The title of this post sums up my weekend. There was also some decent wine in there, but it wasn’t anything earth-shattering. The warmth of the weekend got my butt out of the house both on Saturday and Sunday to take Wrigley to area dog parks. Our favorite is Westland Hills. We stopped by on Saturday. Wrigley was feeling very shy when we arrived but warmed up when a few more pups came in for some rough-housing. It was muddy muddy muddy. Part of the fun of the dog park is the interesting people you meet. Dog People are generally very cool. There is a difference between “dog people” and people who have dogs…most of the people who come to the dog park are Dog People. They understand that playing can involve nips and be pinning and barking and humping. They can talk about poop for ten minutes without any shame whatsoever. They can tell stories about the destruction of precious and expensive items and laugh about it. Dog People rock.
When we arrived there were only two dogs there. A beautiful pit bull puppy and a pit-lab mix. The pitty’s dad was fostering her. He works at an animal hospital, said she came in with her jaw hanging from her face. A decision was made to save her. Vets stepped in to donate their time and money to operate on her and now she’s a very happy girl who plays well with other dogs…her foster dad loves her so much he’s thinking of keeping her. The pit-lab mix was Marley. She was rescued by her mom from a neighbor’s house. She was part of a litter they think was bred for fighting…although Marley’s mom and I joked about how ridiculous was when you see that silly dog running around like an awkward muppet. As a pup she was starving, she was losing the battle for food with her brothers and sisters. She also has a limited vision which is likely from head trauma and her tail is funky like it’s been broken…Marley’s mom thinks she was picked up by her tail and thrown. Ugh. People suck. Luckily there are Dog People who realize that these awesome little dogs deserved a second chance. Not to go all Sarah McLachlan here, but it really blows my mind that anyone could hurt a dog.
It’s not all heartbreak though. All of these dogs have their origin stories – but after we get those out of the way it’s on to the good stuff. Everyone has the funny stories involving the silly antics of their dogs. Between watching the dogs playing and just being dogs and chatting up the moms and dads, I get a week’s worth of laughing into a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.
On Sunday we went down to Normanskill Dog Park for the first time. It’s a beautiful hike from the parking area back to the dog park. There are trails and fields, it’s a cool place. There weren’t many people out (Westland Hills is almost always shakin’), but we did get to play with a little lab puppy, Charlie, who loves to bounce. Maybe bounce isn’t the right word…I might be looking for boing. I could be remembering it wrong now, but I swear that dog could jet straight up six feet in the air from the sitting position. She chased Wrigley and Wrigley chased her. Charlie was faster, but Wrigley was bigger and pinned her every time. I think that made Charlie’s mom a little nervous, Wrigley was three times the size of that dog, but Charlie kept coming back for more and her mom could clearly see how much fun they were having. Charlie was adorable and really wanted to eat my mittens.
I'm tired
The backseat of my car is disgusting, by the way. It’s a good thing I’m not a clean freak, but I really do need to go to the car wash. Dog food advisor
In between the fun romps at the dog parks, the husband and I ate some seriously delicious meals. For breakfast on Saturday I made-from-scratch biscuits and gravy…we had leftovers on Sunday, but since there wasn’t as much I fried some eggs over-easy to go with it. Yum. I also embarked on my first ever cheesecake. I tried to replicate my delicious dessert at New World Bistro on New Year’s. I modified it a bit, it was a chevre, lemon and tequila cheesecake with a citrus graham crust. I was very impressed with my efforts. I’m not huge on dessert but this is definitely going to be a new staple in the house. For dinner on Saturday I made enchiladas verde. Really, is there anything better than homemade salsa verde? Sunday for dinner we had seared flank steak with a red wine and thyme reduction with a side of garlic and ranch mashed potatoes. Basic but oh-so-delicious.
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