Ups and Downs

 The Hounds and I took a road trip last week to see friends in Seattle.  The place we stayed, a daylight apartment, was ever so lovely, with a big fenced yard, and it was conveniently located.

Our space was the lower unit with the open door:

Not huge, but fine for me and the dogs, and nicely appointed.

There was a patio with seating, a garden, and a lot of space for dachshunds to roam around.

The Hounds spent a lot of time at our friend Tina's home, where they got to hang out with her three pooches:

In addition to seeing quite a few old friends, we also visited several of our favorite parks, including Golden Gardens on Puget Sound:

Our favorite place in Seattle is the Montlake Fill (AKA the Union Bay Natural Area), which we visited twice -- this was my regular birding patch for many years.

There were dragonflies out and about -- this Eight-Spotted Skimmer posed long enough for a photo:

An Osprey pair has a nest nearby and has been raising youngsters.  This is one the adults:

Truman enjoyed rolling in the long grass:

Pied-billed Grebes are a fave of mine, and I was delighted to see several out and about.  We do get them in the Tri-Cities but typically they stay too far out on the water for decent views, unlike this lovely bird at the Fill:

Truly a wonderful oasis of nature in the heart of the city:

While we were admiring the grebes, another birder kindly pointed out a dowitcher feeding in the shallow water nearby:

We were, however, able to spot this bird all on our own:

In addition to visits with friends, trips to parks, a little book shopping, and an actual party (BBQ!), I also got together for several sketch outings with the Zoom group, only in person.  Here is a tree from one of the parks (ink and watercolor):

This drawing of an arch from the Utah canyonlands is actually from the previous week (pencil):

This pair of shoes was done in a virtual zoom session again, even though I was still in Seattle, and there's a reason for that.

The reason why I didn't go join my friends in person that day -- the last day of my trip -- was because of poor Pippin, who is the "down" part of the post title.  On the last day, he started showing back discomfort, and by midday it was clear he was having another disc issue.  So I stayed put to keep him quiet and as comfortable as possible until heading back to Richland.

The vet is hopeful that he can recover with pain meds and very strict bed rest, which means keeping him in a space so small he can't jump up, and just barely turn round.  It may be weeks before we know if this will take care of the flare-up.  

So, that was not a happy ending to an otherwise enjoyable trip.  Dang.

Tune in next week, with your fingers duly crossed, to see how the little guy is doing.

Until then, please have a better week than I will probably have!