Headed Home

Here's just a little bit of what I miss right now. Ohhhh, I miss my babies.

I'm writing from Port of Spain, Trinidad, where we've been at the airport for two hours, waiting for our delayed flight to Houston, and then to Columbus. It's green season here, and there are intermittent showers and rainbows. The airport is air conditioned. Having been mostly without climate and humidity control for two weeks, that in itself is a marvelous thing.

We had the most wonderful time. If you didn't see Bill of the Birds' blog post on July 24, go check it out. I got to touch leatherback turtles and all. There's so much more. But I'm just sayin'.

Two solid weeks of tropical birding and trekking around in monsoon season is something, my friends, and I feel like I've been on the vacation of a lifetime with my big sweetie, the first trip we've taken together for fun in four years. Mmm. But I'm ready to be home, ready to see how much it rained and how my plant babies fared, ready to hold and love our kids, who have been besporting themselves in Vermont with dear friends, ready to smooch Charlie and Chet Baker, ready to sleep in my own bed and cook my own food.

I have nearly full memory cards, and if you recall that's where my fun started a couple of months ago, with an overloaded computer and a constipated camera. We shall see...I'm braced.

Happeh Birthday, Chet Baker!

Newborn Bacon!! Ennh!  Photo by Jane Streett

On Friday, December 12, 2008, Chet Baker turned four. It's hard to believe our puppeh is now 28 in people years--a young man in his prime. We did not have a formal party this year, being swept up in a great deal of holiday-related splup, but he did get an Orca chew toy, a lunch of Hamburger Rice Dinner (HRD), and about two hundred extra kisses.

I thought it would be good to take a look at Chet Baker as a newborn. I can hear the squeals from most every state in the Union and a few foreign countries... The only way you can tell it's Chet is the Michael Jackson glove on his right forepaw. It is hard to believe that this small weaselly creature will ever grow up to be my heartbeat. Like any mother, however, I was in love from the first look.
Photo by Jane Streett

As you can see in this photo of a week-old Chet Baker, the Tennessee turd-tail is intact, even though Chet is barely a handful at this point. Most Boston terriers are born with a naturally short "screw tail;" they get that from their bulldog genes. People who see Chet's gorgeous oversized stand-up ears are surprised to learn that there are no knives involved there, either. They're perfect from the get-go. Don't get me started on cropping dogs' ears. We just won't go there on my shiny happy blog.

Baker plumped up nicely. Here he is on January 5, 2005.

Photo by Jane Streett

I cannot say that he has been nice to a cat since this picture was taken February 8 '05, however.Man, has he got the domed forehead workin'.           Photo by Jane Streett

Beautiful Garbonzo gives a foretaste of Chet's future glory in this picture. They're not related, but they could be by their looks. What beautiful dogs Jane keeps.

Chet is only pretending to be submissive in this picture. He is a little bossyboots.

Photo by Jane Streett

Next: Some More Puppeh Pictures of Chet Baker. I'm doling them out in two doses so your teeth don't fall out from the sweetness. Those of you who are not a soupy mass of doughnut batter at the prospect of more chubby Chetter, just hang on. There will be more Guyana birds and animals coming up Tuesday night.

ChetFix

I can give you three reasons to get yourself a Boston terrier. Number one is The Roo.
When Chet Baker wants something really badly, whether it's a toy, or your attention, or just a change of scene, he roos. A roo is not a bark; it is much cuter. Roos are produced through closed doglips, but there is a telltale pucker of the muzzlepuffs which is hard to capture digitally. Here, I have succeeded.
The second reason why you should begin researching Boston terrier breeders, beginning and ending with Pups Will Travel, is the Google. Here is Chet Baker, in full google.I think that Boston terriers have been selected to look as much like silly people as possible. Lots of white in the eye, giant loose mouth, perpetual grin. I don't know what he does with all that cheek flesh, but it looks like he could pack several walnuts in each side.

Number three is the Kiss. Nobody kisses like a Boston terrier. When he is at his most fervent, Chet will throw a little nibble into his kiss, just like a person. I'm pretty sure Jen is getting a nibble kiss here. There is nothing like being able to get a kiss whenever you ask for one. I don't know whether this goes for all Boston terriers, but Chet Baker ADORES babies. Tomorrow, I have the immense pleasure of taking care of my one-year-old friend Oona all day. It will be the perfect antidote for my life of late. Baker never strays more than about five feet from Oona's side, all day. When she naps, he naps.Here, she's dropped in her crawly crawly tracks, one arm bent out, one leg under her. Baker studied her and decided she looked a bit uncomfortable. He walked up, licked her cheek, and she stirred just enough to unfold herself, whereupon he flopped back down beside her in Tube of Dog pose.

Time for a walk. Hunting season is over, huzzah! and it is time to reclaim the trails I so laboriously cut in November. I'm sure all the area hunters love my mad trailcutting skilz.
It is important to mark one's progress on the trail. This is not one of the reasons you will probably want a Boston terrier, but it factors in anyway.

At my show in Pennsylvania, Chet's breeder Jane came up to visit us. Oh, it was so wonderful to see her again, after almost three years! We shut ourselves in a downstairs office and went all dog crazy. She admired his Chetness from every angle and happily submitted to dozens of Boston kisses. How much happiness this wonderful woman has brought into our lives, no one can measure. Please note bow tie, worn in honor of Jane's visit. One of the last things I did before leaving for Pennsylvania was to sew the black bow tie back on Chet's dress collar. Priorities.