It’s been a long time coming.  Finally we made it to the mountains.  No more puppies.   Mama Jo is focusing on US only. And it’s snowing!   What more could a dog ask for?  This is the face of a happy Golden Retriever.  Happiness comes easy to Yolo.  After all his name is YOLO.  “I am not a polar bear I am a dog.” Sasha is working at getting her figure back.  Pregnancy can wreak havoc on a girls figure.  Yolo is working on getting a squirrel….or whatever had the nerve to move.   Jo is working on her photography skills.  Frustration is setting in.  Hope you don’t mind some blur.  I gotta share the fun. It seems every second it is time to move on.  I struggle to get my camera settings right again.   No matter what I do my camera won’t cooperate.  The Mountain Dogs don’t care.So I’ll keep telling you the story.  Over the hills and through the woods to the pier we go. This is the “Come on Mom, what is taking you so long?” look. Why I decided to take the dogs to the pier is beyond me.  I am feeling like the April fool.   I know this is not Minnesota but it is COLD out here.  Dry wet cold.Trying to operate a camera with gloves on is like trying to operate a touch screen with wet fingers. So the gloves come off.  Then the gloves go back on once I feel frostbite setting in.    I need a glove for my camera  that is getting wet. The skies dark and dreary, the wind is whipping.  I remember I am a fool to be out here. I call back the hounds.  Lassen is the only hound who cares about my feelings.  His willing attitude injects me with the energy I need to make it to the end of the pier. And what do I find once I make it to the end of the pier?   Mr. HAPPY wondering if I brought THE PRECIOUS! Does it not occur to you the weather is frigid outside Yolo?  Does this look like swimming weather Yolo?  Do you know I can barely hold this camera Yolo?  And when I operate it I have to take off my gloves?  At this point the gloves go back on and I plead with Yolo, I mean give Yolo the come command.   Yolo come……. COME….dreading what happens if he disobeys my command.  Wet dogs forever who I can’t leave on the frozen porch to drip dry.Maisie tests my patience too as she contemplates coming as she is being told to do.  “The snowflakes landing on my tongue feel marvelous!”   I this point I regret not spending more time on obedience training.  “OK Mom I’m with ya….frozen tongue and all.”   Why do my dogs tease me like this?Sasha is relieved Yolo has some sense left in him.  She herds him back to me.Poor guy has to settle for a wet nose. But no.  Second chance at fun is on the top of the stairs.  It’s the “Come on Mom!” look.Lassen takes his time climbing the stairs.  He believes in waiting for me.  He takes life in stride enjoying dog heaven.  What a sensible boy he is. Maisie is sensible and waits too.  When thirsty lick your nose.  Did you know these stairs have historical significance?  The Mountain Dogs could care less but I’m going to tell you anyway.The stairs are all that remain from the renown Tahoe Taverns Resort built in the early 1900’s.  Can you imagine ladies in long skirts climbing these stairs on their way to the resort after disembarking onto the pier from the train or one of the many steamers on the lake……like the 190 ft “Tahoe”  that sits at the bottom of the lake. I think climbing these stairs in a long skirt in summer time was easier than climbing them covered with snow on April Fools day.   This is not a Golden ghost.  It’s a YOLO HALO. Fun at the top of the stairs begins immediately.Once again I struggle to get my camera to focus.  Absence of light, spastic dogs and snowflakes wreak havoc for a photographer.  I give up, enjoying the fun I resort to auto focus.Even auto setting won’t work to get the crisp clean shots I like.  The Mountain Dogs don’t care.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll  have better luck focusing in on spasticity and wagging tails.  And frozen fur.       You could say someone is having a good time.   There is nothing like a romp in the snow to get you over postpartum depression. Time for a group shot.  This is when STAY has a purpose.

Adios Amigos!