Houdini Update

After Sota's last escape (Prison Break) Micah and I completely replaced our fencing in the backyard.  It went from cheap-o plastic fencing to heavy duty wire fencing and t-posts.  A few weeks went by and we had no escapes so I thought we were in the clear.  Wrong.  I went outside earlier this week and found Sota across the street in a neighbor's yard.  I called her over and she came right back (no chasing this time) and I went straight to the back yard to find the area of the fence that had been compromised.  I couldn't find a thing.  The fencing wasn't bent or moved, no holes in the ground...nothing.  I gave her a stern look and told her "you just wait till Micah hears about this."  She was excited.  Micah gives her lots of treats.

When Micah got home, I sent him to the backyard to do a more thorough search of the fence.  He came up empty handed.  Our only other solution was to try to trick her into showing us what she was doing.  It worked after the first big snow (Snow Moat, Snow Problem) and we were able to do fashion a temporary fix until we could replace it, so we gave it a shot.  Micah, Buttercup, and I left the backyard with leashes in hand.  Sota watched us from the porch with a look that said "surely they're not going on a walk without me...wait a minute, they can't do that!"  Before I could even turn around to try to coax her out of the backyard she was up and over the gate and sitting right beside me, ready for her walk. 

It happened too fast to capture on film, so I did my best to recreate the moment.

It was as if the 4-foot gate wasn't even there.  She just floated over it. 

In light of this revelation, I decided I needed to build up some good karma on the pet front.  It just so happened that the next morning on my walk to Alewife I saw a small beagle running around the field without a care in the world while his poor dog-sitter (a close friend of the owner, I learned) stood exasperated on the bikepath.  This poor guy had treats, leashes - the works.  Unfortunately Baxter the Beagle knew all the tricks and avoided getting caught. 

 

 

Again, no camera but this is exactly what it was like

I couldn't stand by without at least trying to help so I dropped my things and caught Baxter's attention when he came close to me.  As soon as he got close enough I started scratching his ears which turned out to be his kryptonite.  He was putty in my hands.

I feel like I have paid it forward from Sota's last escapade where if it weren't for the kind lady willing to cut Sota off at the pass I may never have caught her.  Hopefully if Sota figures out yet another way to escape my good doggie karma will bring her back to me.

Back in the Saddle

It's about that time.  We are officially 13 training weeks away from the Bourbon Chase in Lexington, KY.  Our team is manned up and ready so now it's time to get back in the habit of running.  I wanted to wait until the nice, cool weather went away and the heat of the summer came to actually start training again.  That seemed to make the most sense to me.

In an effort to make our lives more training-ready, Micah and I signed up for a CSA - Farmer Dave's to be exact.  This is our first year purchasing a CSA and even though we've only gotten one delivery, I'm pleased so far.  This week we received bok choy, spinach, lettuce, green onion, garlic scape, rhubarb, pea pods, and radishes.  It was so nice to have fresh produce in the house without having to do any work to get it.  When we  go to the grocery store, we usually buy the boring veggies and a bunch of meat and potatoes (when I say "we" I actually mean Micah - this is his contribution to the family as there is nothing I hate more than the grocery store).  A typical shopping trip would not leave us with things like rhubarb.  As I unpacked our CSA treasure on Wednesday and saw the rhubarb I immediately thought strawberry-rhubarb pie.  Not exactly part of my training diet, but a made-from-scratch pie is good for the soul.  That is scientific fact.  Trust me, I found it on Answers.com. 

Here's my pie, step-by-step:

 

Yes, it is as good as it looks.  But hopefully this CSA will end up being more helpful when making wholesome, healthy meals.  Weekly pies may not be such a good thing for the running...although I could probably get used to it.