How Weird is Austin?

Well, how many cities have stuff like this?

Actually, both the art work (left) and the sign (right) are part of a serious effort by the city to reduce the bacteria, etc. that get into area lakes and creeks by asking folks to "Scoop the Poop." Marshall endorses this campaign, although he believes beagles are being unfairly blamed (by association) given the shape of the mascot, Eco.

OK, so that turned out to be public "art" with a purpose, but how about this? Its only temporary art, and its technically from an artist in Houston, but come on, its where Smurfs live.

Marshall does enjoy living in Austin, nonetheless. Here's a nice shot of him with Lori on the Lamar Street pedestrian / dogs (no cats, please) bridge. A few minutes later, Marshall met another beagle that had been rescued by Hound Rescue. What a small world.

Three more pictures this week, just for fun. First, a pissed off beagle that can't play in his yard because its still raining. Next up, a tired beagle lounging on the couch. Finally, a lazy beagle that can't decide if he should take a nap under the tree, or keep investigating where the squirrels went when they disappeared from the grass and seemed to run up the side of the tree.

The Rains Have Come

Anyone in the central Texas region knows that we are in the third year of drought here, the worst in about 50 years. So when it started raining earlier this week and continued for several days it was big news. Everyone was excited. Well, not everyone:
True, rainy days do mean more couch time. But they also mean little beagles that don't like to get their feet wet can't play outside (and burn off their extra energy) as much as they want. Before we get to that though, let's linger a bit on the really cute inside stuff.

This pose on the office couch is known around Rockwood Lane as "on patrol." We live half a block from Pillow Elementary School and more importantly, a stop sign. That means any cars that accidentally happen to invade Marshall's territory can be properly inspected from this, his viewing station. Numerous calls have been made to Austin's 3-1-1 to report suspicious activities but so far, none to the Governor's border enforcement teams.

Even rains can't keep a young beagle from his walks though. Jimmy tried to take Marshall out yesterday morning while it was still drizzling but that outing only lasted around our block. Turns out, the rains were watching and just after Marshall set out it started to really pour. Later in the day, both humans trekked out with Marshall. We got to the farthest point in our neighborhood from Rockwood Lane and noticed a small dog standing in the middle of the street. His name was Ricky and he belonged to a nice gentleman that was cleaning out his garage and had not noticed the escape. Several neighbors saw us trying to find Ricky's place in the world and so we stopped for a few moments of conversation. That was apparently just enough time to allow the rains to find us, and Bam! we were soaked.

This morning's walk was rain free but Marshall did have to avoid some of the aftermath on his walk around the 'hood. Here are his tips for walking after the rains come: walk right through the middle of the pool of water, head directly for the mud, and be proud of your paw prints!

Finally, and without commenting on his political beliefs or his view of the national debate on health reform, Marshall would like to present his personal homage to the memory of Sen. Edward Kennedy. True, that's Robert Kennedy standing in the window of the oval office, and this is Marshall sitting in the doorway of our storage shed, but he felt the lighting was enough of an artistic link to draw the two pictures together. If you don't like it, please remember he's just a beagle and is working with limited resources here.

The Dog Days

Marshall has several excuses at the ready for those who question his dedication to keeping up this blog. Ready?

First, he saw Julie and Julia last weekend, and he was hurt by the reaction of Julia to Julie's blog. Then, he came home and read about Julie's blog in real life by doing some Google and Wikipedia searches and then he was disappointed in Julie and more sympathetic to Julia. Then, he got so confused he didn't know what to do. Well, he knew it was nap time, so he wasn't too confused.

OK, second, and for those of you that haven't seen the movie let's try this one: its summer, its Texas, its hot, there hasn't been much rain. Marshall is in low energy mode.

Yeah, right.

Marshall continues to demand at least one 30 minute walk each day. This week alone he has been to Lady Bird Lake three times, and each time did the three mile circuit. Once he gets going he gets much better at not stopping to sniff everything and everyone.

Today happens to be the first Saturday of the month, which for all dedicated beagles in the Austin area means BEAGLE BRIGADE time. Since its a holiday weekend there was only a moderate beagle turnout (places to go, you understand) but he still met several friendly new playmates and enjoyed the morning activities. Enjoyed, that is, until the rain came. Yes, in the middle of Austin's worst drought in years the rains have finally come and it seems to have started while Marshall was in the dog park. He was OK with the sprinkles at first but then started to try to leave with anyone that would open the gate and so we had to call it a day. Here's his pissed off "I'm wet, take me home, this isn't in my contract" face. Yikes.

Back to those excuses. Here's another good one: Lori's birthday was this week and Jimmy surprised her with a quick trip to Chicago to...eat. Anyone watch Top Chef? Lori does, so Jimmy got reservations at Rick Bayless' Topolo and Art Smith's Table Fifty-Two. Long story short: they flew to Chi-town for two days, had great food, and brought none of it home to Marshall. But he wasn't totally left out. Marshall got his first chance to visit the Stay 'n Play Pet Ranch, which is where Lori always boarded her previous beagle, Ms. P. Reports from the staff at the end of his visit indicate he enjoyed the new smells, the nature walks, and the pupsicles, but that he was ready to see his people again.

One last note: if you see a bone like this at the local pet store BUY IT. Marshall will pay you back, promise. His is finally starting to fall apart and he needs a new one.