Dalmatian-Dachshund, coyote, and three deer

Well, I did get my own adventure in this morning's dream....and it was depressing. Very depressing. Reminds me of the beginning of Mission: Impossible. Feh.

We larked at ten to nine. It was pleasantly cool, but heated up fast. Ther was a lovely red doe on the road, in the bend shaded by willows and cottonwoods. Lark saw her before I managed to get close enough to see around the tree in the way. Sigh. We met the funniest dog, though, out walking with a couple of women at the first bend in the trail after the creek bed. He was white, all over black spots, and had a Dalmatian head, but he also had the shortest little bow-legs. "Dalmatian-beagle?" I hazarded. "Ah--Dalmatian-dachshund," one of the women said. Oh. Of course. I should have guessed. It was exactly that sort of body. Maybe the Dalmatian head distracted me, or maybe I just didn't want to think about such a crossing. I still don't, but that dog was hilariously cute. They almost caught up with us while we were at the watering hole, but we dodged up to the other trail and I don't think they saw us.

Decided to finish Beauty Pop, now that it's been completed for yonks. I hadn't remembered quite how much fun some of the characters are.....

Was thinking at lunch that the Dalmadoxy could be a legitimate hybrid. I'm sure it could be popular.

Buckets of rain after we got the mail. Was that at four? Hm. It was lightening up when I finished BP, anyway. Well, it'll probably be muddy on tonight's walk, though. 

Mom called during dinner. I talked to her while Grandma finished eating--so nice. She says they've put the paddock back together, and are separating the lambs from the ewes. Glad to hear it.

We went for our last run about seven-thirty. It was reasonably cool, with clouds advancing to regain the ground lost in a retreat after this afternoon's rain. There was a very handsome buck standing near the road, screened from Lark by a stand of trees. I didn't see him at all until I was nearly past, then the flick of an ear, perhaps, caught my eye, and I twitched. He calmly observed as I went a few more steps, at a normal gait, then carefully backtracked to greet him. He watched and listened, undisturbed, at I chatted him up and looked him over. He was the red type, very handsome, with what I understand to be four-point antlers, still velvety. I stayed for a few moments, until Lark began to get suspicious, and then I went on, feeling that it would be fearfully impolite to let her chase him. Makes me wonder if hunting is allowed, down there--although he may have felt safe simply because of the season.

Our walk continued uneventfully for the full loop until we were almost out into the creek bed, still in the little scrubby area where the little crick probably flows once a year into the wide wash. I was watching Lark run into the brush around the creek bed, where she would probably meet me when I came out, when a movement caught my eye through the scrub. A deer? The movement was pretty low, though, and of a different type--I waited for the animal to come clear: it was a coyote. Heading for Lark. I yelled for her to come, and she did, promptly, possibly having developed an ear for hysterical summonses by now. So she came, and looked back, and--oh, cool, what's that? Hey, (running over) what are you? LARK! Come! Huh? Oh, Sorry, gotta go, Mom's calling. And she came. Thank you. She even stayed close all the way out of the long grass ("Don't go in the long grass! Velociraptors!") and into the Heller road. I kept a frantic eye on her, having no hope of tracking the coyote in the scrub, brush, and tall grass, and by the time she was tired of surveillance I was beginning to tell myself things like, "Well, he looked like he was going somewhere. He won't take the trouble to follow us, will he? Probably not." She did disappear, though, in the scrub oaks a fair way up the road, and I had calmed down sufficiently that I hadn't freaked out by the time I saw another buck, of the gray variety this time, bounding along the fence line that runs down to the gate. There seemed to be a small black streak on the grass some distance behind him, and I focused on the next clear view. Yes, Lark was after him. I continued, no longer worried except in the automatic, almost casual way of any mother while their child is doing something stimulating. Do deer kick? Elk and moose kick. Nah, she's always too far behind. I doubt a deer would fight, anyway. Well, probably a mother would, if she had fawns nearby. Not a buck, though. Deer are supposed to be defenseless--but defencelessness doesn't mean you can't be an aggressor, with the right attitude.--She came when I whistled from out past the gate, coming down the slope and under the rail fence up there. When I called her for the leash, she said, Are you kidding? Give me a break. Oh, fine. Whatever.--And she lay down to pant until I'd clipped the leash on. I've been making her sit for the leash, past few days, and she apparently felt drop was less demanding. We made it home, anyway.

New manga, Teppen!. Showbiz, which is okay. Girl trying to find unknown family member, with a comedy tag. Hm, potential. Dorm-room gender-bender--well why didn't you say so?! Wheeeee! Good, strong heroine, too--personality-wise, I mean, and being a boy was more of a misunderstanding than anything else. Did I say whee? Wheeee! Only three chapters so far, though. I hope they don't make it twenty volumes--five should be about right, I'd say. Anyway, bai now! :D

Three sets of five each situps and pushups, just before showering. Lark administered first aid after the pushups, until I was ready for situps. Oog......