The Block Party in the park in our community went well. Joan and I put out eggs (plastic, with a small bottle of bubble juice inside) for the little kids, ages 1 to 5. Into a roped off area, with all the eggs out in the open. Joan helped hide eggs around the perimeter of the park for the bigger kids. There were activities for the kids: bounce house, inflatable slide, basketball shoot, musical chairs, Easter egg relays. Food trucks (the chili cheese dogs were especially good). The two ladies that put this all on did a great job...
From there, it was back home, pack up gear for the gig. In the meantime, Steph and Dan came back from California with 4 puppies for their Guide Dog group... and a tearful good-bye to Rubina...
Steph and Dan's new puppy (Dicha) above; three more below...
A photo at the "Puppy Truck", with Rubina (the big girl) and Dicha (the little girl in Steph's arms)...
The new pup will go to a different raiser for a month or so, for the housebreak training, and Steph and Dan will be doing a "weekly swap" in the meantime... with their new pup and Elsie (a dog they have puppy sat for before).
On to "the gig." We were set up in Ron's back yard - the area for the band was tight... as in: barely room to get to my seat once we were set up. We made it work. Ron and Beth (who hosted) had pizzas, wings, and other sides; the guys in the band kicked in ahead of time to pay for the food, but it was still a lot of work for the hosts.
The music went well. We did a set with the big group (the Brothers MIM), then a set with the Hip Replacements, the a "guest appearance" of an odd friend of Ron's who did 2 songs, then finished it up with another full set with the MIM bros. The crowd was enthusiastic and appreciative. Mostly family and friends, including Danny's (the bass player) daughter who flew in from Washington State to see her Dad play.
During the course of the evening...
A video snippet...
5 comments:
What a great and full weekend! I cannot imagine having three puppies in the house. So much energy....
We won't get a visit from the Easter Bunny this year. Lucy got it on Friday morning. There were just enough remains to identify the kill as a baby rabbit. She is a fierce predator and we live in the country. Usually she gets mice or gophers, which is always fine, but this time was not good for the bunny. It's a good thing we don't have little kids around who would NOT understand.
Hi Earl. The puppies were distributed to members in their Phoenix Guide Dog group, so they didn't have them in their home... but, they did have 4 puppies and 3 people in their SUV on the drive from California back to Phoenix. "Their" puppy is being housebreak trained by another member, so Steph and Dan have swapped with that member. For the short term, they will have an 8 month old girl during the week, then their puppy on weekends. The new pup will need more training before it can go to work with them. It is a labor of love for them.
Lucy is doing what her instincts tell her. "Oh, look at the cute little bunny... OMG - the humanity!" (bunnyanity??) We would hear that on the whale watch boats when the transient Orcas were in the area: people would say they want to see it... until they saw it. "This isn't the Disney Channel, folks."
Maybe it's a female feline thing? Izzy, who looked so sweet, was a huntress. Rufus, not so much. Not sure about Murphy - he will go into stalking mode when there are birds in the yard, but they are wary.
In the wild the lionesses do most of the hunting, so it must be a general feline trait. The guys will swoop in for some meat once the girls have brought down the gazelle. I always praise her for her trophy and skill, then flush what remains.
It was 72° on Sunday evening so I was sitting on the back porch swing talking to my friend in Alaska. The neighbor's dog was barking 2-0- feet away and he kept asking if we had gotten a dog. He knows better. I'm allergic and Alice is afraid, even of little ones. She is a cat at heart and even a chihuahua is a "wolf" to her. She has no experience with dogs. I grew up with them but became very allergic when we lived in Alaska.
I have to tell the story of the $100,000 sea otter. After the
[Oops... hit enter mid sentence]. After the Exxon Valdez oil spill, a small coastal village adopted a sea otter and rehabbed it. Ob the appointed day, the whole town went to the shore for the big releases party. (You know what is coming next). While hundreds of people watched, including all the school children, the otter happily swam off to waves and cheers. About 30 yards offshore an orca was waiting. Gulp. The $100K otter (estimated rehab cost) was gone.
Orca to sea otter: "Hello, lunch." ;-)
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