It's Called Fishing, Not Catching...

Last week, as I drove from Pullman to Coeur d'Alene, I couldn't help but take a detour to fish one of the most beautiful rivers in the country. The St. Joe.

I know it's a BIG statement to say that it's one of the most beautiful rivers, but it's even designated as a Wild & Scenic River, so lots of people agree! Definition here: http://www.rivers.gov/

The first (and only other) Wild & Scenic River I have fished is the Flathead River. This doesn't QUITE compare with the Flathead, but it was still beautiful. Here's a good shot of a great fishing hole on the Flathead from last Summer:

OK, back to the St. Joe - Well, this was my first time fishing by myself. It didn't seem like anything out of my capabilities: Get a Fishing License, Rig up Flies, Read the River, Cast. I can do that!

My adventure started at the local Conoco in St. Maries. The St. Joe Sport Shop. Yes, it's a Conoco Gas Station and Sporting Goods Store - this is Idaho, what do you expect?? You can fill up yer tank, get a fishin license, buy a gun and a Red Bull, then head to the mountains! Not to mention the Lady working behind the counter is, of course, the nicest person you have ever met in your life!

After getting my license, a Kokanee and some chips, I headed up the river. I was thankful to have gotten a Regulations Book because it told me that none of the tributaries were open until the Saturday of Memorial Weekend. OF COURSE I was 2 days early. Sheesh.

The river was exceptionally high. It took a good hour to get up to fishing territory, and even then, the water was way bigger than anything I've ever fished. It was all I could do to not drive around the "Road Closed" sign that went up next to the North Fork of the St. Joe. Why do I have to be such a Rule-Follower??

Eventually, I found the slowest looking spot I'd seen in an hour and decided to rig up. Here's Mr. Belay waiting patiently for me as I suit up and rig up:

I'd read a blog before heading up the river that told me to use a Stimmy on the top with a wet Muddler Minnow on the bottom - size 10 -12, or a weighted Emerger. Great! I know what those flies are! Well out of cell phone range, I realized I didn't know what a size 10-12 is, how to make a Muddler Minnow "wet", nor how to "weight" an Emerger!

So much for fishing on my own!

I did my best to pick the biggest Stimmy & Muddler Minnow I could find in my gear and toss it on out into the water. Which was BIG:

It was beautiful - nice and green. But, big. I only went out to about my shins in depth because it was moving so fast. If I'd have gone much deeper, it could have pulled me down, for certain! After about a half hour of chucking my fly as far as I could get it, only to have it not sink, and whiz by me at record speeds, I decided to go further up-river. There had to be a smaller, slower section!

Well, at least I had my one Kokanee in nature's cooler back on the bank of the river.

I packed up the dog, popped my rod in my handy-dandy short-distance rod-holder...

...and headed for a better spot:



The water was much slower here, but I wasn't fishing any better. After about 40 minutes of untangling line, no bites, STILL not sinking my Muddler Minnow, I decided to call it a day.

Just in case I saw one good spot on the drive back, though, I kept my waders and boots on for the drive. It was wishful thinking - had I found one good spot, I probably still couldn't fish it!

Note to Self: Next time, bring a Mentor.

Sweet Pits.

This morning, Ms. Carly was basking in the sun on the front porch. She was soooo cute just soaking it in, I had to go snap a couple pics of her.

My brother and sister-in-law adopted Carly from the Humane Society. She is a sweetheart!

Pit Bull's have a major stigma attached to them, and I think it's a bad wrap. I hear of a lot of folks who are afraid of rottweilers too, and their fear is just misplaced. It is definitely in the owner. I had two roommates during college that had Pits - Ziggy and Ruger. They were terrific dogs. Smart, funny, sociable, protective, loving, and absolute characters. They broke the ice for me with Pits and now I have a soft place in my heart for them.

Ms. Carly is no exception. She was a little wild when I met her last Summer. She had only been with them for a little over a month. She was wildly playing in the yard and ran towards me then leaped. While flying through the air, she took a jaw smacking snap right in front of my face. That took me back a little bit, for sure. I was nervous to introduce her to my Poodle this year, but she has mellowed out and settled in to home life. She is a doll...

I hope you enjoy these pics.

The Usual and A Bowl of Soul

I'm at my favorite coffee shop in the world. Java on Sherman. It's on the main street in downtown Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. I can't even remember when I started coming here. I used to come here to do my homework when I was going to school at NIC at 18 years old...


