The other night I was walking Bonnie, who found a tiny bit of what was once a stick, but now was just a couple inches of a barely-there twig. But she totally digs the twigs. And I can see why – there you are doing your business and sniffing around, and oh my god – a STICK! Time for fetch! I threw it a few times, but we eventually lost it. It was nighttime after all. So then she looks up and sees a tree we see every day, which on every other day has just been a tree. Today, however, it is full of STICKS! She starts jumping up, standing on her hind legs (one day if she’s not careful I’m selling her to the circus), and going crazy for all the sticks that she can see, but not reach. So I find another little bit of a stick on the ground and toss it again. The next day it was just a tree.

Take one amazing cattle dog who after a weekend with three pits thinks they’re pretty darn cool (Bonnie); one rescued-from-the-streets-of-Richmond lovebug (Ella); and add one giant goofball with a huge smile, the softest ears ever and some mad cuddle skills (Moby); and one sweet and silly brindle babe who thinks she’s a lapdog (Mara). That equals a better-than-reality-show event not to be missed. From left to right, the four rescues: Moby, Ella, Mara and Bonnie. Moby and Mara and the newest members of the pack, recently adopted and literally saved from death by days by my inspiring parents. Anyone scared of pit bulls should think again. These guys have learned to heel and sit in two weeks, they cuddle with the best of them and they sneak kisses almost as much as they melt hearts.

This winter I’ve noticed that the lift-served snowboarding just isn’t cutting it. Maybe it’s because Tahoe ski resorts are more crowded and have less trees than Telluride, or maybe it’s that I lack ski buddies so when I go, I seek more of a solitary time with nature than a party on the mountain. But the snowboarding these days just isn’t filling my need for nature. So I’ve taken to going hiking at Boca Reservoir, which sometimes is more like postholing (especially for the dog), but it’s a great spot for hiking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing – and there are bald eagles there! Supposedly. At least, I saw one flying over I-80 the other day and heard that they nest near the reservoir, but I’ve yet to see one there thus far.