Doomed Apricots

A brief glimpse of this year's apricot blossoms which just started opening up like slow-motion popcorn yesterday... and which, if the forecast is accurate, will freeze tonight or tomorrow night.

From dirt & dogs

Last year we went through the rigamarole of stringing Christmas lights on several of the early blooming fruit trees and covering them with sheets. It made for some great photos ...

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

... but it didn't gain us any crops so I think this year I'll let things happen as they may. Perhaps my trees will toughen up for having to fend for themselves?

~ trina

Ride of the Wild Onions

From dirt & dogs

Tiny green sprouts were all around the sides of the trails today! Little spindly round shoots of wild onions, a few with stubby proto-blossoms ready to rocket upward and show their stuff.

We were out there to see stuff, to feel the warm air, to smell the wild onions crushed between our fingertips, and to have fun riding on the beloved linear dirt of our local singletrack. For most of the week, any riding had been on wet streets, in driving sleet, and dodging storms, as the *other side* of Spring weather kicked back through town.

From 2010 Spring

Today, though, it was back to the shiny, sunny, warm as honey kind of Spring weather we selfishly prefer. We spent the middle part of the day digging in the dirt of Trina's garden, moving some fruit trees and getting beds ready for planting.

During afternoon tea we had a botanically talented visitor, bright conversation, and the dogs for entertainment -- all of which put the "paradise" in Trina's walled garden.

The dogs started teaching themselves how to fish -- in the water lily bathtub -- pawing at the water and occasionally snapping toward a goldfish and missing. What they did finally catch wasn't a fish, but a plastic turtle that was floating in the "pond". We took it away, but Sprocket really, really wanted it. So we used it as bait, and soon he'd had his first lesson in ladder climbing. He was a star student, and was climbing up and down the ladder trying to figure out how to get the turtle off the stick where we'd stuck it. (Zeek is an old hand at the ladder, but lost interest in the plastic turtle.)

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

From 2010 Spring

In the evening, we rode. Took a wide loop on the local trails. Beige is still the main theme out there (as it is most of the year) but there were hints of green filtering in around the edges and the bottoms of the washes. The onions, fresh grasses, and another type of wildflower with little poms of various pinks were sprinkled thinly throughout the canyons.

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

Trina caught one of me and Zeek.

From 2010 Spring

We do this sort of ride so often that one might wonder if we could become jaded and lose our awareness of the details, the subtle changes that go on out there. But I have to say, it was yet again... A great evening to be out there, immersed in the wonders.

--Greg

From 2010 Spring

Wild Blossom!

It's cool that there are crocuses in the gardens and a few daffodils around town. I love seeing them and knowing that they mean Spring. Still, I somehow discount them slightly in preference to the first Wild blossoms of spring.

This evening we were back on the local trails, including a first spring ride of one of our favorites that hasn't been dry enough to ride since it was frozen enough to ride. There in the pale dirt, a scrappy little bundle of yellow on a bed of green. First wild blossoms I've seen in the neighborhood this season!

From 2010 Spring

Not a seemingly noble or showy flower. But still! I'll take it and run with the sense of promise it brings.

And we had a great ride as evening spilled into twilight.

--Greg

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

The Real Spring Thing

After faking that it's been Spring, the real thing is finally upon us. Marked by celestial phenomenon of 12 hours of sunlight, 12 hours of none. (Also marked -- coincidentally? -- by crocuses in the garden.) For the next 6 months, we'll have more sunlight than not. Which seems like a great excuse for getting out and playing in the dirt with our dogs as much as possible.

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

Five of us headed down the road a piece to one of the local hot spots. Lots of scenery. Some long miles of sand slogging. A bit of early season cememt-like mud that jammed up pedals. Some pushing. And the gold: some good chunky riding.

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

T-shirt weather with a chill. Warm in the sun. Cold in the shade, of which there was almost none. Across the mighty river on the north faces of the canyon there was still snow. But I saw only one fast-melting snowball in a shadowy spot of the trail itself.

From 2010 Spring

We rode and played and the dogs ran themselves silly.

--Greg

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

Banner Year

I've been riding with Trina and Zeek for over a year now. While I was sorting through pics trying to find the right one to make our Dirt & Dogs page banner, I collected a few possibilities. Here are some favorites.

For me, these photos represent a fun and adventuresome year, and some of great places visited. This year, I'll be aiming to get some shots with Trina and both little dogs. Though that Sprocket is a tougher character to capture with the camera.

Zeek is steady and stable and seems to think of himself as a trail dog. After a little galavanting around at the beginning of a ride, he'll usually stick himself right by the back wheel of one of our bikes as we roll along. We continually stop to look around for him, wondering where he's gone, only to realize that he's right there in our "blind spot" waiting for us to get going again.

Sprocket would not be described as stable and steady. Spastic and Crazed might be closer, but that sounds bad, so we'll stick to Energetic and Enthusiastic. He'll rarely stay in one place for more than a few milliseconds. On rides, he's usually ranging way off to the sides, taking long "short-cuts", and zipping around at full speed while we grind our way slowly up hills.

It will be challenging to get photos that match these of Zeek. But hey, everyone needs a goal. I'll give it a try.

--Greg

From Bikeabout

From Bikeabout

From Bikeabout

From Bikeabout

From Bikeabout

From Bikeabout

Paradise, and countdown to spring

Reading Eat, Pray, Love, I learned that I live -- truly, technically, etymologically -- in a paradise, the word having both Iranian and Greek origins meaning essentially "walled garden." I love that. Without even knowing it, a paradise is pretty much what I've created here in my very tiny little downtown piece of the earth.

