* * *COUNTDOWN: 6 DAYS TO LA/XC-5 * * * Once again, oldest son Matt will be hitching a ride for a short stretch The official logo of LA/XC-5 (2016) on my just-around-the-corner (starts in less than one week from today!) Beagl…

* * *COUNTDOWN: 17 DAYS TO LA/XC-5 * * * What?  We’re picking up and driving from here to Los Angeles — again?  I thought that trip back in April of 2015 was a one-off!  What a nightmare!  Does Beagle Man even remember?  How I was so nuts over being stuck in the car all day and the motel all nigh…

* * *COUNTDOWN: 28 DAYS TO LA/XC-5 * * * Poor Kemba’s been coping with adversity this whole summer. The purple ball All my dog wants out of life is to fetch the purple squeaky rubber ball that I chuck into the ocean for him. …

Last summer, Kemba’s first birthday celebration on #hermanbeach in Party favors Amagansett was a relatively low-key affair.  Kept under wraps until the afternoon of the party, and even then only signaled by a small copy-paper…

Weekend before last, on Friday afternoon, this monstrous, huge, scary ball appeared out of nowhere on the beach, in front of the White Sands Motel.  I made sure to keep as much ground between me and it as possible.  Beagle Man didn’t seem upset by the thing; he was Kemba and friend But the parking lot was all but full, and Kemba still had to play. And then when Patricia kicked the ball and Kemba went to get it, Bullet snatched it clea…

Kemba tells me he misses this view . . . Was talking last Friday to one of my Hartford writing students — a hardcore dog lover who also happens to be a big-time fan of this blog.  She knows pretty much all there is to know ab…