Old Songs Weekend

Every June I head out to the annual Old Songs weekend folk music festival at an old county fair ground near the rural town of Altamont, New York. Unfortunately dogs (except for service dogs) are not allowed on the festival grounds so that I could not bring Olive with me. Fortunately I had several offers from dog-loving friends to look after her for the weekend. I decided on my sister and brother-in-law, since Olive seems very comfortable with them and their home.

The festival includes a tenting area which is what I have been doing since I started going there in 1991. I have a small tent just large enough to sleep in comfortably (with the help of an air mattress) but small enough so that putting it up and taking it down can be easily and quickly done by one person. I had a good time Friday night and Saturday; a session of Quebecoise music alone was well worth the trip. Unfortunately the weather turned quite wet Saturday night just before the evening's main concert program. My tent seems to have developed a small leak (which I believe I can easily fix with a spray sealant) making sleeping on rainy Saturday night much less pleasant than dry Friday night. In the morning I evaluated the schedule and found that most of what I had been planning to do would be outdoors. The weather outlook was not good, so I reluctantly took down my tent in the rain and stashed it in my car, changed into some dry clothes, and left the festival for hot coffee and a vegetable omelet breakfast at a nearby diner. My tent and sleeping bag were wet enough that I wanted to put them in a place to dry before any mildew developed. I also was anxious to get back to my border collie.

When I got home I figured that I could get a number of things done more easily and quickly without Olive pestering me to toss her ball or otherwise pay attention to her. I set up my tent in my living room to dry, hung the sleeping bag in my dry basement on a clothesline, did a load of laundry, and took a shower. Then I called my sister and let her know I was on my way.

As I expected, Olive was quite happy to see me after a two day separation. I was informed over tea that she was reasonably well-behaved, ate well, and kept the family busy. Hmmm.....doesn't sound as if she missed me THAT much. :-(

My friends Kathryn and Mark, who I visited in the Berkshires a few weeks ago, have sent me some photos taken during the visit (see my previous blog entry). The photos were impressive.

Note the viaduct in the background, the remnants of an old mill.

"Look at me in the water!"

At the Buhrmaster Barn contra dance: her eyes are aglow with happiness (and camera flash)!

Videos of Olive's First Contra Dance

The contra dance at the Buhrmaster Barn that I mentioned in my last post is on You Tube.

Olive’s first contra dance, which I mentioned in my last post, has been posted on You Tube. You will see her at 8:02 on the video posted at

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfAyOiH8J_I

There is some footage of Kathryn dancing, and a glimpse of me. Some more of the dance is at the following posting, with a good shots of Olive at 3:40.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eS8_GjozhM

Olive the water dog/Olive's first contra dance

I am fortunate to have a young neighbor who loves dogs and who seemed eager to act as a sitter for Olive when I broached the subject with her and her mom. Saturday was the annual sea music festival in Mystic, CT. I considered bringing Olive along, as dogs are allowed on the seaport grounds, but decided to leave her home as I might want to attend some performances at indoor venues. As such I asked my neighbor to look in on Olive around early afternoon. I had resolved to skip the evening concert and leave after the daytime activities ended. I thought that Olive might not take well to someone entering our unit without me, but my sitter reported that Olive greeted her with a kiss and was a perfect lady. This means that I can use her again when I need to leave Olive at home for more than a few hours.

On Sunday my friends Kathryn and Mark, who lives in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts, suggested that I bring Olive up to play with their two corgis. They also suggested that I consider going to a dog-friendly contra dance near Albany. I packed a few things for Olive, including her canvas water dish, and we drove up.

We did a light hike along a well maintained trail near the ruins of some nineteenth century mills. I took Olive off leash for a time. She was reasonably well behaved and came whenever I called her, but I got a bit concerned that she was running off the trail frequently and jumping into a stream that looked to have some significant currents. I put the leash back on and resolved to work on a “with me” command or “heel” command for future such activities, as well as routine walks. We did discover, however, that Olive loves the water! She seemed to like the feel of it against her skin and didn’t mind sitting or even laying down in the shallow water. Kathryn took some photos and a video, which I will post on this blog (if I can) when Kathryn is able to send them to me.

After the hike we went to the dog-friendly contra dance at the Buhrmaster Barn in the town of Colonie, New York. Olive seemed to be a hit with many of the dancers, and reveled in the attention she got. I joked that I had to pay admission but my “date” did not. I had no problem getting people to stay with her while I did a few dances, always choosing a spot in a line where Olive could see me. The music and all the activity did not seem to bother her. We left about half way through the dance so that I could get home at a reasonable time. I am sorry that there is not a similar dance closer to me so that Olive and I could go more often. Again, I will post photos that Kathryn took when I can.

We hit some construction traffic tie-ups on I-91 heading back to Connecticut, so we didn’t get home until nearly eleven. Both of us were exhausted. I was quite pleased with Olive’s behavior.

