Zoo Stories

I bought Kaia a new Wolf Pack this week, so she can start carrying her own food and water on our trips. I had to order the pack, since the only place in town that carried them was out. I was impressed with the customer service of this small company and with their expedient processing of my order. The pack arrived from Oregon three days after I placed my order- nearly record time for Ester!

I picked out the Banzai style pack- Kaia is a small dog, so her load capacity is small enough that I wanted the expedition style for most purposes. On really short hikes, I can always carry her snack. I'm sure I'll have updates as to the quality of the product, but I am impressed so far. The pack hardly shifted at all during our first field test.

We're all happy to have the sunshine back. A few weeks ago, I noticed that we could actually feel the sun's warmth. Annapurna has taken to sitting in the window, where she can bask in the direct rays. Our temperatures are colder than they should be at this time of year, but I think the blue skies make up for it. I'm not the only one who feels this way. I think my puppies have expressed it perfectly:

Kaia is our snowbaby. She loves to snuffle in fresh, white powder.

Annapurna, hunting bugs by lamplight.

It was a good night to be a dog, and a good night to be a person. Fall is hanging on, and the dogs and I walked on the trail. I saw a ruffed grouse, but no one else did. Kaia was busy sniffing at the place where a moose bedded down, and T.J. was busy eating grass. He may be a Labrador, but we've never claimed he was a birding dog!

We came home and cuddled together on the couch, until I decided that 56 degrees is actually not a normal temperature for a house (or a cabin). I admit that I was largely motivated by the poor cat when I disrupted our snuggle session to start a fire in the woodstove. She was puffed up as much as her short, close coat will allow, even curled up on top of the receiver for the television. (It's her favorite winter spot.)

It was also a good night to be a Ken. He spent the evening outside with apple cider (not the kind in jugs... the kind in bottles), tools, a big old Ford, and a friend and neighbor. He had good conversation (reminiscent of sushi economics?), a warm and fuzzy buzz, lots of laughs; and he came in to a warm fire and some really happy dogs.