From dirt & dogs

Ever trying to carve out more space to grow food, I had a shade-creating tree cut down over the winter. After some serious lateral root removal, tilling and ammending which I'll start tackling this weekend, I'll have another 300 square feet of garden space that will now have FULL sun ALL day! I love the fact that I am surrounded by big, beautiful trees in my neighborhood but one does need some direct sun to have successful food crops.

Spring is coming. Really, it is. Technically, of course, Equinox is this weekend, but in practical terms, only the few cold hardy vegetables can be put in for another month or two. It's not until May that it's safe to put the entire garden in. Spring, as always, is coming in fits and starts -- false starts like the last three days of near 60 degree weather during which everyone on my route was blinded by my pasty white legs in shorts for the first time this year. But today it's back to rain/snow with expectations of below freezing temps for the next two or three nights. But more sunshine and warmth is on the way...eventually...which means it's time to start getting the garden ready! Bone meal, blood meal, compost, manure... followed by seeds for the early crops: broccoli raab, sweet peas, greens.

Soon -- very, very soon -- it will look like this:

early season, not yet the full, lush chaos that the garden always becomes:

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

Espaliered apricot tree in its third year:

From dirt & dogs

Zeek, green gage plum tree, black-eyed susans and strawberries:

From dirt & dogs

Light Shift

Through the clever use of clocks, most of us in the country have made it appear as if the light of evening has shifted. Suddenly there is daylight for an hour later into the evening. Add to this the seasonal lengthening of the days and this is a good thing for those of us who put up with, but do not fully embrace the period of the day referred to as "morning".

Now there is time for a longer after-work ride for those of us who are working day jobs. Which includes Trina. And suddenly, again, me. Evening ride time: one of the good reasons to live where we live. Because we don't just have time, we have a place to ride.

The trails are close and mighty fine. I can ride out of town and hit trails within short minutes. Trina usually "has" to take the truck with the dogs in it. (We're working on that...) But the dirt has been mud since a rainy-wet Sunday. We waited and then got out there last evening.

Very dry and fun except for some splashy wash-crossings and one dang hidden muddy blorp-spot. Trina forgot her bike shoes and rode in clogs, thinking maybe she'd start a new trend.

Two of us and two little dogs. Zeek the PRT is back in action as his stitches came out today. We've been ramping him back into action anyway, and last night he did just fine with stitches.

We wove through the happily familiar web of local trails as the sun set. Met people we knew along the way. The sky shifted from powder blue to deeper hues as the evening light lazily shifted away toward night. Spinning our legs and stretching our smiles. The small dogs, too, wearing very large dog-smiles as they ran along with us.

Great way to spend an evening.

***

Zeek getting his bandage wet.

From 2010 Spring

Golden shift of light in the back yard.

From 2010 Spring

Wet Sunday garden.

From 2010 Spring

Riding the evening sky.

From 2010 Spring

Keys To Success

In the Big Picture, I'm probably not the one to consult regarding success. I live a half-slack life with few of the symbols my fellow members of society associate with success.

Yet, in this instance, I believe I can offer advice.

If one wants to succeed at creating a painful, lingering charlie horse and a deep bruise on the outside of one's thigh, first: be lucky enough to be out mountain biking and then unlucky (or unskilled) enough to tip over sideways during a technical move and fall upon said thigh.

Preparation is a must for complete success. One cannot rely on the mere Chance of being outside, riding, and then tipping over. Thus the Keys: I had left my keys in my pocket, something I normally don't do. And when I tipped over, the small bulk of the keys ensured that the impact had a sharper focus that pounded deeply into the muscle. Yay.

No problem finishing the ride. Stiffened up and gimped around a bit as the evening wore on. This morning, it's stiff, sore, and in the Big Picture... almost completely trifling.

A small price to pay for the fun of having been out on a warm, sunny afternoon in early March riding with friends and dogs on sweet trails. Which, it might be said, is a sign of a certain kind of success.

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

From 2010 Spring

The Benefits of Small Dogs

I've always been a dog person, specifically a BIG dog person. I was, after all, raised by a big lanky black lab. I love the DOG-ness of big dogs, especially labs - their galoutishness, their plain, simple sweet demeanor, their oafish, goofy joy and love of play. I love DOG-dogs, not yappy little cutesy granny dogs. Not rodents with collars and leashes. That said, as my big dogs are passing on, I seem to be somewhat accidentally making the switch to small dogs - albeit small dogs who are actually big dogs in small dog bodies - rough and tough and athletic, fast, not delicate, always ready for adventure and loooong bike rides.

Zeek was a rescue who I took in while both BJ and Bella were still alive; Sprocket, also a rescue, turned up mere days after BJ died. Bella is now on her last legs and will be the last of the big dogs in my life, at least for the foreseeable future or until the next (big) rescue dog crosses my path... As I make the transition, I'm realizing there are some benefits to having smaller dogs in my life, among them the fact that small dog equals small poop. These shots illustrate one of the other conveniences of small dogs:

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

Wrestle Mania

It took Zeek a little while to warm up to Sprocket, but once he did, these lengthy wrestle sessions became an evening ritual. It may look ferocious and unfriendly to the untrained eye, but any of you dog folks out there will recognize good clean dog fun when you see it.

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs

From dirt & dogs