Sunrise

One of the things I love about Phoebe is that she's tuned in to natural phenomena. If the phone rings around 7, I know it's her, calling from the bus, which she rides for over an hour each morning. I know it's a Sunrise Alert. "Mama! Go look at the sunrise!"

And we did. The only thing to do for a sunrise like this one is to run to the tower room. Still on the phone with Phoebe, we compared notes on the colors and the fabulous gill-like clouds. Just one of the many reasons I'm happy Bill sprang for a cell phone for our girl. My predictions were all wrong. She hasn't lost it, ever, and she doesn't waste much time talking on it. It's more like a mobile texting umbilical cord for both of us.

Watching it change. There's not much you can say about a heavenly phenomenon like this, other than to look and marvel at your luck at being able to see it.

Of course, we cannot go up to the tower room without bringing Chet Baker. And if Mether and Daddeh are looking at something, well, Chet Baker needs a peek, too.
I refuse to believe that dogs see only in black and white. I think they see a lot more color than people believe. Chet Baker sure seems to.


I am also looking for morning bunnehs.

Liam, Bill, Chet and I walked out the driveway, awash in morning glow.
Molten puddles, ever my favorite. I live to photograph them, little pieces of perfect sky under our feet.

Look out, Liam! Don't step in the lava!

And the sun burnt it all gold, our huge sentinel pin oak revealed. I never look at that tree without hoping it outlives us all.

I have to think that being brought up and bathed each day in beauty helps make our kids who they are. They notice and appreciate, and are grateful.

Liam's Bison

We knew there were bison running wild at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. We'd seen their tracks and droppings all around the main visitor center. But so far, all we'd seen were some distant black specks, which we needed optics to make out.
I love a kid with binoculars.


Liam was stoked! Even distant dotty bison are better than none.


Our sweet Shoomie was about to get the surprise of his little life when we rounded a bend in the road at Theodore Roosevelt National Park. One minute, nothing, then BOOM! OMG!
A massive, and I mean HUUUUGE, bull bison was rubbing his woolly neck on a guardrail only a couple of feet from the car. We all inadvertantly recoiled inside the car, and Bill paused only long enough for me to roll down the window and fire off a couple of shots with the 18-35mm lens. The real short lens. I mean, you don't want to tick off an animal weighing over a ton and armed with wicked hooks and hooves, not to mention a head like a battering ram. Liam was hyperventilating. We all were.

We pulled a respectful distance away, only to see a truck roll right up, and its occupants disembark, perhaps intending to compete for the 2009 Darwin Awards.

Only two things are infinite -- the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not so sure about the Universe. --Albert Einstein

Go, Daddy, go. Get that picture.

Soon, the bison ambled off, evidently choosing not to reduce Richard Avedon to a spot of grease on the road.
photo by Bill Thompson III


Reverently, we examined the guardrail, shiny from years of such itchrubbing.

Liam put his hand in the bull's immense round hoofprints

which trailed off through the bentonite gumbo.

He was a gift, that's all, a gift to our boy and to us.


These wild things enrich our lives just by their existence. But experiencing the sight, smell, sound and feel of them can change a life, and help a child know how to be grateful.

Here's to wild places and hearts that know them.

Here end the Montana and North Dakota posts.
Canoe down Montana's Missouri River,
go see bison and wild horses at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, or
come see the prairie potholes at Carrington, ND's Potholes and Prairies Festival in early June 2010.

Or do it all in one unutterably swell foop. We did!

Go. Just go. Show your kids a real live grunty bison.

The Mature Boston Terrier

Walking to the bus stop is a ritual for us, when the weather is nice enough to permit it. Liam always wants to walk, no matter what. He likes the extra time, the smell of wet leaves, the chance to run around and around.This year, the district clamped down on a lot of stuff that was going on on the school buses. And one of the new rules was: No animals on the bus. This broke a four-year tradition of letting Chet Baker on the bus to greet his beloved chirrun each morning. There is another new rule: No pencils on the bus. Which means the kids don't have a chance to do their homework on the ride. You might poke your eye out!!

Please.

When he was a pup (which, in Bostons, lasts somewhere into Year Three), Chet needed a leash. Period. Without it, he'd get up on the seat, sit down and say, "Take me to the school. There are more chirrun there who need their faces washed."

