Good Dog

Claude is a gentleman. He is usually quiet, responsive, happy to play, and he lets you know when he needs to go out. I took him for a ride in the Volvo to do a little shopping. He found a bungee that I had rescued and didn't know exactly why until he showed me how good it was for chewing and tearing apart. It used to have a knot where it had been torn apart. Now it doesn't.

We went for a walk a couple of hours ago, but he needed to go again. He made it very obvious by pawing my hand and then standing right by the door where the leash is hanging.

Saul and Laura come back from Mexico tomorrow, but they won't be up to retrieve the pup until the weekend. I only wish that my legs felt more like running with him in the fields and woods.

ClaudeBlog

When I picked Claude up in Somervile. it rained for three days. When I stopped at Muffet's it was raining pretty hard, so we didn't go running in the woods or anything

It took a little fussing to get the harness to work correctly. Don't leave it on, because he gets his jaw caught. Claude wasn't interested in coming up stairs, so we set up his cage downstairs. He seems OK to sleep on the couch (on a towel). He chewed through a squid toy on the first day. There are pieces of black rubbery stuff all over.

He is not so keen on the food Saul and Laura left us (Science Diet) so we got some Iam's puppy kibble
He will eat a mix. I also got some classic Milkbone treats, which he will condescend to eat.

We are working out our routines. He is very polite.

Bike Crash On Burlington Path

I took a lovely bike ride with Tim Parsons and Matt Kuivinen out to Colchester Pond. On the way home, Matt and I were riding south on the Burlington Bike Path toward the small bridge between the roundhouse and the toxic waste canal. I was slightly ahead coming down the short hill running onto the bridge when I saw the kid riding northbound on the wrong side of the path, hidden by the wooden fencing. I crammed on the brakes and slowed pretty much before I hit him head-on. I unclipped my right foot but fell over to the left and hit hard. I cursed a lot. The kid was really upset. His mom came back and apologized to me and helped him deal with it. I calmed down and apologized for the foul language and gave him a hug.
He may learn the keep-to-right lesson.
The next day I had trouble walking with pain in my lower left back. There doesn't seem to be any bone break. RICE.

Steve Thomases' Grave

I visited Jeanne Thomases, the widow of Stephen Thomases. He is buried in the first burying ground in Reading, MA. Jeanne put up a bench in his memory and we visited it in the rain. It says "Rest and Give Thanks."