I'm so grateful it's still open and going strong. Whenever I come back through Cd'A, I come to visit Java. I'm always terrified that I'll look at this adorable corner spot and it'll be replaced with some tourist shop.


How can something so simple as a coffee shop fill up some deep places in you? It's like seeing an old friend, or a cousin that you haven't seen in years. It makes me so happy to be here...


My standard order: A Bowl of Soul and the Usual.

The Usual is just fun to order in the first place because it's called "the Usual"... "Yah, I'll have the usual..." Where do you get to say that?? It's an onion bagel with plain cream cheese, slices of tomatoes and fresh cracked pepper. DELISH.

A Bowl of Soul is the most terrific thing that could ever caress your taste buds. It's like a latte - but thicker and richer, with Mexican Chocolate, a dollop of hand made whip cream on top, and cinnamon sprinkled on top. This description does NOT do it justice. If you've had one, you know that it truly is indescribable.
It's served in a hand made bowl with a little divot on it for where to put yer mouth... If you've ever been to my house at any time we are serving food, the odds are that you've seen one of them. I have a few and use them for pretty much every single meal I prepare. If we're not eating out of them, the lettuce, or salsa, or cheese, or SOMETHING is in them. That's because I love them! They remind me of Java and the Bowl of Soul:




Here's a shot of their sign - I love it - WAKE UP AND LIVE!! YES! LET'S! (too bad the windows need cleaning - and I don't know how to clean a window in photoshop yet...)

Meanie Beanie the Weenie

My friends, Trish & Boone, have a Weenie dog - Daschund, to be proper. His name is Bean. He's super cute! Not too obsessive, like some I've met. He is, however, a bully. Yes, a bully.

He wasn't real sure about Belay when they first met, so I held Belay back, made him lay down and stay put so Beanie wouldn't feel threatened. Belay is at least 5 times as big as Beanie.

Within a couple hours, Beanie was barking at Belay whenever he walked by - AFTER he walked by. It was like he was saying "And don't come back!" Belay got the hint. At one point, Belay was hunkered down in the bathroom and wouldn't come out when I called him from down the hall. Turns out, Beanie was right outside the door and Belay was afraid to walk out!

Beanie continued to push the big Poodle around for a few days, until the last night they were together, when he finally brought down his guard, and there was great fun to be had by all. Beanie found out that Belay just wanted to play after all, and he didn't need to be so insecure as to bully him around.

A lesson we could all learn now and again, I suppose...

Here are some cute pics of the Meanie Weenie, Beanie:

Flying Cowgirls!

The past week was spent travelling to Nampa, Idaho, and visiting with my oldest friend, Trish. I'm not sure exactly when we met, but it was somewhere between the ages of 8 & 11. We were BFFs until somewhere after high school and over the years, we've drifted, then come back together, then drifted, and come back together again. It's a wonderful mystery to me how years can go by, but a friendship can stay right where you left it. Don't ever think it's been too long since you talked to that old friend... just pick up the phone.

One of my all-time favorite quotes is "It takes a long time to grow an old friend." (there's nothing like 'em!)

Trish was putting on a Women's Timed Event at the Hungry Mosquito Arena, which was a BEAUTIFUL site for the event. There was grass for the spectators, a cook shack so we could feed our hungry bellies, and a great arena ready for a lottttta fun!

The Women at this event were all great competitors! They were all strong in each event, and had a great attitude with a lot of fun! I'll be posting some fun pictures from the weekend here over the next couple days.

Have you heard George Strait's new song about Cowgirls? Well, it could use a line in there somewhere about them flying off the backs of horses to tie down goats!! (sorry, George, I still love you...) These Cowgirls were totally awesome!

Look at them literally FLYING off their RUNNING horse!

These chicks make me proud!

"How good does a female athlete have to be before we just call her an athlete?"

- Unknown Author

6th Sense

How do dogs know when we're sad?

Have you ever been brokenhearted or upset to the point of crying? If you have a dog, I bet you had a furry friend putting their head on your lap, didn't you?

I wonder if it's something to do with our energy/spirit... I am a HUGE fan of Ceasar Milan, The Dog Whisperer, on National Geographic channel. He is constantly teaching people that the energy they are projecting to their dog is causing a lot of it's behavior issues. I wonder if it's possible that we project some type of 'sad energy'.

