The People Across the Street – A Vignette and Sunday Pics

The people across the street are…loud. They have a few cats (I’ve counted three) and at least five dogs that bark a lot. They bark any time someone walks or rides by. They bark if we go sit on our front porch. They bark when their people come home, and when anyone comes to visit. Suffice it to say there’s a lot of barking going on.

Worse than the barking, however, is the dad, who thinks that yelling, “Shut the fuck up!” is going to make the dogs be quiet. It never does. Not once. But he keeps trying.

The mom I’ve seen a few times, and the kid--about to graduate and off to art school (yay for him!)—is the only one who has apologized to us about the dogs and their noise. I’m guessing it annoys him, too.

I have no idea what the parents do for work. The dad did once bring us mackerel, which was nice. My sister has brought them eggs.

They live in a trailer that has probably been there a while. They’ve begun to add on, as people do here in Maine, and there’s a fair amount of junk in the yard, thankfully most of it towards the back of the place. The front yard has a stone formation and what looks like sawdust surrounding it in some attempt at landscape design. I think. There is also a large camper that a couple lived in and maybe still do but I don’t hear them fighting and swearing at each other any more so I think they’re gone.

The dad keeps the place mowed, and there are lights in the ground along the walkway leading up to the front porch. The porch is fenced so the dogs can come out and see what’s going on. When we come back from our walks with our dogs the barking commences, soon to be followed by “Shut the fuck up!” Then the dogs are corralled and brought inside. As if they were the problem.

I wonder why the dad hasn’t figured out that yelling that way does nothing. Or that maybe building a fenced in area in the back would be a good idea. Good for the dogs, good for the neighbors across the street (us) and no doubt good for his own sanity.

I wonder what the mom thinks when she hears him.

And I wonder if maybe the kid was really apologizing for his dad, rather than for the dogs.

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Went for a walk with Bruno who is now 7 months old and weighing in at around 55lbs. I'm kinda hoping he doesn't grow anymore. He's a good size, ie, I can pick him up if need be.  If he gets to be 70lb...well, that's gonna be tough.

We took the path behind the house to the sandpit and found these lovelies on our way

I don't know what they are but they're everywhere in the woods. 

This is the view from the ridge above

Walking further, there is the lupine field, which is just coming into full bloom. I love them.

 A rare white.

Amazingly, the lupines have even spread into the sandpit


Bruno loves going over to the sandpit. He can run free as fast as he can, race through the water, and sniff everything he likes.

I tried to catch him running but I only got his wake... 

And this is the way out 

There is a chain to prevent vehicles from coming in but people still come via 4-wheeler or with dirt bikes. Sometimes they shoot, which I wouldn't mind so much if they would just pick up all the crap they leave behind. But they don't.

Anyway. It was a good walk that would've been perfect if not for the black flies, which are quick and bite and leave big itchy red blotches. Little fuckers.

We hates them.

But we love our walks with Bruno!

ps 61K complete on my WIP The Train to Somewhere. Getting closer to the end...

Monday Pics - Tea Party

Because I forgot never got around to this on Saturday...

Here are pics of a tea party my sister and my niece had in the woods next to our house. As you can see, quite a bit of time and effort was put into this little party of two...

My sister and niece are the other two people who live in the house with me. A long time ago, my niece was just a tiny little person, my sister had these killer sunglasses, and I was nine years younger.

 My how time flies.

Housemates - Lydia

Among the ten living bodies currently residing in this house...

...is Lydia, a temporary roommate.

Sadly she's only here until August, after which her husband is coming up from N.C. and they are both moving into a house they just bought in Rockland. The good new is that Rockland is the next town over so she won't be lost to me.

I haven't known Lydia long, but I hope we'll stay friends. She's a good person. But the interesting thing about Lydia is that when it comes to movies, she has no clue. Zero. She is so unfamiliar with movies that the most common references go right over her head. She would have no idea what you meant if you said,"You're going to need a bigger boat," or "I'll be back," or "I forgot about the tiger in the bathroom." But. She does know what's meant by, "Have fun stormin' the castle," now since we made her watch The Princess Bride. Groundhog Day is next on the list of movies she absolutely has to watch.

What movies would you put on the short list as must see?