June 30th Isolated storms

Good morning everyone! Or rather, good afternoon! It was 59°F when we woke up this morning at 5:30 a.m., thanks to a cold front coming through. (but we are glad that a cold front only means 60°F weather, and not snow in the summer!). We did not get to adventure very much this morning, but the day is still young and we are excited to go exploring. Take a look at this gorgeous weather difference between 11 a.m. and 12 p.m.!

Thunderstorms and isolated rain storms are still on the menu today as the cold front is chasing all the warmth upwards. With nowhere to go, it eventually cools, condenses, and precipitates. With clouds so thick, we wouldn’t be surprised if there were hail reports around our area.

But since the wind had cleared the aky last night, we got to see a beautiful night sky after a gorgeous sunset filled with feathery clouds! Jupiter was a little higher on the Southern Horizon, next to Scorpio’s tail. The Milky Way was also gorgeous and everywhere you looked with the binoculars, there were thousands of stars!! It really makes you feel small in comparison.

I am being a great cuddle dog this morning as my blogging human isn’t feeling well (but she still is smiling, so it can’t be too bad). But Winston literally ate her favorite flip flop, right in front of her, as she was uploading pictures. This was his revenge for getting hosed down yesterday for a bath. Winston wouldn’t forgive our human all morning, then pretended to forgive her later in the afternoon. Now, he finally sprung his revenge! This is what my human gets for trying to save us from ticks and diseases with baths and frontline. When will Winston understand?!

Love you all, enjoy your Sunday!

Love,

Mack

 

June 29th Water dogs

Good morning everyone! Yesterday sure felt hotter than any day of 2019 so far and reached above 80°F. Today, as a stationary front is above us, the temperature shouldn’t be too different, but we might get storms this afternoon!

Yesterday one of my humans loaded the car with some gear. It looked like they were going somewhere, so I hopped in. No matter how many times she called my name, I would not budge. You are not leaving without me, human!

 Finally my human gave up and let me join the trip. Mack for the WIN! At least, that’s what I was thinking.

Then, when we got there, I realized what my punishment was going to be. I was picked up and placed in the water vessel! My human climbed in behind me and we sped away from shore!

 My human then led us to another shore, where I climbed out and ran onto land. Finally, some exploration!

But, it didn’t take long for me to realize that this new place had no squirrels, snakes, or chipmunks. In fact, it seemed that no matter where I went, there was water! My human was paddling on her contraption around the land while I scampered around. What sort of place is this, human?!

My human then paddled to a shallow spot and seemed to wait for me to climb back on the water vessel. There was no way I was climbing back on that thing!

But as I waded back into the water, it occurred to me that it was refreshing. Maybe water isn’t that bad after all. My human sat there as I started to explore the water. All of a sudden, my back legs couldn’t reach the bottom anymore, and I was swimming!!

My human then told me what a very good boy I was. She held the water vessel next to the shore so I could climb in. We went home and picked up Winston to try the same thing.

HA HA, Winston. That’s what you get for coming second! I’m already a proficient swimmer while you are still testing the waters.

We splashed around for a while until I found out that if I swam to the water vessel, my human would pull me inside. So I did that. Winston did not want to try that, so we had to scoop him up in shallow waters. We paddled back to the car, where more humans had gatherws. I really, really wanted to jump out of the kayak and swim towards them, now that I’m a great swimmer, you know – but my human held me. In fact, I never got to touch the ground again! I went swimming and then my human scooped me up and put me in the car, dripping and all. At least she let down all the windows and cranked the AC while she was strapping the kayak. I know a lot of furry guys get trapped in cars when it’s hot out – I’d rather be in the AC and whining with my head out the window!

Back at home, we have these lovely roses starting to peep up and a strong wind coming in. Thunderstorm, is that you? Can we go swimming again, human? Why not??

Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Love,

Mack

 

 

June 28th – The Dog Days of Summer

Good morning everyone! With the last two days of summer reaching over 80°F (and today is projected to be the hottest day out of the three) and with no school in sight, we can say that we have lazily entered the dog days of summer. You can tell because we are soaking up the sun on the porch at noontime.

