Thoughts on 16 Years of Blogging and a Throwback Picture from 2017

Time travel back to 2017, Shaak Ti and Shadowfax snuggling on the floor with Alycia at our house in North Dakota.You can find the original post here.

This blog is at 900+ posts, spanning the last 16 years and four states. It started as a way to easily post stories and pictures to family and friends that were spread across the country. Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes has been many things over those long years: a low stakes vehicle for creative writing, a place to try to become a paid interweb blogger (didn't work), a burden that could never be alleviated, a source of guilt for not posting enough, a medium for expressing love and grief after losing Tito and Shaak Ti, and finally a place to document a life well lived. 

We've finally come full circle and are back to where we started, a place to share stories to friends and family near and far. But now instead of inducing guilt, it feels lighter. A hobby that I get to when I have time and inspiration, or to post a quick photo. Not a burden or a source of unfinished work. Most importantly I've come to realize that it's a way to chronicle a loving history of amazing people, places, and pets. A living photo album that will never be completed, to be enjoyed as a guided tour down memory lane.

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A Very Tall Tree and Shadowfax Sleeps On

 Wow it's been months since we've posted. Sorry.

All is well. Shadowfax is a happy camper.

We're enjoying the Oregon Coast and all the rugged outdoorsy beauty it has to offer. 

Blogging is great fun and we enjoy sharing our stories and pictures, but there are really tall trees to go check out too. Sometimes posting takes a back seat.

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Assorted Weekend Projects Starring Shadowfax

We spent some time this weekend in the garden working on a few projects.

There were a few plants that John had gotten on his birthday trip to the local nursery that needed to get in the ground. Shadowfax stuck to her core competency of supervision. She's more of an idea person than an action person.

Shadowfax was more focused on recharging her batteries than pitching in to help. Supervising from her various spots on the mulch.

Grandma and Grandpa Come to Town

Shadowfax got some quality time with the Grandparents when they came for a visit recently. She was extremely excited as she hasn't gotten to see them in a few years as they weren't able to travel during the pandemic. 

She spent a lot of time going back and forth for pets and love and would instantly be on full alert if there was any activity in the kitchen. Treats were dispensed in a manner that only Grandma and Grandpa can. After they left Shadowfax spent the next few days recuperating from all the attention she got.

We had a great time visiting, took them to see some of the sights, and ate fish & chips with abandon. They lucked out and had some pleasant weather as well, so the coast of Oregon made a good impression.

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Pup Cup Follow Up

We posted about Shadowfax getting her first pup cup a few weeks ago. It took exactly one pup cup for her to go from "Wow this is an unexpected and neat treat" to whining in the back seat and staring at the barista as soon as we got to the window. 

We ordered our coffees and also a pup cup. The barista laughed at me when I ordered it, but we assured her that if we left without one there would likely be an epic tantrum and a lovely Sunday ruined with pouting.

Beverages in hand we drove a few miles down the road to our favorite spots and strolled around and sniffed the forest.

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Earth Day Spectacular - The Solar Powered Pittie

We took this picture yesterday and were in the process of conjuring up some witty "just recharging our batteries this weekend" comment, but we realized that today is Earth Day.

In honor of Earth Day we present the solar powered deaf pittie (patent not pending) Shadowfax. 

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Monday Morning at the Office

It's another Monday morning here at Deaf Dogs and Benevolent Gnomes world headquarters. There is a lot of work to get done. And we'll be having none of it. Though we will contribute in our own way, mostly by snoring at a distractingly loud volume and having periodic groaning stretch sessions. 

I like how this picture shows the full measure of her gigantic noggin', squishing down the side of her dog bed. "Well that's probably an old dog bed" you might be saying. Nope, it's relatively new, but not load rated for this level of pittie noggin.

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Shadowfax and Her First Pup Cup

I'll get this out of the way now. Yes were are horrible dog parents. Shadowfax is 13 years old and has never had a pup cup before. In our defense we almost never go through drive through coffee shops, the kind of places that would hand out a pup cup.

Here at our new homestead on the Oregon Coast, there are a couple of drive through coffee shacks. On weekend mornings we will often pile in the car to visit a lighthouse or state park and stop by a coffee shack as a special treat. Our favorite place always offers Shadowfax cookies, which she has now come to expect. We never thought to request a pup cup and were always happy that Shadowfax was excited with special cookies.

But today we hit up a different spot that offered us a pup cup. "Of course, we'd love one!" we immediately responded. Shadowfax was initially skeptical but quickly realized that it was tasty deliciousness and gobbled it down.

We'll return to this coffee shop for sure and post additional pictures of future pup cups. 

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