Dogs, last motorcycle ride, and getting ready for Winter
This is always a busy time of year, and as the days get shorter, the list of things to do seems to get longer. There’s no snow on the ground now despite getting a few inches of it over a few days starting on August 31st, and we still have fairly mild temperatures, but the cold (double-digit below-zero lows) is forecast to arrive tomorrow. My outside chores are almost finished, though.
We’ve been getting some very good aurora displays on the few nights that the sky has been clear recently, though I haven’t made any real efforts to photograph them. The forecast for Whitehorse shows 1 clear night in the next 7, but 5 out of 7 a couple of hours drive to the west, so I may be hitting the road for a proper photography night in the next few days. This photo was shot in front of the house back on October 18th.
When I got back from the trip, one of the priority jobs was getting snow tires on both Cathy’s and my cars. Having them mounted on wheels makes that a pretty simple job – much better than the hassle of having a shop do it. I do need one of the machines to reset the tire pressure monitoring system on my car, though.
Dogs are a big part of every day now, 19 days after adding a new puppy to the family. Tucker is wonderful – I have no doubt that he’s the best puppy I’ve had because he has 2 amazing role models. Even Molly (the cat) has accepted him far better than she did Bella, perhaps because he’s so small, but maybe there’s more to it than that. In most of Whitehorse, you can only have 2 dogs (3 with a special permit), but in most country residential subdivisions (acreage lots), we can have 4 (6 with a special permit).
Bella isn’t far out of puppyhood herself (she turns 2 next month), but her maternal instincts have kicked in big time, and she takes extremely good care of Tucker. It’s wonderful to watch her playing with and teaching him – and discipling him when that’s required. Monty doesn’t interact with Tucker a lot, but they do have some chats that are interesting to watch. Tucker would like to be a lot closer to Monty, but is very respectful. Monty has warned him at least a couple of times to keep his distance, but during quiet times they’re side-by-side more and more often.
We’ve had quite high humidity for a while, and the frost is getting quite thick, but my walks allow for little photography of anything other than dogs 🙂
Tucker’s arrival has made a huge difference in Monty, and there are times when it’s hard to believe that he’s as sick as he is. He’s made it clear to all of us, however, that he’s back to being the alpha of his enlarged pack. From expecting that he was going to die during the trip, though, all bets are off now – we just take every day as a gift, do what we can to make every day the best day it can be, watch him carefully to be sure he’s getting pain meds when needed, and clean him up often.
What a joy this little being is! The shelter told me that his brother was the cuddly one, and on the drive home that was clear, but Tucker was a fast learner, and can snuggle with the best of them now 🙂 He sleeps in a kennel beside my bed most nights, but once a week or so, he sleeps with me as a treat (yes, for both him and me).
There have been a few days recently that have been motorcycle-worthy. I was hoping to get out on Tuesday, which was my 65th birthday, but 2 vet appointments cancelled that idea. The next day, though, I got out for a couple of hours, down the Alaska Highway to Jake’s Corner and back. This was shot along Marsh lake on the way back.
My end-of-the-season shot, taken along the Yukon River at the Lewes River dam. There’s actually a small chance that I’ll be able to get out on the bike today, though there’s a 30% chance of flurries and I have some firewood to finish cutting and getting into the shed. We’ll see…
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