Kicking back with Karl Rove

I haven’t checked in for awhile but that’s not because nothing’s been coming down. Quite the opposite. Last weekend, for example, I accompanied my master and mistress to Austin, where they attended the Texas Book Festival Gala. That’s the kickoff event for the weekend-long Book Festival. Their hosts were Lillian and Ted (T.R.) Fehrenbach. Ted is a renowned historian and author of, among other books, “Lone Star,” a sweeping history of Texas. Lillian is my favorite, though, because she always notices me.

Laura Bush spoke at the gala and read from her recently-published book. My mistress noticed that she wore black, as did many of the women at the stellar event (including Mary, who wore a beaded black number she scored at the thrift shop where she volunteers). Austin’s finest turned out en masse at that scene, among them Karl Rove. Mary had her picture taken with the architect of the Bush candidacy and emailed it on her iPhone to liberal friends for fun.

Meanwhile I spent the night at Maverick’s house with his dog. It was cold, so I snuggled up to Maverick in his bed. My mistress calls me a hussy when I take up with folks that way, by hey, Maverick has been a stand up guy to me. And he puts up with a lot from Chigurh. To wit:

Maverick emailed yesterday that he is thinking about placing a singles ad for Chigurh, who seems lonesome when he doesn't have a doggie visitor. It would read “Older male seeks companion tolerant of coprophagia, crotch sniffing, cowpie-rolling and stained carpets.” Well, fastidious princess that I am I certainly don’t plan to respond to that ad, even if I am mighty fond of Chigurh’s long-suffering master.

Close Call, Dangerous Flower

A shocking thing happened this week to my friend, Chigurh. His master, Maverick (my mistress’ son) was jogging with him in Austin and a car, swerving to miss Maverick, hit Chigurh in the head. He was knocked out cold but fortunately revived. Thank God the vet says he’s going to be fine.

I had seen Chigurh last weekend when the family went to their country place near Tarpley to enjoy the gorgeous fall weather. We took a long walk up Williams creek, where Chigurh reveled in rolling in mud to the point that he looked like a harlequin. (When he’s not rolling in mud, he’s rolling in fresh cow patties. Go figure).

Thanks to Chigurh’s example I’m now enjoying getting my feet wet in the creek. Heretofore I’ve mostly walked along the banks but now I see that since the water is so shallow I’m in no danger and it’s really kind of fun.

As it turned out, this time the danger was on the banks rather than in the water. Mary was excited when she spied a gorgeous new flower by the side of the creek. Cardinal flower, as it is called, is a member of the lobelia family and has both medicinal and deadly attributes. Apparently a number of early settlers died of overdoses. So when granddaughter Christina asked to pick the pretty red flower her Nana said no.

I’ve been watching Christina and her Nana working on a wildflower book at home every day after Christina arrives from kindergarten. Christina prints the name of the flower and Mary pastes a picture she took of it in an album. So far they have done thirty and they have about that many to go. But, of course, Mary finds new varieties every time we go to the country.

As to WWT activities, last week the ladies and I had a very interesting walk with Helen Ballew, director of the Headwaters Sanctuary at the University of the Incarnate Word campus. We revisited the Blue Hole headwaters of the San Antonio River. Thanks to recent rains, it is again flowing. We also walked along St. Brigid’s Path, a peaceful contrast to the bustling campus.

This week the ladies did Olmos Park again. The only problem is that when they walk there, they never stop to talk. When they’re exploring a new place I get a lot more sniffing time as they often pause to check things out. So here’s hoping they will have lots more “field trips” this fall.

Coyotes, Blue Snakes and Christina

Haven’t blogged for awhile, but that’s not because my life has slowed down. To the contrary, it’s sped up, what with trips almost every weekend to the country. Not to mention Mary’s granddaughter coming from kindergarten every afternoon.

We’ll start with the country. For the last month and a half, my master and mistress have gone to their place in Bandera County on weekends in conjunction with some renovation work. They have cleared out rooms and sorted through the 30 years’ worth of accumulation in closets, bookshelves, cabinets--you name it.

Luckily Mary made time to take me down to the creek every day, so I’m a happy camper. Except for when she takes me too close to sunset. Mary seems mystified when I suddenly race up the hill towards the house as dark approaches. Well, the reason can be seen in the photo she took just a couple of miles up the road: a trio of coyotes strung up by a rancher on a fence. On our place, I can smell the crafty devils and feel especially vulnerable at day’s end.

To make matters worse, a couple of weeks ago Maverick saw an indigo snake down by the creek early in the morning. These large (and I do mean large) constrictors also known as blue snakes are harmless to humans and are appreciated as rodent removers. But hey, I’m about the size of the cottontail rabbits that live up there, and the thought of those squeezing serpents give me the creeps.

