Lambiedog

Navigating the bluff's subtle social winds

Friday afternoon I went over to the bluffs hoping to find a good time. 

The in-crowd ignored me.  Of course.

Rebuffed, I went over to see instead what was happening with Eddie.  His owner was holding out her hand to him.  Something was going on. 

It occurred to me that she might be offering a treat.   I leapt up to see whether there might be some to share.

How embarrassing -- I had misread the situation. 

Eddie's owner wasn't holding out a treat, but, rather, pointing her trigger finger, as in "Bang bang, you're dead."

Eddie ignored it for a while, but finally he slumped over and cooperated.

Sunset

A hare's breadth

 
 

Relic

    After years of nosing around the bluff, the wonder is that there's always something new to find. 

Near the Berman-Yoshpe bench, I found a geodetic survey triangulation disk from 1988.

 

  Where there's a triangulation disk, there should be reference disks not far away.  Something new to try to sniff out.

I fancied myself in the Himalayas

Alien visitation

We were all minding our own business when the UFO appeared.

  It swooped toward me as I was pooping, then backed off.  Apparently it wanted to avoid conflict.

Fine with me.

 

Live and let live, I say.

Stirling bench update

 

The Stirling bench at the bluffs has been recently upgraded.  It turns out that this is in response to the November death of patriarch Norman Stirling.  The Palisadian Post obituary of Dr. Stirling referenced the bench improvements:

Many years ago he donated a bench on the El Medio/Asilomar bluffs for the people of the Palisades to enjoy the remarkable ocean views. This bench will now be updated with a plaque in his memory.

The obituary noted that there will be a memorial service for Dr. Stirling on January 19 at 2 pm at St. Matthew's Episcopal Church. 

From the obituary, I garnered more information about Dr. Stirling than I'd been able to turn up for my earlier post about his family's bench:  He was a dermatologic surgeon, a sailor, a gardener, the father of three daughters, and a member of the Optimists Club who walked in the annual Fourth of July parade. 

The family (or Parks Foundation?) has done a beautiful job on the updated bench, which sparkles on the bluff in tribute to Dr. Stirling's memory.

Life after illness

    Now that I'm on the mend, I'm returning to my old life.

Much is the same:

  -Gorgeous sunsets

  -My unchanged need to launch myself vertically should my owner ignore me while socializing.

 
    Yet, in the food and fun department, there's an unpleasant new rigor.

I'm receiving tiny, boring meals multiple times a day, in deference to my delicate digestive tract.  Further, the snacking situation is terrible.  They've outlawed all treats, on doctor's orders.

Worst of all, my rawhides have been hidden from me.  My family used to be great at noticing when I wanted to play Fetch The Rawhide, or Chew the Rawhide, and at helping me to find my rawhide when I misplaced it.  Now they're pretending they don't notice what I'm trying to communicate. 

How could they be so obtuse now when they've been so empathic in the past?

They throw my mallard and I run after it dutifully, but it's just not the same. Mallard ≠ Rawhide.

What sort of dog am I really?

It's rare that one is required to so baldly delineate oneself. 

Am I a runner or a walker?

These are the times that try dogs' souls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                      The key thing is to act confident about your decision.

Bad news

    Augie died over the summer. 

Along with Bennie, he's been a loyal companion to Dale, and a constant bluff-goer for many winters.  We always knew winter had started when they'd come back to the bluffs -- the seasonal inverse of swallows returning to Capistrano. 

He was a good guy, and an enthusiast.  He will be missed.