Posts by Hank

***COUNTDOWN:  5 DAYS TO LA/XC-6*** Yay!  Finally!  After 16 years of dog ownership — 11 with Ricky the Beagle and 5 with Kemba — I’ve won my first battle of wills!!!  (Obviously, if this was ever going to happen, you knew it would have to be with my eager-to-please, up-for-anything red duck dog…

Okay, yes, yes — the real Aesop’s fable is” The Ant and the Grasshopper.”  I know that.  And my fable, I have to confess, turns on a rather major misconception:   I actually thought it was illegal to kill a praying mantis. Just a little background for my story.  Many of you know how my wife feels…

* * *COUNTDOWN: 77 DAYS TO LA/XC-6 * * * You thought my days of cross-country-road-tripping-with-dog were finished, right? Me too. The fifth and final journey — or so I assumed at the time — was LA/XC-5, back in the fall of 2016.  I figured it was a wrap after that one, for a bunch of reasons.  1…

Big dogs and little dogs. Black and white dogs. Don’t get too wet, black-and-white dog! Four dogs down in the water. One dog up on a paddle board. Dogs at work. Work, dogs, work! Dogs at play.   Play, dogs, play! There they go. Look at those dogs go! What are they going to do? Where are those do…

For whatever masochistic reason, I find myself from time to time thinking morbid thoughts about how I’ll feel when Kemba, you know . . . reaches his time.  That is, if I’m still around.  (At my age, not a slam-dunk.)  I further torture myself by going back to when our beloved Ricky the Beagle died…

Packing light?  Nah.  I scrapped that as a goal long ago. When I’m getting ready for a get-away, I want everything with me that I could conceivably need, or want.  Might have time to go for a run?  Running shoes.  Maybe a nice, long, scenic bike ride?  Dri-fit shorts and T-shirts.  Body-surfing?  …

Austria avalanche kills 3; Ski patrollers killed in France  (Washington Post, January 13, 2019) At 24, NFL player retires after his 6th concussion: ‘My well-being is more important’  (Today, August 2, 2018) Teen Surf Star Loses Arm in Shark Attack  (ABC News, November 3, 2003) Yes, skiing the Alps…

When you run off down the block, and I have to do The Walk of Shame after you — trying to look like it’s no big deal, while I’ve got a leash in my hand and no dog attached to it.  (That would be you, Ruckus.) When you’re playing fetch at the beach with some stranger you’ve accosted, and it’s time…