GOBIBLOG #2

Hi all,

Well, the time has officially changed into “Winter” mode. It’s growing dark really early every afternoon, and we have to wait an extra hour to get fed in the afternoon. Big bummer. It’s also getting cold up here in Northern Illinois. It seems we went from summer to winter with only a couple of those mellow autumn days.

Mom has been really busy mowing on the cross country course in the Forest Preserve. She’s excited because she told me that she’s opened some great new land which has beautiful turf for horses to gallop on underneath. She says this will be good for all the horses who enter the 2007 events! She loves to mow. She says it’s the only time no one can bother her, and she’s free to think her own thoughts. That’s all well and good – but it also means that she’s away from home for hours at a stretch and – you guessed it – there’s no one around to practice pathetically starved facial expressions on, or to con cookies out of. Every cloud has a black lining! Ritch and Jon, the cross country course designers, are coming next week to plan for both Maui Jim and the AEC’s, and I’ll report in full after they leave. They are both good cookie providers so I like them.

That Tom person whom Mom has all those meetings with (and who finally took the hint and gave me a cookie last week) and his cohort whose name is Steve (who I’ve never met, but who I hope is more sensitive to cookie needs than Tom is) have been planting some gorgeous trees and flowers on the cross country course, especially around the two water jumps. Mom did take me out to see the work they’ve done, and even I was impressed – but of course, in my on going effort to seem “cool,” I acted bored and looked off into space instead. I was kind of interested in Blue, the Heeler puppy who belongs to Salvador who was working on the plantings along with his friends. Blue is very obedient which is a behavior that most dachshunds consider to be a total waste of time

Two weeks ago, I had a really fun time defending Mom. A tax auditor came to the house and stayed for several hours (which by chance happened to run past our feeding time. BIG mistake!). He made Mom run around printing out stuff and copying documents and generally being a total P.I.T.A. About the second hour, I snuck over to where he was sitting and nipped him on the ankle. Mom pretended to scold me, but I could tell she was secretly pleased. It was such fun. I now finally understand why Mom’s old dachshund Hampton (who died) felt so happy after he’d bitten Captain Mark Phillips – twice!

Now onto the really exciting stuff. Through my Blog, I have made many new friends. I get several e mails a day – and of course I answer all of them with a signature “bon mot” or two of wisdom. There are some really interesting individuals out there. The very first e mail I received was from a “Robert” in California asking my opinion on the USEF Leash rule for dogs. I don’t know if Robert is a dog or a human, but he seems really nice and wondered if my Mom had gotten into some vodka before the first Gobiblog came out. (Actually, Robert, it was red wine). Bagel, Puzzle, and Wolf sent me a very nice note welcoming the Blog and indicating a shared interest in food coloring. Mort wants to sing the National Anthem at the AEC’s, (I told him to submit an audition tape), and two corgis, Chico and Penny have shared with me some of the pranks they’ve pulled. They sound like total fun, and I’m dying to meet them! Another dachshund named Brisbane is most promising as a cohort in dachshund-dom, and five humans, Sheila, Sharon, Lauren, Shealagh (the hottie) and Jackie have corresponded off and on. They all have busy lives, and I feel quite flattered that they took the time to write me. Burghley and Blair have sent great reports on chasing squirrels and deer in upstate New York, and all in all, I’m starting to feel quite cosmopolitan. Now, if they’d put their cookies where their mouths are, I’d be a happy camper!

Gotta run. Stay warm, think cookies, and Go Chicago Bears. (Yes, I am a great fan, just like Mom).

Lots of love,

Gobi