As to the granddaughter’s after-school visits, at least I don’t need to worry that she wants to eat me for supper. Christina does, however demand all my mistresses’ attention. Young folks make me nervous so I’m just as happy to be ignored. So when Christina’s here I bed down and wait until her mother picks her up after work. Then I go back to claiming all my mistress' attention to myself.

Miracle on the Hondo

A couple of months ago I wrote about my mistress losing her prize Alain Mikli eyeglasses on Hondo Creek. It happened when I fell into a sinkhole and in trying to save me, Mary’s classy shades went into the drink.

Well, a miracle occurred this weekend at our country place, where the water level has now dropped: Mary’s son, William, probed with his foot and found the glasses resting on the bottom of the offending sinkhole. They were crusted over but Dr. Maury Diskin at Today's Eyes, the store where she bought them, was able to clean them up with of all things, rubbing alcohol.

Here’s another happy story. It’s about a beagle named Trooper, owned by a former mayor of San Antonio and his wife--Howard and Margie Peak. “I got Howard a beagle for our first Valentine’s together in 1970,” Margie recalls. “She lived to be 18.” Hooked on the breed, the Peaks adopted another beagle, who lived to be 14. Three days after she died, Margie took all her doggie toys to the Humane Society as a donation.

“While I was there,” Margie recalls, “a man brought a precious eight-month- old beagle. He was moving to an apartment that didn’t take pets. I called Howard and he raced over to the Humane Society to see him…He raced to Howard. Needless to say the rest is history.”

At first, Trooper was a “real rascal,” Margie recalls, “but he has turned out to be such a lovable, sweet little boy. We just celebrated his eighth birthday and he is a wonderful addition to our family.” I met Trooper at the Terrell Hills Fourth of July parade this summer as he stood on the sidelines. I, on the other hand, was front and center in the parade, princess that I am.

Mystery Solved

This just in: Mary's son, Maverick, just weighed in on the hyena. "I saw a scary looking dog outside Villasol during breakfast (last week)," he emailed, "that, come to think of it, had a hyena's coloration. Like a brindle German shepherd."

No Hyenas There

Today my mistress let me down: she didn’t take me on the weekly WWT outing. Of course she had an excuse. Well two, really.

First, the Wednesday Walkie Talkies were going to explore a neighborhood where Mary’s five-year-old granddaughter had spotted what she referred to as a hyena last week. She saw what surely must have been a spotted street dog in the parking lot of the little Mexican restaurant—Villasol-- where she had just eaten.

Thus Mary was afraid that when the WWTs walked the neighborhood adjoining Villasol, there might be stray canines who would consider me breakfast. Furthermore she figured dogs wouldn’t be welcome in the restaurant, where the WWTs planned to have their breakfast after the walk.

After my mistress got home I overheard her tell my master she saw several stray dogs wandering the streets, though none with spots. While I probably would have come out unscathed from the walk, I certainly would have been canis non grata at Villasol.

So I’m going to forgive Mary for leaving me behind, providing she takes me out for a walk this afternoon Now that (thanks to yesterday's rain) we've had a reprieve from the beastly heat, she has no excuse not to make it a long one.

See me Strut

I’ve walked with the ladies for the past two Wednesdays. Even though we started early it got plenty hot. I’m sooooo tired of this beastly August heat. To make it worse, my mistress’s son, Maverick, has dropped off his Lab, Chigurh (named for the asassain in “No Country for Old Men”), along with his part-rotweiler friend, Townes (named for singer Townes Van Zandt), for the week.

I had hoped the big dogs would hang out in the back yard and leave me alone. But they don’t like the heat any more than I do. So I’ve had to protect my turf in the house inch by inch. The only thing I really like about the situation is that when we take a walk, I don’t feel nervous about being attacked by larger dogs. I still shiver when I think about the close call I had with a big stray that tried to kill me in front of our house.

My favorite WWT is Ann McMullan, who I always greet enthusiastically. They say we admire those who admire us. Well, Ann is the one who loves the way I lift my entire back end whenever I’m leaving my scent. And she’s the one who is amazed to see how I can keep up with everyone for an hour on my short legs. (All I can say to that is that they may be short, but I’ve got twice as many.)

Now I’ve got another favorite: Mary Ann Franzke. Last week after we walked for nearly an hour in Olmos Park, Mary and I went to her house to see a video on Chataqua, where she and her husband spent a week this summer. I was on my Ps and Qs there, and I guess it paid off as this Wednesday she brought me four adorable seasonal outfits, handed down from a dog she used to have. Now I’m ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter (if I’m willing to wear a silly pair of rabbit ears) and the Fourth of July. See me strut!