Here comes the bes. I love it when the bes comes.

I still kept him on a leash in Year Four, but I stopped holding it. In fact, when he was done greeting all the kids, he'd pick up one end of it and take himself off the bus, romping back down the lane to home. Watching him decide that the session was over, pick the leash up in his teeth, turn his back on the outstretched hands of the children, and get off the bus always amused bus driver Sue so much. "He's done!" she'd say, and we'd both laugh.


By Year Five, we could dispense with both the leash and the collar, and Chet was completely cool. And then came The Rule Change, and poor Chet was no longer allowed to greet the chirrun. Back came the leash, for a short time, until he understood that these humans, in all their capricious wisdom, suddenly decided that his beloved ritual was not to be. I think he understands that it wasn't my choice. I think he knows the meaning of "I'm sorry, Chetty."

I am proud to say that little Chet Baker, at five, is now self-policing where the bus is concerned. He just needs to be reminded with a quiet "Stay."



Any of you who own Boston terriers will understand my pride in this fact. Boston terriers have SO much wiggly love to give that it is very, very hard for them to resist rushing up to every human they see and giving them a thorough tongue-lashing.


And Chet especially loves children. It's hard for him to let Liam get on that bus alone.

(Please note the adorable strip of white on the back of his head). God done dipped his paintbrush one last time.


The ultimate test: one of his little friends lowers the window and hollers, "Here Chet!! Come here, Chet!!"

To my great amusement, Chet responded not by rushing to the bus, but by roo-roo-rooing at her until it pulled away.

I cannot come to the bes, little girl! They will not let me! So do not tempt me! You are being very bad, very very bad! Roo roo roo roo!

Good dog, Chet. All you with exuberant young Boston terriers, take heart. It gets easier, much easier.

My Matchday - 236 Kirkby Mills

Kirkbymoorside 0v3 Ryhope Cw

Wearside League Cup 2nd Round

Saturday 12th December 2009

Kirkbymoorside is a small market town in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire between Helmsley and Pickering and approximately 25 miles north of York.
The town is known locally as Kirby, as there’s a silent K in Kirkbymoorside which I’ve only just discovered, meaning I’ve been spelling it wrong all his time.
The town has a population of 3,000 and recently it became the last town in the country to implement double yellow lines for parking restrictions.

Kirkby Mills is found off the main A170 road. On arrival you are welcoming by three gentlemen taking admission money and selling programmes and pin badges.
The car park is shared with the Bowling Club and Squash Club and is found at the top of the ground. The pitch has a slope which runs down towards the adjacent cricket pitch. At the top of the slope are a pair of white brick dugouts, each having extra bench seats at the front. There’s hard standing behind the dugouts but the popular place to watch the game is the elevated grass verge above.
The clubhouse, home and away changing rooms, refreshment bar and toilets are all within the same building, while the referee and his assistants make use of the facilities in the squash club to get changed.
Work on the ground is still ongoing with the pitch perimeter fence and wooden fencing at the front of the car park still to be finished.

Kirkbymoorside FC having played in the Scarbourgh & District League gained entry to the Wearside League last season after finishing runners-up in the Teesside League in 2007-08, finishing 10th in their debut season.
The club also have a successful reserve team, last season winning the league and another three trophies within the Beckett League.
The Moorsiders were up against Wearside League leaders Ryhope CW in the second round of the League Cup. The two clubs have met recently in the league when the visitors gubbed their hosts with four unanswered goals, today’s game was a lot closer than the score line suggests.

An even first half saw Ryhope looking more likely to score but it was Kirby who had the better chances, young striker Rivas had two good openings, the second of which produced a great save from the ‘keeper.
Ryhope’s best chance of the half fell to Butler, who raced onto a long clearance from the goalkeeper before seeing his right foot shot parried around the post. The Ryhope striker made amends early in the second half to give his side the lead, latching onto a high ball before producing a confident finish from a tight angle.
In the interval I felt if Kirby were to go on and win this tie, then they had to score first, but once they fell behind then it was virtually game over. However it wasn’t until the final five minutes that Ryhope were assured of victory, with a Hodgson own goal and a second from Butler in the final minutes booking a place in the League Cup semi finals.
Ryhope remain top of the league and will be looking to add further honours in the League Cup, a trophy they haven’t won since 1978. Kirby on the other hand are a growing club and just like today’s more experienced opponents, they too may be winning a trophy or two, sooner rather than later.

