A Day At The Beach Towel

Madeline thought it would be nice to lie out in the sun and read to her injured Roxy (she has a torn ACL) but Cooper was miffed that he hadn't been consulted. As soon as Mad spread the towel on the grass, Cooper nudged his way under it and curled up with no apparent intention of leaving. Mad regained custody of the towel and settled down to read, and Cooper sat down, too -- on the book.

Spring has sprung, fall has fell ...

Autumn has come, and thank goodness for sedum, zinnia, marigolds, chrysanthemum and Cooper. Hummingbirds and raspberries are sadly behind us and apples fall from neglected trees all over town faster than we can find and eat them. I've seen a chipmunk scoot into a wing of the sailplane that sits in my garden, and wonder if there is a village of them expecting to winter inside. Cooper sometimes parks his furry bum near the port, waiting. Warm days are numbered now. I wonder if Cooper will let me give him a good brushing.

Cooper meets Eddie

There's a new dog in town. His name is Eddie, and he's a ten-week-old golden retriever. Brenna was babysitting his girl, Chloe, so the three of them took a stroll down to our end of the cul-de-sac. Toby and Roxy (not shown here) were plenty excited about Eddie while they were in the house but didn't know what to make of him once they were outside. Cooper, on the other hand (who, let's remember, is actually pretty new to the 'hood himself), came out from his shady spot under Elisabeth's car to inspect the new arrival and, having stamped his passport, went back to his business of patrolling the grounds. Eddie was duly impressed, having no idea that he will someday soon be bigger than Cooper.

Cabin Fever; or Here Comes the Sun

Our days of late have been filled with combing the want ads and applying for jobs, activities which have become ends in themselves as the applications hurtle without effect into the ether. Luckily, it snowed a little today -- just enough to require some diversionary shovelling, yet not so much as to induce a coronary. After just a few minutes of this wintry activity who should appear but the huge, bright orange ball known as Cooper. We hadn't seen him in a few weeks, and judging from his heft he too has spent too much time indoors lately. We copped a quick squeeze before his Donna called him back inside. Soon it will be spring, old buddy -- just you wait.

Happy New Year from Cooper

Cooper enjoys the festive winter holidays. After all, what's a little snow when you've got fur like his? There are still birds to hunt and projects to investigate, even if the neighbors aren't as sociable in the cold.

Today Brenna decided to assemble Jack's hang glider in the cul-de-sac and Cooper stopped by briefly to have a look. Scott let him pretend he was flying. Then he waddled to the neighbor's porch where he arranged himself artfully amid their holiday decor. Happy New Year, everyone!

Fall Fun

It's a beautiful day -- the morning's ice has melted in the noon sun and there are a couple of hours to work comfortably outside sans jacket. Where to begin? Well, despite three prior rounds of leaf blowing there's a full yard's worth again, so I choose that task. Scott gets out the chop saw to cut wood to size for the shed. Who shows up almost instantly? You guessed it! The cat without whom no work can be accomplished: Cooper!

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