Walking the Dog

Our dog’s name is Skyeball. At the shelter where we adopted her, she was called Skye probably because she has one bright blue eye. I modified the name slightly to Skyeball to reflect the fact that she had one blue eyeball and the fact that she was a ball of energy.

She had been to the shelter twice by the time we adopted her. She is a smart dog but she has lots of energy and some major issues with impulse control. I think the previous folks might have gotten her because she is a pretty dog but when she started digging in the yard and escaping to run the streets, it was too much.

We have to keep her on a run which is not the ideal situation. In a perfect world I prefer to let dogs go free. Unfortunately in our world we live right on Highway 20 and there are a lot of people who drive very fast and very crazy on this highway, especially in the summertime. Since I was twelve years old, I have only had two dogs that died of natural causes. The rest were killed on the highway.

As a mitigation measure, I try to make sure to walk her at least a mile every day. Sometimes I will walk her twice. The usual route goes through the woods behind the pasture and out under the power lines to the back gate of the Stump Farm and back.

I have Skyeball trained not to chase deer and she is pretty good about not harassing other wildlife but I don’t take her into the backcountry on long hikes. This weekend the Sunday walk which included Sacha and Vashti stretched a little further into about three miles. Sunday was also the first wedding anniversary for Sacha and me.

I know the post is titled walking the dog but this was one of the many things that I did this weekend, including some minor repairs on the farm pickup's clutch, before I walked the dog.

All done. The Big Maple is in the woodshed and will be ready to heat the house next winter. Mark Twain, I think, said "Cut your own wood and it heats you twice." This tree has warmed me several times over already!

I figure this to be about three cord though I forgot to measure it.  I usually don't measure how much wood I cut in a year. If the shed is full and I have enough for the winter, I call it good.

Now to the subject of the post. This is Skyeball the dog.

This is Skyeball's house. The recently trimmed grass is hiding the craters she has excavated. The bare soil and the few visible holes give an idea of the extent of the devastation. This area is much too uneven to mow.

On the loose and heading for the trail at the back of the pasture.

Through the woods.

On this walk my wife and daughter came along. It was our one year wedding anniversary. There is a lot of family history in this photo. This is the Seattle City Light transmission right-of-way. It also used to the railroad grade. My dad was born in a cabin near the furthest tower just visible in the photo. My Aunt Betsy who died of diptheria at age 9 is buried near there also. When they weren't working, my dad and aunts and uncles ran around here as they were growing up. They managed to dodge all the trains with a few close calls (My Aunt Nora plucked my dad off the tracks just in front of a train. It was so close that the engine tore her skirt off as it passed by. This engine was probably Old Number 6 which is now sitting in Newhalem as a tourist attraction.). My dad spent much of his career with Seattle City Light working under these transmission lines. He never got to see his granddaughter but she looks a lot like him. 

On the move along the right-of-way. This is also the route we use to move the cows. Most of the time Skyeball and I turn around at the back gate to the Stump Farm. Last year I saw a cougar right about here. This was the first I have ever seen on foot, though I have seen quite a few from vehicles on the road. 

This day we went further up the road and up an old fire trail now used for recreation.

The turn around point. Another of my family's old haunts. 

Nap time. Vashti didn't quite make it back before falling asleep.