Goodbye Sam

Sammy 11/4/13 5:10pm

Goodbye Sam. You were our best friend and companion. It's so hard to say goodbye to you. 

No one else wanted you when you were a wormy 6 1/2 year old dog with mold on your undercoat. Everybody else passed you by for a puppy and you only had two days left on this earth. How lucky we were that you became a part of our lives for another 10 years. You were a best friend to Belle when she was alive. You got to live in the mountains of Alpine with that fuzzy coat after all those hot years in PHX with us. You got to tree squirrels for hours in the back yard in the snow. You traveled to craft shows with us all across the southwest meeting all sorts of people for good pets and dogs for good sniffs. You've loved living in NM and YOUR park across the street. You've been a good friend to Annie - I'll know she'll miss you too. It's going to be hard not seeing you tomorrow. We'll always love you and hope we can be together again some day. Goodbye little Buddy.

Spring Is In The Air - Alpine, AZ

Spring has finally made it to Alpine, AZ. Crows are shredding bark off the cedar in our woodpile for nesting material. The Blue Birds are back - had to clean out their nest box this morning. Amorous Squirrels are chasing each other up and down the trees. Even Sam is in love! Our neighbor's dog Sasha comes to see him a few times a day now. The first visit of the morning there is a hearty wag "Good Morning" then they just hang out together on the back stoop for hours. (We are starting the search for a female companion for our little guy. He's lonely!)

Most of the snow is gone now except for the shady spots. The pile behind our house - which was originally 10' high (from clearing off the roof during this snowy winter)is now down to 5'. Sometime in May that will be gone too! The elk babies should be around soon and the brown forest will start to green up. My favorite time of the year!

Southwest Arts Festival, Indio, CA

We've had quite the adventure this last week - escaping the snow at home and driving to Indio, CA for the Southwest Arts Festival. It was an experience being at sea level and seeing the beautiful snow capped 10,000' mountains ringing the valley. The show itself had some of the most talented artists in the US. There were lots of fine jewelry artists too - amazing work. Once again we were blessed with great neighbors and made some new friends.

Our morning commute to the show. Surreal. Dessert, palm trees and snow.

Our one neighbor Jack Charney. Jack's not only a ceramic artist but also a writer. His pottery is vibrant, colorful and free-spirited just like him. Please check out his website for more info and his show schedule. www.jackcharney.com

Jack's Acrobats are really cool!

I was really drawn to Melissa Graves Brown's paintings of trees and groves. Colorful Aspen trees reminded me of home in the fall. I hope we cross paths again in the future, I would love to purchase one of her pieces. Please check out her website www.melissagravesbrown.com

Kent Kraus and his partner Susan were directly across from us. New friends from Santa Fe, NM. :) Kent's ceramic sculptures and fountains are flowing, organic, abstract floral designs. I was coveting his bronze finish Calla Lilly Candlesticks. Please check out his website at www.kentkrausstudio.com

It felt so good to get back to Mark's Sister's home after the show. Sam was really happy too because he could play again with his new friend Riley. All three of us are relaxing and enjoying being here - not looking forward to going back to our snowy frozen home.

Gifts of Grapefruit, Tangelos, Tangerines and lemons from Kath's yard. Taking them back to our neighbors that have been looking out for us while we've been gone. I'm used to picking tomatoes and other veggies, growing up in NJ but it's really cool to go into the back yard and pick buckets of citrus fruit off the trees. They're so sweet and delicious too!

So that's it. Don't want to leave but can't wait to get back home and work in the studio again. It was a great trip and an experience from the snow storm before we left, to the show and the relaxing times with Family in Phoenix.

Sam At The Show

Sam is our Ambassador of Good Will. He is so good at shows - just laying there all day - greeting kids and other dogs. Napping then greeting again. Saturday morning 6 girls from Hawaii - here for a sports tournament saw Sam and fell in love. It was like Mark and I didn't exist - they wanted to see Sam - all 6 petting him at once. They came back two more times - the last time bringing him a gourmet "Peoplecicle" from the dog cookie vendor. It was really cute!