The Next Chapter in the Book . . .: Chapter 151: Fall Has Arrived!

One of our last beautiful mornings, I turned to corner to go to work and saw the mountain was out and the colors were beautiful. I stopped to take a picture from across the street while the kitchen staff drove past and wondered what the heck I was doing standing in the neighbor's flowerbed so early in the morning. Auto, a custodian, and the kitchen ladies are the only staff on campus at this hour.

We haven't been up to much this week so I really had to do some scraping to to come up with something. I know, I know. If I don't have anything to talk about then I need to be quiet. But my parents have come to expect a weekly edition so they are going to get one.

Since Bear is staying with us while Chris and Carissa go to Iceland and beyond, I gave Bear his new antler. Antler is the "new" dog bone and they are terribly expensive at the pet stores--about $30 for a 6" piece of antler. I got this one at a garage sale for FREE.

Nitro takes a sniff at the strange new thing that has just clattered to his basket when Bear went to the window to investigate something that went "bump in the night".

Bear spends a couple of days in a "power pout" after he has been dropped off here. I delayed the inevitable for a few moments by taking him to the bark park. He loves to go there and visit with the locals. As it turns out, he was not in the mood to be there so we didn't stay for long.

Since we didn't do much this week, and the only thing that's been happening around here is Bear, you are going to get a big dose of Bear on this post.

Bear likes to lick his wrist until he makes a sore. He's taking meds to heal it up so I didn't want it to get worse on my watch. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought baby socks and put one on Bear's wrist. I think it goes with him image real well. So a skull wristband looks cool on a German Shepard, but who'd want a skull sock on a baby???

The onset of the fall rain put us all in the mood for a nap. We announced it was nap time so Nitro and Bear staked out their real estate and left us to squeeze into what bed was left. It made for a "cozy" afternoon nap.

It all went well until Bear decided he had to get up and look at something outside effectively putting an end to Nitro's nap and any peace and quiet we'd had.

While Bear and I were on our walk, we saw this beautiful red bush. There are so many pretty colors out right now and they all seemed to happen right away. It must be the grey skies limiting the light that got everything started turning colors all at once.

Bear spends hours sitting at the window waiting for his folks to come home. He usually does this for a week or so, then slowly gives up. About the time he adapts, they come home and it happens all over the next time.

I woke up this morning crowded between Bob and ...something. I rolled over to see Bear on my side of the bed hogging my pillow. Really???

Rainy weather has arrived, and although it looks dumb, Bear's raincoat saves a lot of toweling when he comes back into the house. Unfortunately it doesn't do much for wet feet or his appearance. Carissa says it makes him look like a mailman. It's a $10 raincoat from the Ilwako Street Fair. You really can't expect too much.

Last week you read our stolen scooter saga. We took the little flatbed trailer and brought their lifeless carcasses home and Bob started working to bring them back to life. He's done an amazing job. The green scooter below has been resurrected from this...

...to this, it's original color. It almost looks like it used to. He had to remove several coats of paint and it will need new mirrors and has a few other missing pieces. Apparently the scooter had been painted a couple of different colors in it's short captivity. Since it had been used in a couple of burglaries, we think they painted it a different color after each one.

Although it's fall outside and all the outdoor flowers are gone, the orchid that Carissa gave me last year has come back full and beautiful contrasting with the fall colors and rain outside.

As if I weren't already well aware, this proves I am my father's daughter. I wanted to be able to check if Nitro was in the catio without actually looking. Since I can't see through the curtain and winterizing, I have to get real close to look inside. This always results in Nitro coming out and following me around and meowing. So armed with an aluminum can and an extra side-view spot mirror, I put together a way of looking into the catio from the kitchen window. Now I can spy on Nitro's whereabouts without him knowing. Thanks for the makeshift skills, Dad!