* * * COUNTDOWN: 2 DAYS TO LA/XC-4 * * * Carol and I returned on Monday from the 3-day Runaway Country Music festival in Melbourne, FLA.  Kemba wasn’t happy that he’d been left behind. One day later he saw me starting to lay out my things for my next trip:  LA/XC-4.   Here he is making sure he’s on the packing list . . .

* * *COUNTDOWN: 8 DAYS TO LA/XC-4 * * * Don’t leave home without it You start recognizing the things on your to-do list that you really can’t afford to not get done when you’re up against a hard deadline.  And I’m there — with a cross-country road trip that really needs to start early Friday morning, March 27.  My internal ticker has already begun the triage:  Get over to UPS to return those hideous white Oakley sunglasses with the Day-Glo orange lenses?  Not...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  18 DAYS TO LA/XC-4  * * * Beagle Man has been pushing the narrative of Kemba as this wonderful, happy-go-lucky, up-for-anything super-puppy — maybe not perfectly behaved, but at least understanding the word “no.”  Hey, that’s cool, if that’s the story he likes to tell.  I just want to say that I was watching the two of them in the B-Man’s study a couple of days ago.  Twenty times Kemba went for the used tissues and scraps of paper in...

* * *  COUNTDOWN:  24 DAYS TO LA/XC-4  * * * Most of you know the deal.  LA/XC, the series of Beagle Man cross-country road trips, originated back in 2011.  It started as a joke, turned into Kemba will be trading in his Dolphins recliner for the shotgun seat a promise, became a journey, and evolved into a ritual.  When Robby, back then still a senior at Staples HS, told me his only concern about heading west to USC was that he’d miss his dog, Ricky the Beagle, I blithely...

The other night we’re watching the Westminster Dog Show, and I know exactly what the Beagle Man’s Miss P, lookin’ good! thinking:  First, the Beagle’s gonna win the Hound group, he figures.  Then the Duck Toller’s gonna win in the Sporting group.  Dilemma:  Who do I root for to take Best in Show???  I swear this is the way the B-Man thinks:  I root for them — so they’re gonna win!  Now Miss P, the top beagle, holds up her end of the bargain, but I...

I’m telling you this story, even though it has almost nothing to do with me, as a public service.  Because Kemba then . . . if I don’t, you-know-who most definitely will — and then it’ll be 1,000 words long, and The Greatest Story Ever Told.  Okay, so last Friday morning, Beagle Man and Kemba are down at Burying Hill Beach, as they’ve been pretty much every morning since the little red duck dog came to live in Westport.  And it’s freezing, as usual, so...

I know, you haven’t heard from me in awhile — but I’ve still been keeping tabs.  Looks to me as if Kemba rolls around in the snow with CC, his new “best friend” (as of this morning) things are going just fine between Beagle Man and The Pup.  Oh, sure, on the one hand he might be a little rambunctious, and on the other, a little too eager to please.  But I think you’d have to admit that, for the most part, I’ve had nothing but good stuff to say...

The Zermatt 6 conquer the Matterhorn . . . “Write about him,” Derr said, nodding in the direction of Harry, the low-slung, fruit-sniffing beagle.  We were clustered around the baggage carousel at JFK, last stop on the Zermatt 6 Ski-the-Alps Tour, when Harry made his presence known by poking his snout into Geiger’s duffel.  “There’s your connection for Beagle Man,” Derr said. The Young Dudes were adamant that the adventures of the Zermatt 6 be...

KEMBA WALKERHeight: 6’1″Weight: 184 lb.Born: May 8, 1990Age: 24Birthplace: Bronx, NYCollege: ConnecticutSalary: $3,452,183 KEMBA HERMANHeight: 2’1″Weight: 34 lb.Born: August 13, 2015Age: 5 mos.Birthplace: Ardoise, Nova ScotiaCollege: Bandilane School For DogsSalary: Mucho bones Obviously, I knew I’d be socked in watching Ravens vs. Pats and Panthers vs. Seahawks on Saturday.  And, of course, UConn hoops — vs. Cincinnati.  Robby was still home from...

Kemba the Weather Dog Saturday afternoon in Vermont it snowed — and kept snowing into the evening.  Kemba, being Canadian, was oblivious to the weather (see photo, right); in fact, we were able to gauge the snowfall by how much accumulated on his red coat.  By dinner time, the snow had turned to rain, and then . . . the dreaded “wintry mix.” So by the time Kemba The Alarm Clock got me up Sunday morning for a walk (at 8AM!  A new record!  Heading in the right direction! ...