Dog Days of Summer

I have been THOROUGHLY enjoying these summer days!!! Life has been pretty good since the Ninjas returned from Colorado. I entertained all of the Oldest Ninjas guests on the Fourth of July when they came to celebrate her fourteenth birthday with her...and then, six days later, I entertained all of the Middle Ninjas guests as they came to help him celebrate his eleventh birthday! It has been a very busy summer, for me! The two littler Ninjas have been taking the girls (Gloria and Rivie) and I on long walks nearly every day--often culminating in a romping good time playing down in the creek! Yesterday, the Middle Ninja and the Spokeswoman took the girls and I to the creek and we discovered there were lots of little boys wading knee deep in the creek, happily catching dozens and dozens of crawdads. I stuck my nose in the bucket just to make sure they weren't crawdads of the POISONOUS variety, before I allowed the Middle Ninja to join the hunt. It was a fun time...watching the boys dash after crawdads and entertaining them between catches. They were amazed when they saw how high I can jump and what a swift stick retriever I am! Several of them wanted to take me home with them! I couldn't disappoint Middle Ninja, like that, though...so I politely declined.

Several times in the past week, the Spokeswoman has taken myself and the Ninjas to the lake for the day. (Rivie doesn't get to go because she always throws up in the car--wimp! And Gloria doesn't get to come because she has an unrelenting body odor problem. No matter how often or thoroughly the Spokeswoman scrubs her down, the odor returns within a day or two...and it increases exponentially when she is WET. The Spokeswoman lets her swim in the creek because we WALK to and from the creek, but the LAKE is an entirely different matter because it requires a 35 minute car ride, one way.) Which is why I love the lake even more(!)...because I get all three of the Ninjas all to myself!

I am a masterful swimmer, but then, I am sure that comes as a surprise to no one, considering I have been in training with Ninjas most of my life now! I LOVE being out WAY, WAY over my head for very long periods at a time. The last time we were at the lake, I didn't spend any time at all on the shore and hardly any time in the shallow water. I happily circled the Spokeswoman and the Ninjas for hours on end as they swam. A common dog might ignorantly attempt to climb on top of their people when swimming out over their heads, but not me! I happily circle around my people, being careful never to get close enough to inadvertently slash them with my razor sharp Ninja claws!

I wanted a picture of myself swiftly, silently, slicing through the deep waters...but, the Spokeswoman has some lame aversion to taking her NEW camera out into the water, so no pictures of my swimming prowess to share today!

Actually, I wouldn't even be taking time to post, now, except the Oldest Ninja took me aside yesterday and was complaining that there was "never anything new to read on your blog, anymore". I tactfully explained to Oldest Ninja that, in great part, that was due to MY LACK OF A COMPUTER TO WRITE ON, YOU IDIOT!!! (You will all recall how the Oldest Ninja had a bizarre appearance of paranoid psychosis shortly after returning home from Colorado and ACCUSED ME of having gotten BACON GREASE between the keys of her precious, pristine, little netbook. We ALL know that it was RIVIE who got the bacon grease on her computer, not me! I always lick my paws clean in an almost cat-like manner before touching ANYONE'S computer...ALWAYS!!! But, the back-stabbing little Border Collie whispered malicious lies against me and poisoned the Oldest Ninjas heart. Since then, she has not let me ANYWHERE near her netbook and, as everyone knows, the SPOKESWOMAN'S notebook computer is just about totally shot. That computer is limping along so pathetically that I steer way clear of it. When it finally crashes for the last time, I don't want to be the one at the keypad!!! The Spokeswoman is NOT a reasonable sort, you know!!!

Oldest Ninja misses my inspiring writing so much, though, that she decided to grant me limited access to her little netbook, just so I would post again!

I REALLY need a PICTURE to go with this post, though...so, I think once Oldest Ninja wakes up (maybe by noon if I am lucky!), I will see if she will sneak the Spokeswoman's camera out and take some action shots of me so I will have a fresh illustration to spice up this post!