The Bradford leaves

The Homeward Bound Memorial Garden has a couple of trees whose leaves turn a vivid red and gold in the fall. I’m told they are Bradford pears. Every year I try to capture their glory but my results never seem to match the spectacular reality. It seem to me that the Bradfords are the last trees to fully turn and ultimately free their leaves. Sometimes events accelerate the process. The shot above was taken two days ago on Saturday. On Sunday we were visited by a storm and the tree now looks … quite naked. No, little tree it’s not a…

Max flips Scrappy

Max had to go back to the Homeward Bound kennels a few weeks ago because I ran out of room at my house when Marshall came. When that happens we watch to make sure there is no backsliding. Max was a little unsure of himself during a couple dog introductions recently so I’ve been wanting to bring Scrappy over to spend time with him. Max and Scrappy have played hard several times before so how they interacted now would be instructive. No problem! They played just fine for half an hour. But … Lori was there. You remember the story…

WPC: Demon eyes

A friend suggested I offer up Scrappy for this week’s photo challenge. You may have seen Scrappy in previous posts like this one. One look at him and it’s clear that his eyes are his most  distinctive feature. Scrappy wasn’t always the calm dog he has become today , and I’ll tell his story soon. It will suffice for now to say that some of the volunteers at Homeward Bound swore he had demon eyes. No so anymore; everyone that meets him compliments him on his beautiful eyes.

Iceland Poppies

A couple weeks ago I received an e-mail soliciting a guess as to what recently arrived at Green Acres (a local nursery). My response was “mistletoe”. Mistletoe is on my mind this time of year because I take full advantage of the license this tradition offers me. Good timing along with quick and stealthy moves provide opportunities I can only dream of throughout the year. But I was wrong. It’s okay though because the correct answer turned out to be: ICELAND POPPIES!!! Yep, capitalization and three exclamation points. Someone was excited about this. Of course, I was too. Iceland poppies grace…

Another Homeward Bound Alumnus Visits

Espresso is not just an alumnus of Homeward Bound. He also stayed with me for a couple months while he went through heartworm treatment and then was made available for adoption. He was named “Watson” at the time, and is one of those dogs that I would gladly have kept forever if that were possible. ‘Spresso, as I call him, is a tall, slender, extremely handsome fellow. He’s a little on the shy side but once he warms up to people they quickly become his best friends. He’s not the most confident of dogs so loud noises, sudden movements, and…