Bark!

...or "wood", depending on what part of the tree we're talking about here. Sylvia was just upset to see her friend, Frank, leave. Frank is cutting up wood before the ground gets too soft and Sylvia has had fun trotting around the muddy crevices filled with icy water left by Frank's tractor. It's that time of year for Maple syrup and the sap is running strong. Sylvia and I hope to get out to Maple Syrup Sunday, which is a breakfast festival of sorts celebrating the natural sugar.

Missing the mark, but it's the idea that counts

Those of you who know Sylvia might remember her habit of pawing the ground after leaving her...eh...ah ... after fertilizing the roadside. She often misses the mark in what looks to be an attempt to bury her treasure, by several feet. I sort of thought she might have been stretching, but this quirky habit, as a friend pointed out, might be some ingrained behavior left over from her ancestral wolf bretheren. It could also be some kind of Italian doggie thing.

Spring is here and the snow is melting fast. Sylvia and I are breaking out into the great pastures of life, to explore, sniff around and see what ol' man winter left behind.

Breaking out of winter

Here we are, running on the edge of the road. Finally, spring is here!

Well, we made it to the remote icy island named after Col. James Swan (I think he was a colonel, anyway). Here we are at the site of the island's new library, to be completed soon. The original library, which I visited often whenever on the island in the summer, burnt to the ground after being struck by lightening, taking with it a vast collection of historical records. The wonderfully creative Meghan has worked to bring some history back to life with her radio documentaries of island residents. Historians she has been working with are doing their best to preserve the past! Sylvia and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to visit this site and get a few sniffs while there.

 "Well, come on in," she said.

 Meghan and Sylvia ran on the beach together. Sylvia barked and ran and wagged her tail the whole way.

 She was so excited to be running on the beach.

 But wait! We can't leave John behind. She came back to get me and we ran together, uniting with Meghan.

 Sylvia trotted right along in her very large, red coat. She sure wasn't cold in the numbing breeze on our walk near Irish Point.

 Sylvia still enjoys one of her favorite stuffed squeeker-animals, the blue dog.

Sylvia runs on the snowy greenway

Well, Sylvia is back to her old self again, for the most part. We have been through a traumatic experience, but thanks to her strength, courage and joyful spirit, Sylvia and I are back on track. What was expected to be a simple operation to remove a fatty lump from her neck turned into a nightmare. Poor Sylvia looked like she had taken part in a slasher film; her neck was all swollen and bruised when we left the vet's office and that night she sat stunned, unable to sleep. We returned to the vet's office three or four more times and staff members called often to check on Sylvia's status. We were not happy. After applying cold packs, taking medicine and resting easy for over a week, Sylvia slowly returned to her joyous, tail-wagging self. Her perly whites really do shine and she smiles more often now. Here we are on the mighty Kennebec, in a town called Farmingdale. From there, we traveled to the mysterious and well-trodden Greenway. I say "mysterious", because both Sylvia and I pondered whether it truly stretches from Maine to Florida. We are curious, but have decided to wait for warmer weather to explore further. 

Touring the icy coast and state capital

Here we are once again facing a new day, a new walk and more fascinating sniffs on a familiar path. Actually, at this moment Sylvia was a little too distracted to sniff. She was anxious to get to know some passers-by that moved on down the road  ahead of us, a woman and her three (?) dogs.

Sylvia and I eventually moved along, too. We had some exploring to do! We visited the Damariscotta River, where the famous Pemaquid Oyster is harvested (not this time of year, though).

As you can see, we enjoyed a fantastic sunset. It was cold, but beautiful.

 We also had some very important sniffing around to do in the state capital. Here we are down on the mighty Kennebec River.