It's no small task explaining what a personality this dog has. My 9 year old long-haired dachsund has come to live with us after a whirlwind tour. Most recently she's been living with my parents and another family in Utah for a year. As my folks are constantly traveling Sasha would often stay with another sitter family while they were away. I think she's been to a kennel twice in her life. Roughly 3 years ago she lived for 6 months with my friends Laura and Dan, their 4 small children and another dog or two, also in Utah. She's lived all over southern and northern california with me in 4 different apartments.
Dachsunds are known for being a one person dog and not really all that adjustable. She's had to constantly adjust to new surroundings, new people and to living for long periods of time without seeing that one person she's known as mama since she was 4 months old.
She's done one hell of a job. Not only has she has won the heart of everyone she's lived with but she has maintained her sweet, playful, non-demanding demeanor and keeps her own routines. There is wisdom in her behavior. Dave is convinced she has a human brain. You'd swear she's talking to you when she stares at you. For Sasha words are superfluous. She'll stare until you understand what she wants which is generally to be let out so she can "hurry outside". She'll spin sometimes 8 times until she hits it just right then turns her head to stare at you again like, SEE I'M DOING IT. NOW WHERE'S MY PIECE OF POPCORN?
Thank you Mom & Dad and sitter family for taking such wonderful care of Sasha. She is loving Vail.
This is Miss Jaime and she's hot.
We had a delicious pot luck dinner with old and new friends in Breckenrige for new year's eve. Afterwards we went for a cross-country ski hoping to catch the fireworks from the top of the mountain. We were running late, there were about 8 of us and we didn't quite make it to the top in time. So we skiied into a clearing to watch the sky turn colors to the synchronized booming. That's when I took these photos (click on Jaime to view a couple more). We skiied by moonlight, the trail was uphill, icy and full of "suprise whoops." The snow was so deep in the clearing that Sam and Dave took to climbing trees and jumping out face first into the snow. A real redneck move and hilarious! We could barely see them when they landed, the snow swallowing most of their bodies. Then we raced down Chinese Downhill style in the moonlight laughing and sliding on the ice. It was a beautiful and exhilerating way to bring in 2006.
I hope you had a safe and fun New Year's eve, and best of the best in 2006!
With the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and all the political noise we decided to get away in the Gore Range for Labor Day weekend. In a different way were reminded of just how huge mother nature is. Click on the photo for a flickr set of one of the most beautiful backpacking weekends I've been on.
Every season in the Colorado mountains offers beauty and something crazy fun to do. But watch out, the weather changes quickly.
These mornings I'm greeted by steam rising from the surface of Lake Dillon as I round the shore on my way to Vail. It looks like a mountain lake full of Puff the Magic Dragons. I'll try to capture it.
Dave and I just got back from an amazing week at Stanford Alumni Camp on Fallen Leaf Lake in Tahoe - I've been going there since I was 2 yrs old and now we use the week as a family reunion. Check out the Tahoe photo set.
We hiked Tellac which gives an amazing 360 view of Desolation Wilderness and Lake Tahoe. Luckily I live at 9,000 ft in Colorado so it wasn't too tough coming home because I have inviting mountains all around me and didn't come home to concrete and traffic and the density of a city but I do love Tahoe and wouldn't turn down a house there if someone offered me one.
