You ain't never caught a rabbit......

I own a dachshund named Gracie Mae; rather, I am owned by a dachsund named Gracie Mae.  For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the breed, allow me to explain.  Dachsund dogs, 'doxies' for short, originated in Germany and were bred for the purpose of hunting badgers.  'Dachs' means badger, and 'Hund' means dog.  Thus....Badger Dog.  Don't let a dachshund's small size fool you.  Doxies are ferocious hunters who not only search for and chase down their prey, but were bred to actually kill their prey as well.  Give this dog a squeeker toy and that toy will be shaken and growled at until proven dead by said doxie.  You can be sure of this.  Many a night my family and I have been thoroughly entertained by giving our dog a squeeky toy.  Once 'deaded', our dog also likes to tear these toys apart by pulling the stuffing out of them piece by piece until the entire rug has been covered in white fluff.  (Believe me, the fun of watching Gracie dead her toy makes up for the time it takes to clean up the mess.) 

Gracie's days in summer are spent purusing the yard for moles, rabbits, mice and ground hogs....anything her nose will lead her to.  She is quite the hunter!  I usually know when she has found something interesting because I can hear her bark and whine frantically as she burrows under the shrubbery.  At first it seemed that she was only entertaining herself by enjoying the chase; but it didn't take long and I started noticing things.....dead things.... lying about the yard.  This little hunter has become an expert at killing moles!  She doesn't eat them, thank goodness, but she finds them, digs them out of their holes and kills them,  leaving them as trophies throughout the yard. 

Weenie, (our nickname for Gracie), is not limited to moles alone.  As one can see from the photo above, (yes, that is Gracie), Weenie has caught several rabbits as well.  The first rabbit was caught when Gracie was just a pup.  Mark, my hubby, did not believe me when I first told him about Gracie's catch.  My skeptical husband said that Weenie could never catch a rabbit because rabbits ran much too fast for her, and she was much too small.  But the remains of that poor, slow rabbit lying in our yard were proof enough that Gracie had won her first trophy.  Gracie's short little legs had proven her dad wrong, once and for all.   Mark laughed in disbelief when he saw that poor dead rabbit lying in the yard.  Gracie didn't care, though.  She just smiled the way dogs always do when they are proud of themselves for whatever task they feel they have accomplished.

  I am very impressed with this little wiener.   I swear Gracie walks a little taller each time she proves that size has nothing to do with ability.  Dachshund's legs may be only about 3 inches high, but in Gracie's mind size does not matter at all.  Gracie Mae is walking tall!  The late Elvis Presley will never be able to sing, 'You ain't nothing but a hound dog' to my ferocious doxie.  Look out, badgers!  Gracie is on the prowl! 

Drake Springs Swimming Pool

It's HOT outside today, (95 and humid.)  The heat isn't stopping me from sitting outside in my gazebo after work., though.  I have been indoors all day.  I know I have the entire winter to spend inside, so I have decided to grin and bear it and sit outside today regardless of my discomfort.  I have a cold drink and the fan is blowing (hot air) but I am trying to disregard the heat and relish this moment alone before the hubby comes home from work and I have to cook dinner.

I wish I had a nice swimming pool to jump into right now.  When I was a kid my hometown of Sioux Falls, SD,  had several public swimming pools that were available for anyone to use at a minimal cost.  My family qualified for 'free' swimming passes, due to our income level and the amount of people we had in our family, so every summer I would anxiously wait for those badges to arrive in the mail, and then my mom would sew them onto my swimming suit.  We were required to have them sewn on our suits because the park system did not want kids sharing their passes with others.  Occasionally, when my mom was too busy to sew the patches on, we would pin the badge onto our suits with a safety pin and then run to the pool for a swim.  We crossed our fingers in hopes that the person at the gate would let us through without the badge being sewn on, and were always glad when we were let in with only a warning.  What a triumph! 

We were required to 'shower' before jumping into the pool.  Showering to us meant getting a few drops of water on ourselves so we could prove that we had stood under the shower spigot.    After walking through the required locker room showers, we then walked out into the sunny pool area and ran (i.e. walked fast.....running was not allowed) to the edge of the pool ready to jump in.  To a child, there is nothing better in this world on a hot sunny day than to see a sparkling blue body of water filled with gleeful children splashing in the water!  I was in heaven!  Some days I would stick my toe in the water and gradually work my way up my legs until each section adjusted to the temperature change.  This was a risk because we knew there was a possibility that the mean boys would see our discomfort with the cold water and come over to splash us, just to see us scream!  How rude of them!  LOL.  Other days I would make bets with my friends and we would agree to count to three and then RUN (walk fast) to the edge of the pool, plug our noses, and leap into the crystal blue water!  What a rush that was!  Once the pool water enveloped around us, we would then jump up and down in the cold water until our bodies adjusted to the temperature.  Nothing worse than trying to swim when you feel like an ice cube in a glass of Kool-aid!  Once adjusted we would spend the rest of the day splashing, laughing and having a ball doing what kids do best.....playing.  We would have swimming contests, do somersaults in the water, have underwater tea parties and diving contests.  There would be cannon balls, splash bombs, and belly flops off the edge of the pool.  We would play motor boat with our hands while spinning in the water, singing, " Motor Boat, Motor Boat, go so slow.  Motor Boat, Motor Boat, go so fast.  Motor Boat, Motor Boat, step on the gas!  (This is when you spin your fastest and let your hand cup the water so it would glide across the surface, leaving a trail of water behind like a boat.)  Ah, such fun this was.

It was always sad when the required 10 minute breaks were called.  Everyone had to evacuate the pool at the top of each hour and lay out on the sidewalk for the break.  The breaks wouldn't start until everyone was out of the water.  It was during this time that adults were allowed to swim freely without a mass of children splashing all over the pool.  I longed for the day when I would be old enough to be able to swim during these breaks.

The pool closed at 5 for family swim, which was from 5 to 6.  No one was allowed to swim during this time unless you were with an adult.  Sometimes my dad would take us to family swim, and we would feel like we had the entire pool to ourselves.  Very few people were there.  What bliss to be able to jump on our dad and play in the water like we owned the place!  We felt like kings and queens of the swimming pool and never wanted to leave. 

Yes, those were grand days back in Sioux Falls hanging out at Drake Springs swimming pool.    Somehow the heat never bothered us at all. There was too much fun to be had.  Summer was too short to be spent inside worrying about how hot and humid it was.   Perhaps that is why I can endure the heat today as I sit outside waiting to cook dinner.  I realize that it won't be long and the snow will be blowing once again and I will be longing to be in my shorts and tank top, sweating from the heat out in my gazebo.   

Let's go!

I am thrilled to have successfully started my official Blog yesterday.  This will be a bit of a journey for me.  I will learn as I go, just as I do with other new adventures I find myself on.  I love to try new things often or life starts to get mundane.  Time to get started!   Looking forward to the ride.....