the Ranger and me

Phyllis Nash sent my mom a photograph of me at the Fort Clatsop National Memorial where Lewis and Clark spent the winter with their dog Seaman in 1805-06. We visited in May when my mom spoke as part of a series called "In her footsteps." The ranger who is holding me is Sally Freeman. She's a chief ranger sort of person and I got to go on the tour of the Corp of Discovery digs because she took me! That's her mom off to the side. She sent the photograph. And that's my dad behind the car and my mom, bent over scratching my face. I love to have my face scratched, right between my eyes.

My parents are home now. Yesterday they took me to the vet. I didn't really want to go but I'd met up with this baby porcupine while they were gone and Matt spent long hours pulling those quills but he couldn't get them all. A whole bunch were stuck in the roof of my mouth. Wroof! Wroof! is not easy to do when your mouth is full of quills.

My mom bought me soft dog food in a can! Wow. I could get used to that stuff but I won't. It'll put on weight. I'm down to 74 pounds now that's she's hidden the milk bones. I had a good thing going for awhile. But now I can't even chew one. I couldn't go out to help with the irrigating this morning for fear I'd get into another porcupine. So I howled in the yard and my mom took pity on me and leashed me up and we went for a walk. I couldn't pull her into the river though; she didn't want to take a swim and wouldn't let me either.

Oh, well. Tonight I get a bath because we're going to Medford and Bend for book signings and I get to go along but only if I have a shower. So if you're in Medford, OR on Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 at Evangel books or you're at the High Desert Museum in Bend from 2:00 to 4:00, look for my mom and dad and me! Wroof! Wroof!