I spent most of the morning trying not to get out of bed…anybody else ever have that kind of Monday? Actually, I was waiting on a call from Michelle to see if she needed any assistance this today, and she was obviously having that kind of morning also. But that’s to be expected with four kids! I finally went on over to the lab and started checking nestboxes for eggs and preparing to feed the ones that I knew she wouldn’t be filming. She filmed a few…then her camera went nutso, so we called it a day.
Our discussion class today included a panel of graduate students who were discussing the power of grants – free money that you have to work hard to get. Finding and applying for grant money is a key to financing that post-graduate work, so they were sharing experiences and passing on tips on becoming a successful grant writer.
After that, I went to grab a bite to eat and was debating whether or not to go over to the library lawn to check out the dogs. I thought, since it was still 95° at 7:00, there might not be too big a crowd, but I was desperate! I got my doggie treats and headed out. Fortunately, it was not as hot as it would seem and most of the lawn was shaded by then, so I was not to be disappointed – there was a crowd already playing and rolling and chasing and just having a big-ol’ time (that’s Southern for FUN!).
Boomer remembered me! Boomer is a border collie – a very smart and energetic breed – and he knew I had treats! He already knows a lot of tricks, so we were working on “off”, which is the same as “leave it” but shorter. He hadn’t seen me in two weeks, but he knew he wouldn’t get the treat until he turned away from it…which I could tell was really hard for him to do with the crowd that we were drawing. But he did. I got a facial and he got treats – sound like a good trade?
And then…I looked out across the lawn…and there he was! A big, beautiful fawn standing
Duke
down he went. But he had caught the eye of another. Justice, a 7-month-old Rottie, fell in love and just had to flirt with him, teasing him, until he couldn’t resist her charms. I had never seen Justice this interested in another dog, and her owner confirmed that this was indeed a first – Justice usually sought out human contact. And off they went! for about 5 minutes…. That’s one of the advantages of owning a Great Dane – it doesn’t take them long to play out at full steam, so he was back to lying in the shade very shortly. Finally, after 3 1/2 weeks, I had my Dane fix!