There is nothing better than having a soft-n-furry four-legged pooch comfort you when you're upset. All I know is that I am so very happy they DO know when we're sad...

Here is Taterpup's more reflective side...

Heading on another road trip tomorrow for a few days... Will post again soon!

Floating Readerboard

Why can't dogs have a reader board over their heads that constantly scrolls what their thinking?


You know, the black boards with the scrolling red text... Wouldn't it be nice to be able to read their thoughts?


When they're meeting a new dog-friend, a new human friend, barking incessantly, staring at you for no apparent reason, staring at the floor, rolling in the grass, dreaming - what are they thinking??


There are a few funny dogblogs where people actually write from the dog's 'voice'. I wonder how accurate they really are. Check them out for a giggle:
http://www.1000goldens.com/
http://mary-margaretsdiary.blogspot.com/
http://www.toaireisdivine.com/blog/


I know for certain what my dog is thinking during a few common moments:

When I put shoes on: "She's getting ready to leave again, I wonder if I get to go this time? Well, if not, at least I get a good chew bone."

When we're driving down the road to my parent's house: "Almost to Grammy's! Almost to Grammy's! YIPPPEEEE!! I hope they don't take me to that 'alien abudction' room again where I get washed, poked and prodded."

When he's staring at the floor (someday I will get a picture of this and post it... it's hilarious!): "I wonder if a piece of popcorn will come up now. How bout now? What about now? No? Maybe over here, one will spring up. How bout now? What about now? No? Maybe over here..."
Yah, and you thought poodles were smart. Hmmm...


This lil French Bulldog was looking at me this weekend at the dog show. If he had a readerboard, it would say "What is that big black thing attached to your face? Why do you keep pointing it at me? Is it a nose extension? Stop pointing it at me!"

When Wind becomes Wind

Why do dogs like to hang their head out the car window, but they hate it when you blow on their face?

I have never met a dog that likes it when you blow on their face. However, most dogs love to hang their head out the window and soak in the sights and smells.

What exactly is the difference?
Is it the smell of our breath that makes it bad?
Is it the velocity? Or, the circumference isn't large enough?
Will we ever know the answer to this most pressing question??

Here's Ms. Jada creating a little wind of her own with some wild-mongoose running:

She makes me smile!

Doggie Sun-Dials

How do dogs know the time of day you are going to walk in the door?

If you're someone who gets home at a regular time daily, you know what I'm talking about.

Our ol' boy, Pazi, knew when it was 6:30ish. He'd go to the door and wait for me to open it. J could be home, or Pazi could have been by himself. Either way, when time was nearing, he would head to the door and wait patiently.

What kind of internal-clock do they have to know? Do they know how many hours typically pass when you're gone on a week-day? Or, do they know the actual time of day by the way the sun is moving across the sky? What is it??

I don't know the answer, but I sure am glad they have it. It's one of my favorite things about these wonder-full critters.

This is Taterpup watching on the deck of the cabin. Not sure what he was watching or looking for, maybe he was checking the time by the angle of the sun!

p.s. miss you Dommer.

Bark Back!

Last night, I was inspired by the movie "Marley & Me" to write nearly two pages of questions in my journal about doggies. Over the next couple weeks, I'll be sharing some of the questions that came up for me and my attempt to sort out the answers...

First Question: Why does my dog react to some barking on TV, but not all barking?

As Belay & I were watching the movie, he couldn't help but bark back at the puppy crying and yelping noises. He couldn't care less about the rest of the barks for the entire movie. Why??

Was the puppy truly distressed and he could tell what it was saying, while the other dogs were trained to just 'bark on cue' and they weren't saying anything important?

What was Belay saying back to the puppy when he barked back at the TV?

Why am I answering this question with more questions? Is this a normal way to figure things out?

What are dogs saying when they bark? Are there actual words, or just intonations and intensity levels that convey their thoughts to other dogs?

Four Legs x 800

The last five days have been spent with hundreds of pooches in South Jordan (between Provo & Salt Lake City) at the Bee Hive Cluster Dog Show! The variety of breeds at the shows never ceases to amaze me. There are SO MANY different breeds, and so many different colors and styles within each breed, it is truly a wonder.

There were big & small, furry & smooth, curly & straight, black & white, sweet & ferocious. Here's a peek at some of the variety: