking Flynn, we saw dog tracks. Flynn was interested.
Song of the day: Tommy James & The Shondells – Crystal Blue Persuasion
black lab in the mississippi
Yesterday’s Phenology: Coolish, and mostly overcast. A bit of sun later. Typical early fall day. A few leaves falling. Things a tiny bit more colorful. The usual.
Song of the day: Chaka Kahn – I feel for you
dog-park day!
This is not a great picture, but it does represent the general idea of Sunday being dog-park-day, and how much Flynn enjoys it. As do we.
Yesterday’s phenology: Well, a pretty picture perfect fall sunday. Mostly sunny till late afternoon, not a lot of wind, which was good for the bike ride. The Touch-me-nots are ready to be touched. The sun set today at 7:17. Again, right on time for this time of the year. One of the more reliable aspects of phenology. Lots of raspberries on the bushes, and lots of bees also in the bushes. On my bike ride I did some calculations, and I figure we’re still about 95% green around here, with 3% yellow and 3% red. The red stands out a bit more than the yellow. I saw a blue heron (I think) standing along the shore of a pond while I was on my bike ride. He was fishing, and keeping a watchful eye on the pond and its approaches. I also rode by a hillside of Miscanthus all a-flower. (Pictures later.) All in all, not a big day for phenology, really, though I was out and about a good part of the day. Stopped on a bridge over Minnehaha creek, and noted just an occasional fallen leaf, aspens, I think, being carried down stream.
The political news is relentlessly depressing these days. But – on the bright side – it made me think of this song today while I was mulling and biking. Randy Newman – Every Man a King.
sunday: dog park day
Yesterday’s Phenology: Perfect day: 70 degrees, partly cloudy, light breeze. Took a long bike ride, and things are still 95% green. Cool night ahead.
the assertive dog
Flynn is an assertive dog. Here he is saying, “I know you want to go. But I’d prefer to stay a bit.”
We discussed our differences, and then we decided that we’d stay for a bit more. He raised some good points about the importance of cooperation in the relationship, and the validity of the canine perspective.
Yesterday’s Phenology: Another perfect Minnesota day. We’ve had several in a row, which is unusual for us. 70s, a few clouds, dry, a light breeze. A nice cool evening. We’ve had a lot of rain this summer. Almost 3.5 inches above normal for the month, and about 4 inches above normal for the year. What does that mean? Two things: mushrooms and mosquitoes. Both are proliferating. I’ve seen more and bigger mushrooms this year than ever before (that I can recall.) The mosquitoes are doing well also. Difficult to get a picture of a mosquito in flight. I suppose it’s been done, but I haven’t seen it, nor really care to.
