What next you ask? Well, after a leisurely morning seeing everyone off and recruiting good deeds from friends headed back to Saratoga, we headed north for our 'mini-moon.' We spent the next few nights at the Trails End Inn in Keene Valley and took advantage of nice weather to get in a few hikes in the High Peaks region. Our hikes included Marcy Dam through to Avalanche Lake on Monday and Mount Joe in sun chards complete with Andy taking a swim in Heart Lake on Tuesday. After the short hike Tuesday we drove up to the top of Whiteface for some great views of Mirror Lake under changeable skies.

More recently - along with thank you cards, wedding pictures and the website, and the Christmas season - we also now have a new member in the family! A 2-year-old (mostly) yellow lab by the name of Mindy. She has been a fun addition (most of the time) and gets along cautiously with our cat Sassy.

Still, stories to tell already. Just this past week we spent Christmas in Buffalo where we caught up with all of Andy's family over the long weekend. Since we had only had Mindy for two weeks, we were glad we got the OK to bring her along despite houses full of brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. Well, the crowds were a minor challenge for her, but she did very well all week in general. So good in fact that maybe we got toooo confident! Just as we were packing our gear to leave on Sunday, I needed to return a couple sleds we had borrowed from a neighbor just up the quiet development Mom Lives in. In a moments insanity we decided to try taking Mindy over off-leash...

Starting off was ok, although it was clear she wasn't going to actually come to me, just that she was willing to hang nearby. Then as we got near our destination, she saw three other (well-trained) dogs off leash across the creek along with a gaggle of geese. Well that distracted her mightily - but fortunately she was too chicken to cross the creek. I thought things would be OK once I got her away from the creek and up another house, but she wouldn't chase me down the road back to grandma's and headed back for one more visit to the creekside.

Well you should know that there is some wooded green space along the creek throughout the development, and all the while Mindy was bouncing back and forth along the creek watching the critters across the way... the critters, well, in the way were getting antsy. As I call from up the road feebly trying to get Mindy's attention I see things go from bad to worse right before my eyes as I see a deer race out of the glen at full bound followed by another and another and another and still another until six deer were racing across the development with a little yellow lab in full pursuit! Oi!

Long and short - despite our multi-car effort, Mindy raced right back to my Mom's house at full speed about twenty minutes later! Did I already say it ... Oi again! Anyway - I'm sure there is a picture of her in with the Family Christmas pics.

This page last modified on: Saturday February 07, 2004 09:20 AM