Black and White in the Green

Rain is almost to the pounding stage, one step above pitter patter.  I haven’t heard that sound while sitting here “pounding” out my morning posts for some time.

 

It looks like this is a brief downpour cuz I can see blue sky behind it.  The nice part:  I don’t have to water today.

Before the rain came, I took the Border Collie Nation Plus One to the hayfield.  Have I mentioned how pretty our hayfield is this fall?

With no weeds (thank’s to Lori’s spraying earlier this summer), the field is a sea of lush, green grass, providing a great and esthetic place for the dogs to romp.

Considering that Todd and Brooke don’t come here so often, I decided to snap some photos this morning, not only because of the gorgeous green field but because adding the black-and-white and sheer beauty of these dogs, the images are fun.

So, bear with me, and enjoy the dog photos---hopefully as much as the dogs were enjoying themselves this morning. 

Kiwi never skipped a beat in Brooke and Todd’s absence.  She knows her duty is to keep Brooke in line at all times, and Brooke knows that she doesn’t appreciate such close vigilance, but what the heck!

They all still have fun.

Having fun and enjoying life resounded during my day yesterday.  I went next door after my neighbor Bev warned me that Ron would be making some noise with his recently purchased front-end dragster. The couple went to North Dakota recently to pick up the car, and Ron will be working with it over the winter, tuning up for one more round of drag races in the spring.

Ron is my age, and he spent many years on racetracks before he and Bev were married.  He figures this is a good time to rekindle the passion and adrenalin of a good race around the track.

With a small audience of car lovers coming to watch and to listen, Ron fired up his Black Sunshine.  The resulting noise was loud but not too loud.

It was fun to watch the enthusiasm of Ron and Bev as they look forward to the racing adventures next spring.

After my visit to Ron and Bev’s, I moved on to another gathering.  

This time, a large number of people had congregated at one of our neighbor’s farms to honor the memory of a good man who had taken advantage of every breath his life had to offer:  biking, sailing, climbing, running, building a beautiful farm with his wife, driving his tractor and serving as a supreme example in the hospital lab where he served as the “rock” and the stellar staff member.

Mike died suddenly several days ago with his mountain bike, preparing for a biking adventure in Montana.  That sadness of his celebration was evident but so was the jubilation among all who knew him and remained inspired by his zest for life.

Everyone who spoke reminded the audience to take advantage of all the opportunities life has to offer.

 

One man said, “Whenever I’m having fun from now on, I’ll think of Mike.”

And, the final speaker instructed the crowd like she figured Mike would do.

“Carry on,” she said.  I think those who were fortunate to know Mike will definitely follow those instructions, all in their own way.

Some good lessons on a meaningful and memorable Saturday.

The rain has stopped so I shall do the same.  Happy Sunday.