 A great picture of Gonzo and Mama getting ready to fly over the hills and over the dales on a snow driven winter's day. Hello FRIEND'S OF DHARMA!! Sorry we have been missing lately, but my Mama has been sick. Much better now. Skijoring is the Norwegian sport of using cross country skis while being pulled BY A HORSE OR A DOG!! CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? I mean that is truly a dog's spirit in action when they get to run. And in the snow no less. Anyway here is a Mama and Papa story that you might like.
When Mama's old Papa Grumpy was was in a hospital he made a new friend. Anyone who knew Grumpy knew that he made friends EVERYWHERE HE WENT. AND I MEAN EVERYWHERE. FOR GRUMPY A FRIEND WAS JUST SOMEONE WHO HE HAD NOT MET YET. And Grumpy LOVED TO SOCIALIZE. So of course he started chatting with his room mate who was Budd Zahn. Now Budd lived in Mama and Papa's town. And guess what? Old Budd had a Christmas Tree Farm where you could cut your tree, and your kiddie could get a free dog sled ride from any of his three huskies, FROSTY, LOKI AND GONZO. In the summer you could also go and pick blueberries. Mrs. Zahn did some pretty cool crafts that she sold in her shop along with her blueberry jam. One day while visiting her old Papa, Mama met Mr. Zahn.
So my Mama and Papa began going to Zahn's farm. For many years they cut down Christmas tree and hauled it home to give it a make over. They even got to watch the HUSKY BOYS give free SLED DOG RIDES to the children in families who came to CUT THEIR OWN. Mama would return to the farm in the summer and pick blueberries and can them for the winter. She would always stop to visit the three HUSKY BOYS who were in the kennel in the barn. It was such a treat to visit with the Zahns EVERY SINGLE TIME!
So one sad day Mama came by and found that Old Budd Zahn had died. What was also sad was that the oldest sled dog Frosty had died shortly after. He was 15 and clearly knew HIS BEST BUD was gone and it was time to GET OUTTA DODGE!! Mrs. Zahn told Mama that Loki and Gonzo, the remaining two sled dogs were with her daughter Melody and that she was not sure but that they might need a home. So Mama called Melody who shared that indeed they did need new homes. Both dogs needed more care than what was realized initially. That is how my Mama and my Papa adopted two sled dogs. So Mama the dog lover that she was, and Papa her MAIN MAN, brought these two guys home. Loki was young and only around six. He was a big woolly bear of a husky. It took about two weeks before Mama realized he needed a real, ONE ON ONE HOME. So after a lot of searching, Loki went to his FOREVER HOME. You can see him in the snow peeking out. DON'T YOU JUST LOVE IT, CHICKA BOOM, CHICKA BOOM? He clearly is happy in the pictures above. Gonzo, named after a MUPPET, was nine when he came to live with us and spent those remaining three years with us we think, VERY HAPPY INDEED!!  Gonzo is in sled dog heaven here. And so for our story. Mama saw something on television on skjoring. She saw the BIG WIG SKIERS WITH ALL THE FANCY EQUIPMENT AND THOUGHT "HOW HARD CAN IT BE?" INDEED. So first she wrapped a dog leash around her waist, with her on cross country skis, then she put on a harness lead attached to the dog leash at one end and the harness on Gonzo on the other end. Now it seems kinda crazy but Mama thought Gonzo might make it all work. WHAT THE HEY!! Now Melody had shown Mama how the minute you