July 2023

July 3, 2023

My golden noodle received her summer cut today! (Her dippity-doodle-noodle-do!). Before and after shots below….

July 6, 2023

While it seemed to go OK for Gracie last year, this year the fireworks from nearby Wilson Farm Park were an ordeal for her. She barked. She cowered. And, completely uncharacteristically, she didn’t even want to go outside after the fireworks concluded. Thankfully, they are over for another year.

Gracie needed a good day.

So, one of the nice things about being retired is having the option to wake up and make spontaneous plans. Yesterday was one of those days. Given Gracie’s ordeal from the fireworks the night before, I thought, “why not take Gracie to the New Jersey shore today and introduce her to the ocean?” And that’s what we did!

I had read online about a dog park and a dog beach in Wildwood, NJ. That’s where we went! It’s about a 2-hour drive. On arrival, we first visited the dog park, which I spotted immediately by the 25-foot fire hydrant at the park entrance. In the fenced-in park, Gracie romped through the sand, chased other dogs, and sniffed canine scents to her heart’s content. Then we went toward the water where dogs were permitted, on-leash. We walked along the shoreline and, after her initial apprehension of the water flowing toward and receding from the shore, Gracie was soon eagerly stepping through small waves.

I think she loved the ocean! An adventurous time it was!

In retrospect, I learned a few lessons along the way. These are some things I will do differently the next time I decide to venture to the shore with my dog. (Or these are some handy pieces of advice if you decide to do so with your dog. You’ll thank me later.)

Get an early start. If you wake up at 7am and make spontaneous plans for the day, don’t putz around for 3 hours before starting out on your single-day trip to one of the most popular destinations on the East Coast the day after a holiday weekend because traffic will be ridiculous, and all the road work being done will happen to be on your route. And, as you may surmise, a late start might force you to return home at rush hour.
Make sure your dog relieves itself prior to walking on the beach. It’s pretty difficult to hide when your dog does weewee along the shoreline where multitudes of people are congregated within easy watching distance. And even though dog urine quickly dissipates in the gentle ebb and flow of the waters, it’s a lot more difficult to manage a full BM, which had me whipping out a doggie bag and frantically chasing broken turds as they began rolling out to sea.
Check and recheck a map before heading home. Preferably a PAPER map. (If you are reading this and are under the age of 20, ask an elder what this is.) It is a known fact that you CANNOT always believe what your GPS tells you. This is because GPS apps are designed for plucky youngsters who have 20-20 vision and are born with cell phones in their hands. They are NOT designed for us sight-impaired seniors who cannot read 2-point type and will assume that the home destination (conveniently and automatically entered by artificial intelligence) will be the CORRECT address and not some remote location in the northern Pinelands causing your trek home not only to coincide with rush hour in New Jersey but to extend to 3.5 hours. (But do note, in New Jersey, to travel westward from Point A to Point B, your GPS will take you east first, then south, then north then east again, through multiple circles, then west. This is, in the infinite wisdom of NJDOT, the most efficient route for the highway infrastructure. In this instance, your GPS is, surprisingly, correct.)
If your dog tries to climb out the car window on the way home, stop the vehicle immediately to let them relieve themselves even if you are in the middle the NJ Turnpike where I shouldn’t have been in the first place, but it was because of that blasted GPS. (Thankfully, the window was closed.)
Plan to get your car/clothing/house/everything you own cleaned after your fun-filled trip because your wet dog will roll around on the beach AFTER being in the ocean and your dog (and you) will carry copious amounts of sand everywhere for days.

You’re welcome.

July 9, 2023

New theory recognized:
Murphy’s first certainty principle of floors states that it is inevitable your dog will go outside and roll in something atrociously smelly immediately following getting your wall-to-wall carpets professionally shampooed.

July 15, 2023

Gracie and I got caught in a heavy downpour today at Lloyd Park. But not before she had a chance to retrieve tennis balls and frisbees from the water and race around the fields with doggie friends. We both came home thoroughly soaked!

July 20, 2023

July 25, 2023

One of the things I love about modern-day technology is being able to get a local hour-by-hour forecast. According to weather.com, today’s prediction was partially sunny skies until thunderstorms around 2-3pm. So, around 11 this morning, well before the rain would be rolling in, Gracie and I headed for Mount Joy in Valley Forge Park for a leisurely walk in the woods.

One of the things I hate about modern-day technology is that it is frequently WRONG. We had set out on the trail with sunny skies. But by the time we were about a quarter mile into the woods, heavy drops began falling. A few minutes later the sky opened up and we were caught in pouring rain. Must have been from that lone cloud over Valley Forge Park.

(You know, despite my many years working in the IT sector, you’d think I’d know better than to place so much trust in hi tech – especially a forecast. Mother Nature, I believe, will ALWAYS manage to evade mankind’s most advanced technical efforts. And while I’m on this mini rant regarding tech, I wonder – in today’s world of scientific marvels such as virtual reality, space stations, and robotic vacuum cleaners, why does it STILL take 3 hours slogging through multiple phone calls, a zillion phone trees, repeating my account number 50 times, and numerous attempts at translating foreign languages of customer service reps to resolve a $20 discrepancy on my Internet bill?)

I digress.

Gracie and I cut our walk short to Mount Joy. We turned around to come home. The trails had already turned to mud, and the rain continued to fall. We arrived home dirty and soaked. And to sunny skies.

(Below) Gracie on the trail today before the mud.

July 28, 2023

I had another condo board meeting last evening. This one was held on Zoom again, but Teresa joined me in my home because her computer wasn’t working. Gracie was beyond excited to have Teresa at our house. Gracie did manage be more subdued this time than last month’s meeting. (No disruptive grunting from Mr. Hippo.) She mostly sat with Teresa as Teresa showered her with pets. Until mid-meeting, during a Zoom conversation, Gracie let out an EXCEEDINGLY LOUD burp. I don’t remember that part of the board’s discussion at all because, following our pausing from the initial shock (“did that really happen??”), Teresa and I couldn’t stop howling with laughter. I’m sure the other board members didn’t believe us when we blamed the belch on the dog.

Photo below shows Gracie resting after the meeting.

July 31, 2023

Note to introverts: If find yourself at a party and you don’t know 90% of the people there and you are intimidated and feeling claustrophobic and you are stumped for conversation, ask the person next to you if they have any pets. If they say “Yes,” ask them if they have any pictures of their pet. I guarantee you they will immediately answer in the affirmative and whip out their cell phone to show you multiple photos of said pet. That stranger next to you will then engage in a prolonged explanation of each photo, pointing out each of the endearing traits of their pet. If other people around you also have pets, all those people will also pull out their cell phones and display their pet photos and a lively discussion will ensue with everyone exchanging their favorite pet stories.

If the person next to you does not have a pet, after your moment of trepidation, you can:

Say to that person next to you, “The weather is nice today.”
Ask that person next to you if they know where the bathroom is.
Turn to the person on the other side of you and ask them if they have a pet.
Go get a drink.

As an introvert, I discovered the pet angle is a great conversation starter. And now I’m one of those people whipping out their phones showing multiple pictures (in my case, thousands) of their pet. If no one has pets, well, I spend a lot of time in the bathroom.