But what exactly is the “Dog days of summer” in human lore?

Astronomically, the “dog days of summer” refers to a period of time in mid-July to mid-August that corresponds to the time where Sirius, the Dog Star, plays peek-a-boo with us by rising a little before the Sun. Sirius has got to be my favorite star. Not only does it come from the constellation “The Dog”, it is THE brightest star in our sky. Its other name is Alpha Canis Majoris. I like to think of myself as Alpha Canis Majoris (unfortunately, so does Winston. Our non-blogging human thinks we are secretly ‘feuding’ with each other in dog language. Little does he know that I will always be the Alpha!)

Egyptians kept a good record of their night sky, and they began to notice that the weather was at its hottest when this bright star appeared right before dawn. Soon enough, Sirius became a sign that we were moving into the hottest stretch of the year, which happens in July. When Sirius became part of the night sky more than part of the dawn sky (towards mid August, in their time) they would consider the dog days to be over.

It’s another case of “correlation without causation”. Yes, Sirius rising above the horizon at dawn happens typically during the worst summer heat. But it does not cause summer heat. Sirius is still 8.6 light years away, you know! (That’s the distance covered in eight years traveling at the speed of light!) Silly humans.

In MY book, the dog days of summer go like this:

1. The weather is warm enough so that your belly and ears are warm in the Sun and the porch is hot to touch.
2. Humans are now staying at home more than going to work, meaning that we are outside lounging around.
3. No rain. Dog days don’t mix with rain.

I haven’t even seen Sirius yet! Do you think I could wake up my human at 4:30 a.m. so I can see Sirius?

However, in the Catskills, upstate NY, it’s not astronomically the dog days yet. Sirius is probably still behind the Sun right now and not visible at all at dawn yet. Besides, our “heat wave” is only three days long. Our front map shows a stationary front to the South and a warm front to the SW, with some rain along the border. We will probably get more rain over the weekend, breaking this heat trend.

But in France and most of Europe, it really IS the dog days of summer.  In fact, today, France might have registered their highest temperature on record. The French even have a word for the traditional heat wave that makes its way this time of year, “cannicule” (see how it comes from the latin word for dog, Canis Majoris?).

But don’t blame it on the dogs! We just like to power the solar cells in our bellies!

Enjoy the sun everyone.

Love,

Mack

 

June 27th Attack of the Robins

Good morning everyone! It is tradition to sleep in the first day of summer vacation. The days are getting slightly shorter, too. The sun is rising a whole two minutes later now (5:23 a.m.) then it rose on the summer solstice (5:21 a.m)! We keep waking up at the same time, though, and it took a lot of whines to get our humans up this morning.

But we just didn’t want to waste the day. It’s beautiful out here! The sky is blue, the air is already at 62°F, and there is no chance of rain in the forecast. It’s the perfect weather to run free in the grass while humans toil away.

Today, after three months of chasing after birds, WE got chased by birds!! Can you believe their audacity? A flock of four or five robins descended upon us as we were peacefully observing the beautiful flowers neighboring our garden. Winston was scared of a bird for the first time! We respectfully ran walked at a distance from the crabapple tree, where the robins seemed to be stationed at. Not content with merely attacking us, they swooped upon us and literally chased us around the yard, hopping from tree to tree. Boy, were they mad! We didn’t even get to see a nest. We fled inside for safety and watched them continue to bicker among themselves from the windows.

This takes “angry bird” to a whooole other dimension. Look at this guy’s face!

Well, the sun is calling. I hope everyone has a fantastic start to their summer!

Love,

Mack

 

 

June 25th My story

Good morning everyone! The rain is sprinkling outside at 60°F – finally, a warm morning! We raced around the pond and chased all the pond cows and the birds. Our pond has an algae bloom right now and there has been talk of snipping it while kayaking.

