The Kea update

Hi,

I've sat on the bed long enough listening to her tap, tap, tap on that computer, and it's time you heard from me for a change. We've traded spaces and SHE'S lounging on the bed next to me as I figure out this keyboard. In a week or so, I'll be four months old, and it's been a good life so far so that's what I'm gonna talk about.

I have heard HER talking to that Cherise lady---she's the one who's always poking me full of stuff with those needles. Last time we stopped by Cherise's office, I heard something about "spaying." Now, I don't know what that is, but I figure if they've got to take me to some hospital to do it, I'm not too excited.

For now, though, I just want to tell you about life up to this point. Ever since I moved north from Post Falls and the Slaney family, I've had a lot of fun. They did change my name once I got to the Lovestead. I kinda liked Reba, but that Annie Human wanted me to be called Kea. I haven't quite figured out why there's an Annie Dog and an Annie Human in our Love family. It does get confusing at times.

Anyway, I've been Kea for enough weeks now that I almost forgot my original name. By the way, I can't complain about Annie Human too much cuz she made me famous. She took a picture of me and it was on the front page of a big Seattle online newspaper. So, if you live and Seattle and have seen a cute Border Collie in the paper, that's mea, Kea.

Since coming here in November, I've gotten to know my way around this place. I know where the cats' Meow Mix is in the shop, but I've been having problems lately crawling under the shop door, which SHE--that's my human mom---pushes up when it's not cold so the cats can get outside if they want. The other day I got stuck in that 8-inch high opening and almost had to cry for help, but SHE walked by in time to help me out.

I also have some good friends here. There's my big sister Kiwi and my old granny Annie Dog. I pretty much stay out of Annie Dog's way, but I like to hang out-----oops, hang ON to Kiwi. I just grab her by the neck with my teeth and go for a ride. She can run really fast too, so it's kinda fun. Kiwi's always trying to herd me when we get out into the fields, but I'm getting to the point where I can almost outwit and outrun her. She spends most of her day sitting by the horse corral staring at every move Mr. Lefty makes. And, if he does something Kiwi doesn't like, she just barks and barks at him. And, if SHE is in the barn working, SHE comes out and tells Kiwi to shut up and leave Lefty alone.

I've learned to stay away from the horses cuz they sure are big, but I love it when they're in the barn. Then, I can go out into their pen and gobble up horse apples to my heart's content. I also like to eat dog logs, and SHE yells at me about that. If only she knew the flavor of processed Atta-Boy, she'd understand what a delicacy it is.

Besides eating and begging while THEY eat their food, I love to go up and down the stairs and plop on the beds. I also like to chase Festus, the cat, around the house. His head tastes really good, but I never crunch down on it too tight. I still haven't figured out how he gets up on that toilet seat and drinks out of the bowl without falling in. But I don't think I'd like toilet water so I'm not going to work too hard on studying his methods.

One of the most fun things I've done was the other day when SHE put my leash on and also Kiwi's. We walked down the road for a long ways. At first, I was kinda choking because I was pulling too hard on that leash, but I figured it out and just trotted alongside Kiwi. We got down to this horse place, and there was another Border Collie marked just like us. It looked at us and barked a big, mean bark, but then it went back to its business: a big black mule. When we came back the other way, it was still sitting there, staring that mule down. I wonder, if that's what Border Collies are supposed to do, if I'll have to stare at Lily. I know that she's already Annie Dog's pal, but Annie Dog doesn't stare at her. She just goes in there and walks around with her. If Lily does something she's not supposed to do, Annie Dog barks, and that's that.

I guess I'll find out what my job is around here before long. I do spend a lot of time trying to scare off that dog that keeps coming to the sliding glass door. It looks exactly like me, and it's worse than Kiwi with that herding stuff. If I go right, it goes right. If I go left, it goes left. If I go straight at it, it comes right to me, and that really scares me, so I back off.

One thing I've discovered lately with all this snow is that it's really fun to do nose dives. It's soft and powdery, and when we go snow shoeing, I bury my head deep into it lots of times. SHE just stands there and laughs at me, and I don't know why. Speaking of snow, I love it when THEY shovel and use the snowblower. Every single time a shovelful of snow goes flying, I jump at it and almost catch it. And, it's so much fun when all that white stuff comes raining down on me in a steady stream when HE pushes the snowblower around.

All in all, it's a good life here, and I can see HER waking up from her nap and just about to climb off that bed next to this computer so I'd better finish up before SHE comes and yells at me for playing with her tech stuff.

Talk to you later. Gotta run. . . .

~~~Kea