Hello! I don’t get to post often. Sascha is a blog hog (she doesn’t know how well I rhyme or I’d be given more time…see what I mean?) I am just a crazy rhyming dog. Anyway, in case you don’t know, or haven’t read posts from a billion years ago, I am Scout the Faithful Companion. Personally I dislike that title. I prefer: Scout the very smart, observant English Shepherd. If you know nothing about English Shepherds, I heard someone once talk about us like this: a border collie is smart, but if you tell him to jump off a cliff he’ll do it, an English Shepherd will think about it and then walk away. Now, who’s smart?

First I went to Southern Shores, North Carolina. This is my August vacation where I get to walk around the Chicahauk neighborhood while hoping to avoid the sand burrs that get stuck in my paws. Sascha even pouts when she tries to get them out as they are prickly and make her fingers bleed (imagine getting them stuck in your paw as you walk!). Sometimes I get them out with my teeth and leave them on the carpet. It’s not intentional. I don’t mean for them to get stuck in Sascha’s feet. It just happens sometimes. My bad.

I heard the ocean water was like bathwater, but I didn’t go to the beach. Dogs aren’t allowed between 10 am and 6 pm. And, I’m not really fond of the ocean. I’m from Montana and we don’t have that loudness there. I much prefer the smells around the neighborhood. I met other dogs, a pretty golden and some big guys with wagging tails and a little dude with a loud voice.

There were lots of butterflies and very loud cicadas that almost made me deaf. Here’s a pic of a butterfly that I took.

Butterfly at the Outer Banks.

Just for the record, I don’t chase butterflies. I have a deep respect for all of nature because I didn’t have a real great start in this world, but I’ve gotten over it. You have to. If you don’t know my story, you can read it here. Just remember, I am a happy camper now, most of the time.

Was that a tangent? As Sascha would say: onwards!

I had some yummy leftovers when a doggy bag was brought home from a restaurant. I do like me some fishiness…and some meatness….and some potatoness…and some cheeseness….

I sat out at night and pretended to look for meteorites with Sascha. She saw one while I imagined life on venus even though I know that’s not possible. Most of the nights we saw more bats than meteors because of the clouds. You can still see bats when it’s cloudy. I don’t mind bats unless they come too close. I have a very long coat, you know.

Most of the time I just chilled at Southern Shores. There was one thunderstorm, but I pretended I was listening to the 1812 Overture and didn’t hide on the bed and I was one cool pup.

At the end of that vacation, we were on our way to western North Carolina to meet up with Sascha’s friends and then on to the eclipse. We drove through a new place Alligator River Wildlife Refuge where some people have claimed to see as many as 10 bears in a day. Red wolves also live there and they are endangered. I saw none of them. I didn’t even see an alligator. I did see a vulture. Terrific.

The drive across North Carolina was very long. I heard enough NPR to sedate me for the rest of my canine years…and more. There were lots of these signs.

 

I have to admit that it made me kind of excited. The last eclipse was way, way before I was born and I’m afraid I won’t be here for the next one so this was pretty special even if all of these signs were just about traffic.

But first, I went to Montreat, North Carolina where I stayed at Lou and Dick’s. Now, I have to tell you that I’m not keen on kids. Most pound my head or run at me like I should be happy to see them when I don’t even know them. However, I met Shoe and Cald at Montreat (I may have misspelled their names. I don’t spell as a rule.) and they were pretty great and may have influenced my whole thinking on kids. They were very nice to me and gave me treats of shrimp and pork and other things. They walked with me and showed me where they spend their summer when they are not in school. I even learned about making pottery although I suspect it’s not something I can easily do with my paws. They have a pretty great life there in the wilds of North Carolina. If I were a country dog, I wouldn’t mind living there.

We visited the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is from an overlook. A lady was having her wedding photos taken here. Can you imagine?! She looked beautiful in her wedding dress. I got walked a little and was a little skittish about a motorcycle (why are they sooooo loud?) and got bored and retired to my seat in the dogmobile and Sascha leaned against the dogmobile talking to her friend, RC. A guy came up to them and asked if they’d seen the bear. Bear?! Yep, evidently while they’d been chatting a bear crossed just like 200 feet away and they never saw him. Sascha’s face fell. She’s always wanted to see a bear….at a safe distance.

There was more. We drove on.

The mountains are pretty, but I am not fond of the curvy roads. They make me want to undigest my breakfast.

I am not used to the winding mountain roads so I was happy to return back to Montreat unscathed. Sascha went to visit a house where a man, a friend of Lou and Dick’s, had lots of hummingbird feeders. She sat a long time and watched the hummers, lots and lots of them, feed and chase each other off and scold each other in their tight little voices. She also saw skinks. I thought she said “kinks” and imagined her listening to rock music.

Then we were off to see the eclipse. Ergh. Yes, there was one mighty fine twisty, winding road that made me very unhappy. I cannot tell you how unhappy it made me.  Never. Ever. Can I express the words. Sascha tried to hug me, but, no. Nothing helped.

We eventually stopped in Liberty, South Carolina where it was deemed to be sunny throughout the eclipse.

It was hot and humid and buggy and I hated it. There were lots of noisy kids and RC walked me around lots and lots until Sascha decided that I could stay in the dogmobile. I was pretty happy despite the fact that she kept telling me: “I’ll be back.” And then she put on these really kitsch paper glasses with dark lenses and stood in the parking lot and looked up. She came back and updated me and gave me water.

When it was time for the total eclipse, she dragged me out of the dogmobile to join our crowd. I pretended to be excited. The cicadas were singing like it was dusk. Everything grew dark, but not like dusk. It had a strange color to it. Like dusk but with pink added in. It was kind of surreal. Imagine a dusk with a radiant pink glowing around it. There were people exclaiming. And then everyone clapped. Like “bravo” to the moon and sun.

 

Presto, change-o!

 

Oh, and well would you look at this, stuck in traffic again!

I got home to my soft bed after 4 am on 8/22/2017. I did have a Wendy’s cheeseburger on the way. I’d never had one before. I liked it. But I only get cheeseburgers when I travel so they are kind of special. I slept in a lot today. But it was TRUCK DAY! Garbage truck, recycling truck, yard waste truck. Yes! I slept a lot.

Sascha only told me late in the day that I could write today’s post. I had no time to get stoked. It was just off to prose with me. I don’t think I rhymed anywhere. But it is prose and not poetry.

Maybe I’ll get to post again soon. But it depends on YOU!

I hope you enjoyed pictures and words from my summer vacation!

And let Sascha know if you want me to post again. It’s been forever since I got a chance.

Much love, Scout