Today as I inspected my realm, I thought to myself: I have a good life! All my dreams have been fulfilled. Here are the top ten good things of my life:

1. I have a loving family who spoils me!

2. I can run free outside for acres and acres.

3. I am never too hot or too cold, I have enough heat if needed and the weather never warms up too much here anyways!

4. I am protected against the elements.

5. I have toys!

6. My humans don’t leave me home alone for toooo long. Just enough time for me to nap!

7. My food is delicious. I always say thank you!

8. There are enough backyard critters to entertain any four legged being.

9. My brother, Winston, always wants to play.

10. I regularly get treats as awards!

That is the life, right? I know. Not all dogs are that lucky, so I shouldn’t brag. My own life wasn’t always this way. Before arriving at the shelter, I lived for a year with a family where I accidentally nipped one of their toddlers when we were playing. I got sent to a shelter for six months where there were very kind workers but too many other dogs. I developed a behavior of barking and jumping crazily at people coming in (I thought it would help them see me better!). Then, in September 2018, my humans walked in and saw me leaping. We say it was love at first sight. They simply “knew” we were meant for each other. Later, we found out I have the same birthday as one of my humans – October 3rd. Talk about meant to be!

I hope all of you find your loving families and your forever homes too!

Have a great Tuesday.

Love,

Mack

June 23rd The night sky in June

Good morning everyone! We are back in the Land of the Riding Lawnmowers. It is a brisk 48°F this morning and windy! A couple of high pressure systems have moved in, bringing clear skies, lower temperatures, and wind. Temperatures should rise to the 70’s again.

Yesterday we had fun in the Land of the Speed Zones and Pushmowers. I quickly was taught that my temporary realm was not all that I could see. Nevertheless, I ventured into a stranger’s house and found a friend! This adorable fluff ball wanted to play, so I brought him to my humans. We played for maybe ten hours (or was it ten minutes?) until a neighbor came to pick my friend up. The funny thing was, the neighbor apologized profusely for my friend being over there, even though it was me who went into their house and picked him up!

Last night we got to see a gorgeous starry night sky! Jupiter was the brightest object in the sky over the Southern horizon, and right next to it was the red jewel of summer – Antares, the red giant in Scorpio, also known as its “heart” for its dazzling red sparkle. The only other object redder than Antares would be Mars, but we didn’t see Mars. High above, we saw beautiful Vega, the brightest star if you look straight up, which is also the pinnacle of the summer triangle, whose other two stars are Deneb, part of the swan constellation, and Aquila. Take a closer look at the swan constellation and stay outside for more than five minutes so your eyes adjust to the dark, and you’ll see that the swan is swimming in our Milky Way. Pick any spot to observe the Milky Way with your backyard binoculars and you’ll see hundreds of tiny stars, nebulae, and maybe a star cluster. But back to Jupiter – swing those binoculars South and you’ll see three moons aligned by an invisible ruler to its right: Io, Europa, and Callisto. There would be a fourth one to its left, Ganymede, which we did not observe but this simulator told us it should be there as well.

Little Winston and I are glad to be back home! We thoroughly secured the realm by running off and not coming when called, and now we are soaking in our human’s love because we feel they neglected us during the car ride home. Why did my driving human deny my kisses yesterday and my attempts to be petted? Pooh. They better pet us in double today.

Have a great Sunday!

Love,

Mack

 

June 22nd Old places with new eyes

Good morning everyone! You would not believe the afternoon I had yesterday. My humans had arrived from work, let us out and then fitted us with our harnesses. We thought – oh goody! We’re going on our favorite hike. So we leaped into the car. Then they kept us in the car – for three hours! Boy, I tell you, we won’t be getting easily in the car again.

Now we woke up in a completely different realm. We woke our human at 4 a.m. just in case she made a mistake. No, it turns out we are really supposed to be here in the land of Furry Beasts. I am calling it that because I have seen two furry beasts that we do not have at home: a silver bushy tailed one that makes me go boinkers, and a beige one with floppy ears that bounces too fast and too stealthily for me to track it.