Today was a day of heavy rain. I tried out a rain hiking outfit that I bought at LL Bean just for the purpose of taking Olive out in the rain. It worked well, though my shoes got quite wet and I kicked myself for not getting a rain hat to go along with the outfit. After each walk Olive and I played with the foam rubber saucer in the rain. Olive seemed to love it. Each time I had to call it when it looked as if she was getting tired. I think the rain outfit was a good investment.

Party Girl

A group of friends gets together most Tuesday nights for supper, usually at one person's or another's house. Last Tuesday was my turn to host.

I was a bit apprehensive about what Olive's reaction would be to a group of people occupying our home, but I needn't have worried. I fed her at 5:00 (her usual time); people began arriving around 7:00. Some of the people she already knew, and she fit right in with the crowd as a whole. Eight or nine people is the usual attendance; this time there were 14. At one point she withdrew to my downstairs bathroom, where she likes to be when it gets warm and humid to lay on the cool floor tiles. I had thought she might go upstairs to her own bed (where there were no people) to withdraw, but it did not seem to be the case. For the most part she was with everyone. There was little begging (if any) for food; she conducted herself as a perfect lady. I was very pleased with her.

Most of the dishes were done before the crowd left. Once it was just the two of us again, she seemed a bit relieved. I did a small amount of cleaning up, taking the trash out, and decided to leave what cleaning was undone for the next day. Wednesday morning I got up to walk and feed Olive, then went to a nearby breakfast spot. I then decided that Olive needed a break as well and took her to the dog park. That seemed to get her back to her normal self. When we got home I finished the washing, vacuumed the living room and dining room, put the rooms back to their normal state, and breathed a sigh of relief. By then I was exhausted and just relaxed the rest of the day, eating a plate of leftover potato salad and green salad for lunch, leftover vegetable casserole and pork chops with the last of the potato salad for supper.

I sometimes save comic strips I come across on line, especially if I can relate to them from my experience with Olive. Here are a few. Enjoy!

Errata

As I related previously, I discovered how to automatically send copies of my blogs to interested people. I set the system up so that the people who were getting my "Life with Olive" bulletins would get this one. As before, if you would rather not get the blog automatically just let me know and I will remove your email address. No offense will be taken.

Sorry to repeat the above part of my last posting; It seems that the list of people I had intended to send my blog to did not register properly so that only a few of the people received my last entry. I believe that the problem was that only ten addresses are allowed; I had more than ten. As such I had to pare the list down.

This morning I took Olive to the dog park for exercise. Many mornings we have the entire park to ourselves, though this morning there were a number of other dogs there. Olive politely greeted them and allowed them to sniff her; she was, however, more interested in chasing tennis balls that I threw. As we were finishing up, two of the other dogs quarreled. Olive was the perfect lady and ignored them (as their people tried to halt the fight). If those two were trying to impress her by fighting, Olive was having none of it. I was very pleased with her behavior.

Lunch Date

The rain we had recently seemed to have put Olive under the weather. She was just not herself last Sunday, which may in part have been because I had to leave her alone while I spent much of the day volunteering at a whale exhibit at a nearby science museum, sponsored by the Cetacean Society International, of which I am a board member. I was grateful that she seemed to be back to her old self on Monday.

Today I had to leave her again for the morning while I did my shift as a volunteer tutor at an adult literacy program in Hartford. I felt guilty about leaving her alone part of the day again, so I started thinking about what we might do together today. This morning's Hartford Courant (newspaper) answered me with a review of a beach-style seafood restaurant in Rocky Hill, a suburb across the river from Glastonbury. The restaurant is called Shad Row, near the launch of a historic ferry between Rocky Hill and the village of South Glastonbury, reputed to be the oldest continuously operated ferry in the U.S. What caught my attention was a note that the place is dog friendly. I decided to take Olive out for lunch. Immediately after finishing my tutoring shift, I drove home, got Olive, and we drove to the place.

The restaurant has no indoor seating, just tables on a deck overlooking the Connecticut River. It is quite casual, despite full waiter service. When we got there it was more crowded than I had expected, though we found a shaded table right away. I poured some water into Olive's canvas water dish, and she made herself comfortable. Some nearby patrons immediately made friends with her, and the restaurant owner even came by to pet her. I thanked her for making the place dog-friendly, to which she responded that she would not have had it any other way. Service was a bit laid back, though prompt and courteous. I played it safe and ordered fish & chips with coleslaw, though next time I might try one of the edgier offerings. I had brought along a dog treat for Olive, which I gave her as soon as my lunch came. Olive was a perfect lady; several patrons commented on what a sweet dog she is and how beautiful she is (as if we didn't already know). A helpful waiter snapped a picture of the two of us on the deck.

After lunch we walked around the grassy area of a nearby riverfront park, which Olive seemed to enjoy. We got home around 2:30.

The review of Shad Row is available online at http://www.courant.com/features/food/hc-alacarte-shad-row-rocky-hill-0604-20150529-story.html

Note: I discovered how to automatically send copies of my blogs to interested people. I set the system up so that the people who were getting my "Life with Olive" bulletins would get this one. As before, if you would rather not get the blog automatically just let me know and I will remove your email address. No offense will be taken.