put the harness on a sled dog, the head went down, and that dog was ready to go. Both Loki and Gonzo came with sled dog harnesses. Melody showed how it was much easier to catch them by the harness should they EVER GET LOOSE. BECAUSE, IF THEY DID, THEIR HEADS WOULD GO DOWN AND THEY WOULD JUST RUN. So Mama first got set up on the town farm with a little down hill slope which took Gonzo all of 12 seconds to take her through a CRASH AND BURN SCENARIO. YIKES. He might have been old, but Gonzo was a rocket. Then they found a rambling country road with a slight incline, up under snow frosted trees, two inch powder on the dirt road, no traffic that ended at Mama's house. Papa got Mama set up with Gonzo in front and Mama on her skis and dog leash get up. The second, and I mean the second Papa let go of Gonzo's harness the head went down and off they went. They were freaking flying. Mama never knew she could ski so fast. GONZO WAS IN PUPPY DOG HEAVEN. Gonzo knew exactly what to do and how to do it. Wow. ALL THE WAY UP THAT RAMBLING COUNTRY ROAD, TO MAMA AND PAPA'S HOUSE. It was so much fun. Both Mama and Gonzo went cross country skiing together many times before he died. Gonzo lived with us for three years until he was over twelve. Thank you for listening to me tell the story! Dharma Hugs Dharma Dharma 
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  Hello Friend's of Dharma! This past week I went on a ROAD TRIP! WHAT ABSOLUTE FUN THIS WAS!! I have met quite a few FANS OVER THE PAST 8 MONTHS! And even if I meet other dogs. I don't really get to do REAL DOGGIE THINGS. LIKE BARK, AND SNIFF, AND BARK, AND SNIFF. YOU KNOW, LIKE TO MY HEARTS DELIGHT. Here is Chapek. He is a mixed Chiwa. We are not sure of what kind. Another thing dogs JUST LOVE TO DO IS SNIFF EVERYTHING!! AND I MEAN EVERYTHING. Much to the chagrin of many owners ACROSS THE WHOLE OF THE WORLD. Ha ha, you know who you are. And so when I got to meet two dogs, LOW TO THE GROUND LIKE ME, SNIFFERS OF THE BEST KIND, SQUIRMY, HAPPY, WELL I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT I WAS IN PUPPY DOG HEAVEN! Did you know that the olfactory canal of dogs has 200 plus million receptors? THAT IS A LOT OF SMELLING POTENTIAL.
 Anyway we went to a new home and I met FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME Auntie Liz, cousin Chapek and cousin Kafka. Now once auntie Liz's big dogs all went to DOGGIE HEAVEN living without a dog, well IS HARD. LIKE I ALWAYS SAY, WHEN IS THAT EVER RIGHT? And so OFF SHE WENT OVER THE MOUNTAIN AND THROUGH THE VALLEY AND INTO THE LOCAL SHELTER. There they were in a crate together squirrley wiggly, THOSE HAPPY SMILING FACES SAYING TAKE ME! TAKE ME! Of course, IT'S LIKE A GREAT POTATO CHIP YOU JUST CAN'T HAVE ONE!! And happy she was that both of them came home with her on that day. Auntie Liz knows all about dogs and she told Mama right away that she did not have to worry about the barking, or any thing else, like little doggie accidents, sh sh sh NOT THAT WE EVER WOULD, hush hush. She said THAT IS WAS JUST NORMAL DOGGIE BEHAVIOR AND THAT IT WAS JUST OK. Mama was a little nervous for me because when I meet new dogs I always get nervous, and then I bay like a basset hound, HAROOO!!!. And so Mama puts me on the floor and these two guys, there was so much BARKING AND SNIFFING AND BARKING AND SNIFFING, that for a brief moment I was nervous, but after we GOT IT ALL DONE, we were all good. And I didn't even bay once.
