Telluride I’m going to miss you

 

 

Well it is time for us to pack up and head on back to Texas.  Owner’s foot surgery beckons.  Nervous? You betcha! What am I going to do while she recuperates?  There is little enough action  for a dog in The Woodlands on a good day,  and now I’ll be holed up with nothing to do and nowhere to go.  Oh well, once that foot heals, watch out world!  I know skate skiing is on her agenda and if she can learn to do that the world will be our oyster.  One thing about owner she never stops trying to learn new things.  Dancing? Yup, I heard her discuss beginner  ballet  class…surely to God she doesn’t mean LEOTARD!  Where’s my blindfold?

So as we pack up the condo, clean out  our refrigerator, hand over keys to Alice so she can keep an eye out for leaks from the upstairs apartment,  and unload old clothes at the Free Box for those less fortunate, I am reflecting on the things I’m going to miss over the next few weeks.

1. COLD AIR. Texas is too hot for me at this time of year. Humidity--I hate it.  No, I much prefer  searching for the warm spot inside the snuggly covers on the bed.  Chilly paws and nose make for great dreams.

Benj come home…I miss you!

2.  EXERCISE.  Just being alive means you are exercised in Telluride. Even though we have a vehicle we rarely hop in.  The first year and a half we were here we didn’t even own a car which was fantastic.  You can easily get in four to six miles a day just walking around without having a serious hiking agenda.  Texas….drive to Starbucks, drive to the grocery store, drive to your friends…..did I mention it is freaking HOT.

Dogs also stretch out after a good workout

3.  FRESH AIR. The air is so clear here that you just know it is good for you.  Of course we don’t have a lot of air pressure to get that good clean air into our lungs but eventually you adapt.  We will be sucking wind when we return and try to hike up the Judd Wiebe.  Every time we get  really and truly acclimated, we pack up and go back to Texas for some dumb reason, surgery say.   Fresh air, clean air, clear views is what it is all about here in town.

clear, pristine, perfect

4.  FRIENDS.  There is nothing better than heading out for an amble and suddenly Zak or  Shipper is in front of me waiting for a friendly sniff.  In Texas a lot of people pull their dogs away from me as if I’m dangerous. Texans are not big fans of dog sniffing.  Seriously folks this is not smart behaviour on the part of a human.   Us dogs are easier to handle, nicer to own, and better socialised when you let us up close and personal with other dogs’ behinds.  Duh!

 

If you read this blog at all you will know this is my good pal Shiprock!  Fellow rescued dog by fantastic owner woman he calls a Folly.

5. RIVERS AND WATERFALLS.  Yes, I appreciate beauty.  Perhaps  the colours I see are a little different than yours and perhaps I don’t see exactly the same view you do, but I get it.  Beauty is beauty.  Waterfalls and Rivers are more than beautiful, however.  Nothing beats being out on a long hike and suddenly a spray of water cools me down or a trilling spring offers up a fresh drink of water.  Oops, forgot, our Texas apartment has a fake waterfall complete with frogs.  I don’t drink out of it though.

spontaneous ephemeral waterfalls are the best

6.  APPETITE.  I have often lamented in this blog that I eat the same damn thing day in and day out and have done so for ten years now.  The good news is that in Telluride, unlike Texas, I actually have an appetite (see the reasons why…1 and 2) and so am able to stomach that dry boring kibble.  In fact (owner avert your eyes) I look forward to 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. when I hear JD Science Diet tumbling into my delightful “I Love Telluride” bowl.

My foster dog, Don…remember him.  Too young to know KIBBLE gets OLD after ten years!

7. KARAOKE PARTIES.  Call me weird but I like owner and Curly’s friends dropping by to sing.  I can’t sing a note but I can tap out a good beat with my hind leg.  I hear there is another choir event coming up some time in  November.  Yahoo Mountain Dew!

Yes, they look silly but it’s really fun!

8. DOGS COME TO DINNER.  Not only do owner’s friends drop by for supper but their dogs do as well.  Chloe has been by for some soup with Shannon, Lily rested her weary head on the dining room table when Eric came over, Moose slept quietly under the table the night Jerry and owner skipped out on their swimming lesson.  Ship and Zak…well they practically have their own honourary dog beds when they drop over.

 

Lily makes herself at home on the dining room table

9.  GARY AND YOGA INSTRUCTION.

Every Sunday I get a good chuckle! Nuff said, eh?

10.  SMALL WEASLY THINGS TO CHASE.   I don’t care what you call them: I love them. Haven’t caught one yet but I’m still trying.  These are more fun than Texas squirrels. They love to run in and out of the rocks along The River Trail.  They don’t just disappear up a tree and end the chase.

I want one of these so badly I can almost taste it.  These are “chips” right?

11. URINE AND OTHER STINKY SMELLS.  I know, you even find the word  “urine” disgusting.  I can’t help my fetishes; I’m a dog.  We love pee.  Bear pee, Elk pee, Chipmunk pee (yes, they do…how do you think I know which rocks they have been hiding in?), neighbourhood dog pee…You name it I love it.  I can sniff it, lick it, and best of all roll in it.  Add a dead and decaying animal nearby and I’m in absolute woofer heaven.  I have to be up and out really early in Texas to benefit from any messages left behind from other animals.  Sure, there are ducks and geese and other dogs in The Woodlands but there are also hundreds of men out keeping our sidewalks and pathways tidied, swept, hosed off.   Just like number 4 above,  involving dogs sniffing other dogs,  Texans don’t like any odours or rotting varmints lying around for dogs to roll in.  Oh woe is me.

My philosophy exactly!

12. HOME.  Telluride is home.  Everybody misses home when they aren’t there.  Hey owner…this time the bed comes with me.

 why on earth do I have all those towels all over the place?  what’s up with that?

When I get back to town the leaves will have turned and there will likely be some ice in a few of the waterfalls.   The first snowflakes will have fallen.  Snow won’t have arrived but that first  “take your breath away” childish moment of delight  for the initial flake will have passed. The first snowflake I catch on an eyelash or taste on my tongue won’t be one of the first to arrive in town this Autumn.  Why this makes me so sad I don’t know but it does.

Hang on Telluride pals.  We’ll be back.  Here’s hoping that owner will be better than ever.  Maybe she’ll be able to put on a pair of high heels for the first time in years. Can’t wait to see her navigate the streets of town in some of those.  See ya later.

Don’t Forget to tell your friends to find me on Facebook – all you have to do is type in Telluride Dog Blog and up I pop.  Thanks to a super nice guy in Wyoming and the help of an Animal Hospital from the same state I have a lot of followers now.  Join the crowd.