I left behind the fog on the Tyne to glorious winter sunshine in North Yorkshire. I travelled down the A19, then along the A170 through the North York Moors negotiating Sutton Bank, then passing through the picturesque valleys and rivers which eventually leads to the Yorkshire Coast towards Whitby, Robin Hood’s Bay and Scarborough.
I picked out a visit to The Moorsiders when an early kick off coincided with neighbours Pickering Town also being at home, so unfortunately I missed the last quarter of the game to head off a further six miles east for the second leg of my Ryedale double at Mill Lane.

KFC 0 RCW 3(Bultler 47, 87 Hodgson 85og)

att.42hc

Admission £2

Programme £1

My Matchday - 237 Mill Lane

Pickering Town 0v1 Thackley
Northern Counties East League Premier Division
Saturday 12th December 2009
Pickering is an historic market town which lies at the south boundary of the North York Moors National Park. This tranquil town was founded by king Peredurus at around 270 BC and has been formerly known as Piceringas and Pykering.
The North Yorkshire Moors Steam Railway, which runs 18 miles north towards Grosmont on the Esk Valley is the longest of its kind in the country. Other attractions include Pickering Castle and the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life which are popular haunts with tourists.


Pickering Town FC were formed in 1888, having spent the majority of their early years in local leagues within North Yorkshire, winning both the Scarborough & District League and York Football League during the 1950’s and ‘60’s.
In 1972 they joined the Yorkshire League 3rd Division, winning two promotions in their first three seasons to reach the leagues top division, but within four years they were back where they started after successive relegations.
In 1982 they became founder members of the Northern Counties East League, winning the Division Two title in 1987-88 with further promotion to the NCEL Premier Division achieved in 1992.
The Pikes first season in the top league was their best to date, after finishing joint top with Spennymoor United on 90 points, they narrowly missed out on the title on goal difference.
The club made a brief return to the First Division at the end of the last decade, but won promotion again after two seasons and since 2001 the club have established themselves in the NCEL Premier Division finishing a credible 3rd last season.
In 2005-06 they produced their best performance to date in the FA Vase, losing out to Nantwich Town at the quarter-final stage and have reached the second qualifying round of the FA Cup on three occasions.

Pickering Town have played at Mill Lane since 1920. The ground has two separate 100 seated stands. The Main Stand sits on the half way line an is elevated above pitch level with a mixture of blue and red seats, green framework and the club name facing out towards the pitch. The dugouts are situated between the half way line and corner flag with the remainder of this side having hard standing.
The Stand at the far end is situated at one side of the goal, which has fours rows of red flip seats. The side opposite the Main stand is out of bounds, with only a picket fence to divide the ground from the neighbouring cricket pitch and of course this end forms the top of the famous slope. The nearside goal has a covered terrace with a capacity of 300 which runs halfway parallel to the penalty spot, next to the spacious clubhouse which has a bar with a weekly guest ale(missed out because of the car) and a large canteen at the back.
There’s five floodlights pylons which were installed in 1992 and the record attendance came in 1991, 1,412 for a friendly with Notts. County.

Pickering Town fresh from booking their place in the next round of the FA Vase in midweek were back in league action against West Yorkshire side Thackley.
The game was entertaining with both sides producing plenty of openings, be it only half chances, as both defences stayed firm in the opening half an hour.
Thackley finished the first half on top and thought they had taking the lead on 35 minutes. A corner kick was headed home by centre half Airey only to be ruled off by the linesman who spotting an infringement, even though the referee initially seemed happy enough to award a goal.
The decision enraged the Thackley players who spent the remainder of the half kicking anything in a blue shirt that moved which produced a bad tempered end to the first half.
The two teams club colours of Pickering’s all blue and Thackley’s red shirts and white sleeves made it look like a Chelsea v Arsenal clash, but without the fannying about brand of football or a big daft centre forward falling over as if someone as much as farted next to him.
The winning goal from Thackley’s number 10 had the stamp of a legendary Arsenal number 10. Nicky Matthews picked the ball up 25 yards from goal, weighing up his options before deciding to go it alone, going past three defenders with ease, before coolly slotting the ball wide of the ‘keeper in the style of one Dennis Bergkamp.
Thackley had chances to seal the three points but the Pikes had chances of their own. In the dying minutes Fox had an effort cleared off the line and then in injury time Pickering almost snatched a point, Higginson pulling off a fantastic save from a Aziz shot, tipping his ferocious effort over the bar.
Overall the visitors deserved their win and as a neutral I enjoyed an entertaining encounter.