Now Kafka is a chihuahua, and he was named after a writer from Prague which is in Europe. MY GOODNESS!! And Chapek was named after a Czech writer, also from Europe. I think their Mama Liz likes writers or something. Anyway we hung out and had a VERY GOOD TIME! Auntie Liz, WHAT A GOOD SPORT, said sure you can take pictures and so I hope you enjoyed my story and pictures.  ALL OF US TOGETHER! THANK YOU LIZ FOR HAVING US! Dharma Hugs! Dharma Dharma  Hello Friend's of Dharma! Here is Bumble Bee taking riding lessons on her Chintogeau pony.  Here is a Mama story. When Mama was small she lived in the country. Her neighbor who lived up this old country road with big maple trees and rambling stone walls, had a Welsh pony. Mama was in love, AT FIRST SIGHT! This pony would graze out in the field, with the cows. It was very funny to see him out there. At one time she thought to jump up on his back ride off into the sunset. JUST like the Lone Ranger! And so on one bright sunny summer day she jumped up onto his back and off he galloped with her hanging onto his mane. And then off he bucked her right onto the ground. Ouch! This however did not dissuade her. The pony's owner often called him a WILD CHILD because he would come racing down the rock cliff embankment on his property, at full tilt. Since that time my Mama has loved ponies. She dreamed about them. She read every single book she could find about ponies, and of course horses. Her favorite read as a 11 year old was "The Ginger Horse". And of course She also loved "Misty of Chincoteague". One year she and Papa and auntie Heather even got to see the CHINCOTEAGUE PONY ROUND UP down in Virginia.   Mama's very first horse was Brandy. An ABSOLUTE WILD CHILD! This appaloosa baby LOVED TO BUCK AND RUN. One lovely afternoon, after a reasonable walk through an autumn forest, she decided, HAH, I HAVE HAD ENOUGH! And off she went, BUCKING AUNTIE KELLY OFF HER BACK, NEIGHING HA, HA, HA, to Mama and Auntie Kelly who THEN chased her through the woods and out the valley and down the road to Grandmother's house, oh sorry, I meant home. And then there was Socks. Socks was a paint cob pony. She was low to the ground so she was so smooth getting up onto her. SHE WAS A WILD CHILD TOO! Socks did not like to get her feet in water, so if you just weren't paying attention and walked into a stream while you were riding her, she would gallop all the way out, with you bouncing all the way out.
 Finally we have Bilbo. Now Bilbo is a miniature horse. Mama fell in love with him because he had that roly poly shape that a Shetland pony would have. Bilbo is WAY TOO SMALL for any of us to ride, BUT WE LOVE HIM ANYWAY. Here he is doing WHAT HE LOVES BEST. You can see him here, one MORNING IN THE GARDEN ENJOYING THE SUMMER FEAST. Hope you like the pictures and our stroll down memory lane.  Dharma Hugs
Dharma Dharma  Hello to the Friend's of Dharma!! Have you every heard of Flat Stanley? Mama and I did some research BECAUSE a Flat Stanley was coming to see little ole me. I had no clue about WHO OR WHAT Stanley Lambchop, AKA FLAT STANLEY WAS. WE LEARNED ALL ABOUT HIM, via GOOGLE. CHECK HIM OUT!! Flat Stanley, is a paper doll cut out of a book character. He is mailed in an envelope to people who then take him on adventures. This "little man" was mailed to Meg Baker who lives here in Mont Vernon. Meg is grandmother to Ryan, who is in second grade at the Florence Sawyer School in Bolton, Massachusetts. Ryan mailed the cut out to his grandmother hoping that she would take him on adventures and then send back those stories.
I LOVE THIS IDEA!! When Ryan's grandmother Meg got her Flat Stanley in the mail, she decided to bring him on ADVENTURES ALL OVER OUR LITTLE TOWN. She had pictures taken with "the man" and then WROTE DOWN THOSE STORIES. Once she AND THE FLAT MAN are done traveling, she will put Flat Stanley back in the envelope and together with the pictures and stories she has written down, mail the whole thing BACK TO RYAN and his teacher Patrice Heffernan. HOW COOL IS THAT!? Papa and Mama and I had already met Meg a couple of times during our own DHARMA ADVENTURES! So when she called and said, hey "WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT" Mama was like, "WHY NOT". Meg thought it would be great to add to the other stories a DHARMA DOXIE story. I LIKED FLAT STANLEY A LOT. HE WAS A LOT LIKE ME. HE DEFINITELY LIKED ADVENTURE. And so, Thank you Meg for coming for a visit and good luck with the rest of your Flat Stanley Adventures. We enjoyed the visit! And also A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO TEACHER PATRICE HEFFERNAN, for making it so that I could become part of ONE OF STANLEY'S ADVENTURES. Happy New Year to Everybody. Dharma Hugs! Dharma Dharma  |
AuthorChell Sommese is a retired teacher.
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