Goddess Persephone's Return to Hades

This is so tedious.



I, Persephone, goddess of Spring and harbinger of greenness am doomed to return to that horrid creature in the Underworld every year.



My old buddy, Hades. Don't you think he's kind of cute?





As soon as the frost hits the pachysandra,



And the morning glories lose their luster,


When Persephone's Garden begins to wilt,


And the frost collects on the windshield,


When the leaves clutter my little pathway,


And ghosts dance in New England graveyards,

It's time for...

ROAD TRIP!

Mom's taking me to Florida for a couple days.

It sure beats the Underworld!

Luv,

Sephie

Buster Prepares for the World Series

Dearest blog correspondents:

I, Persephone, have the honor of writing today with my ongoing observations of the general foolishness of males in general and male canines in particular.

This afternoon, I was roused from my slumber by much noise and cacophony outside. I glanced through the window.



There he was, the apotheosis of alpha-malehood, the quintessence of quirky pride.



Wendy the Woodpecker, my new avian accomplice, looked on in quiet bewilderment.



Poor besotted Buster had had the misfortune of watching the American League playoffs the other night. Convinced that the Redsox could not be allowed to fall to the Devil Rays, he had decided to offer his services as shortstop during tonight's game.

It even occurred to him to practice. Hence, the pandemonium beneath the maples.

I suppose, in a bizarre way, he had his priorities right. When the central challenge of the game is, in fact, finding the ball, I must admit that Buster's persistence is admirable.


When he finally lost the ball to either the leaves or a wormhole to another universe, he collected his clueless countenance and posed for his baseball card photo.

I think he's kind of cute.

Best wishes,

Your friend,

Persephone

Stuff I Like About Autumn

Well, first, there's the fact that my humans spend LOTS of time at work.

Which means that I, Buster, am in charge of the house, and everyone gets to do what I say.

Except for Persephone & Bailey & Harold the Australian Finch & the mice that try to eat my dog food.




I like the constant presence of Canada geese. They're as big as I am, and that's a lot of bird to chase.



I love the crimsonness of everything. Trees, sumac, and Mom's face when I pee on the toilet.



And my dog-mom Bailey's expression when I bark without interruption at nothing in particular for no apparent reason.



She has very expressive eyes, I think.

But she loves me. I think.

TTFN,

theBuster

Buster's Testosterone-Laden Male Bonding Experience

Hey, Bloggers! It's Buster the Outdoor Adventure Dog here. Today, the women-folk all departed on a long errand, leaving just me and m' dad!

So I hopped in the trusty PT Cruiser..


And drove Dad to the nearest flyshop!


He was muttering something like, "I'm out of 8X tippet and there's going to be the Mother-of-All Caddis hatches tonight."

Then we stopped at Agway...


"Why?" you ask. Well, 'cuz I asked him to! There's a madness to my method.


The gullible soul emerged with a "Chubby Buddy" mouse. I like the idea of eliminating the chase and getting right to the meal.


Now, I don't NORMALLY take my meal from the dashboard. But I was hungry.


Oh, Bliss!


In truth, I came to like the little fellow, so I held him tight all the way back.


My mountain was getting its autumn cloak of colors. We could just see Bailey's castle at the upper left.


Home, sweet home! But first, one VERY IMPORTANT errand...


Now, that felt better! Remember, this was a "male" bonding experience.

Dad left for the Farmington River, in my favorite town of Barkhamsted...


I wasn't allowed to go, 'cuz Mom was afraid I'd be eaten by a bear. But she let Dad go.


The sun went down...


And thousands of tan-colored tricoptera emerged from the depths and swarmed upstream. Life was good.


As the sun set, the deer shook their heads in sympathy as the crazed river-dweller headed home.


I was there, waiting to listen to the fish stories!

Cheers,

theBuster

Farewell, Pond!

Last weekend, the time had come.




Our Pond's green perimeter had given way to deep reds and yellows and browns.




Bailey's favorite perch of August was no longer surrounded by mosses and flowers--it now protruded from a pile of fallen leaves.



It was time to take out the dock...and put the water pump to bed for the winter...and attend to those dozens of things that in New Hampshire need to be done before the snows come.


We remembered the long evenings when days extended forever, lounging on the porch carpet after a busy afternoon watching Mr. Loon.



Mr. Loon has long ago packed his bags and headed for the Atlantic. He sent us a postcard wishing us well.



Everything is put away, locked up, and ready for next spring.




When the blueberries are green and summer stretches before us like a long Russian novel.




It's getting dark and cold, and it's time to leave.



We'll be back next spring!

Cheers,

Sephie & Buster

Autumn Comes to Subarctic Connecticut: Reflections by Bailey

Okay. I surrender.

Summer was long and lots of fun. A real, robust Rodentfest. Chipmunken über alles.

I must move on...


Mother Nature is dropping hints everywhere.



The colors are turning to rusty browns, and certain gourmet meals with wings are brazenly parading around in driveways tormenting me!



Interlude: Here's Wendy this evening. Surveying her new domain like she owns it. But I won't eat her. This requires more self-control than you can imagine.





Bozo the Wonder Dog spends his days barking and scratching to go out. He loves propelling himself around the back yard at warp speed yapping at flying geese. When there's no one around to let him out, he simply impales himself against the door until the latch falls off and he's safely on the other side of it.




Dad adjourns to his favorite pools on the Farmington River to commune with the trout, the eagles, and the resident attack-beaver.



The college campus is developing a warm variety of colors.



And I'm ready to stop updating this blog and go chase squirrels in the back yard!




Tomorrow's forecast: Sunny and seasonable!

Best wishes,

Bailey

A New Friend

This is Wendy!

She's a woodpecker. A little downy woodpecker, to be specific.

She came to live with us today. She appears quite tame and friendly.

Maybe we won't eat her.

Cheers,

theBuster, Persephone, & Bailey