The trip to Ryedale was a pleasant one. After visiting Kirkbymoorside earlier in the day, the short trip along to neighbouring Pickering took less than ten minutes.
The journey back home was another story, travelling through the North York Moors in the dark, not knowing the twist and turns in the road and heading back down Sutton Bank in the pitch black was a life threatening experience!
My driving skills saw me through and once I navigated my way onto the A19 the journey back north flew by, arriving home by 6.30pm, content with the satisfaction of ticking off two new grounds on the same day.

PTFC 0 TFC 1(Matthews 60)

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Admission £5

Programme £1

Ground no.237 Mill Lane - Matchday Web album (13 pictures)

Chet Baker is Five!

Today, December 12, Chet Baker turns five. I can hardly believe the Eternal Puppy is five years old! But I have a hard time believing Phoebe is 13 and Liam is 10, too. As I write, Liam and I are deciding what Baker's birthday meal should be, and The Bacon is happily chewing an ear of Nylabone corn in a pile of Polarfleece blankets. The cake needs to be something other than chocolate. Rest assured that he will be getting even more hugs and kisses than usual, and a variety of wrapped presents to rip open. Susan, yours arrived just in time!

Not long ago, we took a ramble with Chet's friend Cooper, a cattle dog/blue heeler cross.

Cooper is a very, very nice dog. He defers to Chet, having figured out immediately that that was the only way they were going to get along.

I have to play nicely with Chet Baker? He's not very polite, you know. Well, maybe you don't know. But trust me on that. It's a dog thing. You might not understand.

I do understand, sweet Cooper, and I hear you loud and clear. And you are a good good boy for putting up with him.

Boston terriers think Keepaway is the best game ever, and that's because they're fast, agile, and extremely snotty animals. At first, Chet got the stick from Cooper every time, but now Coop has learned to hold it in reach, then whip his head to the side at just the moment Chet's jaws are about to clop on it. A snapshot of that exact moment:

When they tie onto a big stick, GAME is ON.
Chet starts out at the lower end.

He works his way closer and closer to Cooper.


And the snarling starts.

You can see Cooper's expression change the closer Chet gets. Gaah, Baker is such a hobgoblin.


I wish I had a soundtrack. It is quite impressive, with continuous raspy snarling--a hailstorm of snarls--from Chet Baker, and the occasional low rumble from Cooper.

But Cooper doesn't give in.

Though he takes a terrible tongue-lashing from Chet.

GIVE ME THE STICK. GIVE ME THE STICK. GIVE ME THE STICK, COOPER YOU PITIFUL GIRLYDOG!! GIVE ME THE STICK OR I WILL LITERALLY KICK YOUR SPECKLY BLUE A--!

Note position of Tennessee turd-tail. Danger! Danger! But Cooper's tail is up, too. He ain't givin' in. Gee, Chet, can you stand any taller? You need Tom Cruise's platform shoes, buddy.

Mighty tugs, and lots more snarling. The bulldog in Chet comes roaring out.

Cooper is the ideal companion for such a Napoleonic beastie.

Any friend of Chet's has to be able to say, "You win!"


Happy birthday Chet Baker! Known as an inveterate bully among his few dog friends. The American Gentleman, around people. But we have abundant forgiveness for your transgressions, few as they are. In fact, there are only three: Canine Napoleon complex, a tendency toward suddenly boinging up four feet into the air and French-kissing unsuspecting guests, and your well-documented gaseous emanations. Forget 'em all. Chet Baker you are all spirit, all heart, and one of the bright lights of my life. Happy five, sugardog lovepuppeh!!