I see friends shaking hands, saying "How do you do"

"They're really saying 'I love you.'"

Of course, that's a fine line of neighborly love expressed in "What a Wonderful World," from the American Songbook, notably and memorably sung by Louie Armstrong.

I was underground in Chicago, waiting for the Blue Line Last week at the Jackson Street Station.  Two guys were performing for tips.  The music was ok, but no one was listening.

The two changed their approach.  Out went the modern music and in came the beach classic, "Under the Boardwalk," and the crowd softened, and, if I'm not mistaken, the tip bucket started to fill.

After that inviting song, the two sang "Wonderful World."  This standard, like beach music, is simple enough to render in the cavern of the Blue Line El station.  A wonderful interlude, indeed.  Taken by the spirit, up stepped the gentleman in the photo below who thought he'd give a shot at mimicing Satchmo's matchless gravelly voice.  And then to the wonder of all, he did a credible job indeed.  Now there were some real smiles.  Friends greeting friends, saying "How do you do?"

Sure sign of summer

Larsen sprawled on the cool tile of the bathroom floor.

Hardware store

In today's world of big box stores like Home Depot and Lowes, you might not know of, or have long forgotten about, the neighborhood hardware store.  Such a store carried all manner of hardware, stacked to the ceiling in trays and bins and on shelves.  It may even have had yellow decaled footprints that (reminiscent of Burma Save) instructed "This" "Way" "to" "GE" "Bulbs".  Even your neat and tidy Ace hardware store is the city cousin to this country mouse.

This particular store, not far away, brags "Over 50,000 Items.  Many Hard to Find."  Does the owner know that, in truth, all of those items in his store are hard to find?

A patron examines the Dura Flame logs, next to the cast iron skillets and flashlights.

Light bulbs and repair parts for any electric lamp made between 1900 and 1950.

Time of giving thanks

Mayflower.

Thanksgiving.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to

"recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

(Credit to: wilstar.com/holidays/wash_thanks.html)
(set by Washington and revitalized in 1863 by Lincoln)

Change, but all is the same

Larsen at 2 months.

Larsen at 3.6 years.

Smoke

Our early morning walk was the first in ages where you could see the steam huffing from Larsen's nose.  The weather front that delayed all of those planes coming in from LaGuardia last night has brought with it a new season.

Day's end

Friday rush hour.  We fought traffic up I-75 and past I-575.  We finally broke free and reached the Civil War fields around Lake Allatoona.  

We hiked the shoreline and explored the woodland pathways.   Clouds of bugs settled over the lake, where the fish snapped them up.  Deer moved in the gloom.  Larsen melted into the woods for minutes at a time.  He returned frothing from his runs, his sides working like a bellows.  I sat him in the water until he finally cooled.  The heavy evening air can be too hot for a hard-running dog.

We headed home in the near-dark evening.  We drove through a heavy rain that finally broke.  We got home, and got Larsen watered, settled, and fed.

Then Larsen and I sat on the back porch and watched it get dark.

Larsen enjoys the day's end.

After Saturday's hike and swim at Lake Allatoona, the boys settled in for some he-man-style work hanging shelves in the garage.  Larsen watched as I measured twice, cut once, and still had one support board one inch longer than the other.  I tried, with fair success, to make sure that the cabinet was level in two dimensions (side to side and front to back).  Larsen was the ideal companion: amiable, interested, and uncritical.

Larsen does not mention that the support boards are of unequal length.

Thought of the day

Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence. So shall the life into which you have entered be the portal to one of eternal and ineffable bliss.

Thomas Jefferson's advice to a young person

It's not a dog, it's a cult

From the AKC---

Annual Registration Statistics
The annual registration statistics for litters and dogs for your club's breed are no longer published in the AKC Gazette. We realize the importance to parent clubs of knowing the number of AKC registered dogs and litters for breed analysis so the following three years of information for your breed will be included in this annual letter.
Annual Registration Statistics for Spaniels (Welsh Springer)


Year         Litters         Dogs
2009         38              168
2008         54              240
2007         67              248

I almost cannot reconstruct how I wound up with a little WSS, and while it is fun having a dog that isn't seen everywhere, I wonder if this is getting a little too esoteric.

The birth numbers seem below sustainability to me.  I had to physically run the numbers to convince myself that these births mean about 2,000 in the U.S. (assuming 10-year life) and fewer (certainly) than 4,000.  An overly-popular breed has its obvious downsides, but is the WSS breed in the U.S. doing ok?   If a breed is dropped from the Gazette's publication, does that indicate a lack of interest or support from the AKC?  What's it to them to publish some stats?

Spaniel inspiration for desk jockeys

While you are working at your desk, someone else is out teaching his spaniel to quarter and retrieve.



Boykin retrieving a quail.
Courtesy: GunDog Magazine



"Different breeds of spaniels have different methods of quartering and flushing game. Generally, Boykin spaniels, cocker and springer spaniels are very bold flushers who will sometimes catch the bird in midair. American water spaniels, Clumber and Sussex spaniels are more methodical and often have a softer flush. Some spaniels actually stalk and circle the birds rather than charge in. Whichever spaniel you choose to own, they are all a joy to hunt with when taught to work close to the gun."

Pam O. Kadlec, Hunting Quail The Spaniel Way, GunDog Magazine, May, 2008.

Overtones of summer

Suddenly it is 85 degrees outside.  The Rule of 140 is of more than academic interest.  Larsen and I played a little yesterday evening, and he soon found himself nosing around for some ice water and lying on the cool hearth in the family room.  Spring, with tones of idle summer.

Summer in the South
 The Oriole sings in the greening grove
As if he were half-way waiting,
The rosebuds peep from hoods of green,
Timid, and hesitating.
The rain comes down in a torrent sweep
And the nights smell warm and pinety,
The garden thrives, but the tender shoots
Are yellow-green and tiny.
Then a flash of sun on a waiting hill,
Streams laugh that erst were quiet,
The sky smiles down with a dazzling blue
And the woods run made with riot.


Paul Laurence Dunbar
(Dunbar was born in Dayton Ohio, and a high school, Dayton Dunbar, named after the poet always fields a great basketball team.)

Good Friday

Today is Good Friday.  There are important things to ponder, and duties as well.  But do take a minute to hug your sweet dog around his neck.

Another age

Red & white dogs from another age. Ready for the rough and tumble still.

Dogs of All Nations (1915), p. 36

***

Dogs and the hunt

Up to that point nothing happens in the country-side. The chains of sleep still weigh upon hunters. The beaters cross lazily, still mute and joyless. One would say that no one had the desire to hunt. Everything is still static. The scenary is still purely vegetal and therefore paralytic.