Paws & Books: "Sublime Physick" by Patrick Madden

Sublime Physick

(University of Nebraska Press)

by Patrick Madden

I'd be so grateful if you read my book review of Patrick Madden's gorgeous essay collection over at Inside Higher Ed. Huge thanks to John Griswold for fantastic editing of my review--and for publishing it. Your clicks through to read the review make a huge difference! Thank you.

Lowdown Lake Walkies

If you're feeling blue from all the terrible news, it's important to be grateful for the small things in life.

Like lowdown walkies along a gorgeous lake.

Lots of love,
Tootsie & her mom

#tbt -- Flight Practice

Throwback Thursday is for my friend Danna who knows how ready I am to fly.

I practice and practice and still end up with my paws on the ground or in mom's arms.

But I want to fly!

We love you, Danna.
XO

Paws & Books: "the last will be stone, too" by Deborah Poe

the last will be stone, too

(Stockport Flats)

by Deborah Poe

From "death mix" by Deborah Poe:

leaf-green heart of shadow looks at itself

there comes a stillness, comes this storm

which crossing awakens?

Paws & Books: Quotidiana by Patrick Madden

Quotidiana

(University of Nebraska Press)
by Patrick Madden

Paws & Books: Women Born with Fur by Beth Couture

Welcome to my new pawject: paws & books. My paws with Mom's books.

Or maybe it will be my snout or my tail or my ears. But always, a book.

Women Born with Fur 

(Jaded Ibis Press)
by Beth Couture

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

We all look a little younger here in this photo from Idaho.

Happy birthday, Grandpa!

We love you.

xo

In your honor, we shall yodel to the great big blue sky.

Thanks for being a champion of the down low.

"Ihr habt die uhren... ich habe die zeit!"

"I have the time."--Tootsie

:::: Tube of Fur.

"You have the clocks. I have the time."

:::: Berlin street art.
Photography by writer Lance Olsen.

A Furry Friend

Here's my new friend Fufi. She's from Austria and loves winter hiking.

Just like me, Fufi wishes her parents gave her some winter boots for little dogs. Our little paws can't store body heat as well as the larger paws of bigger dogs.

Fufi warned me of a major winter hazard for four-legged creatures in the Austrian mountains: barbed wire fences buried in snow. Look how freaky it is!

Dachshund Daddy and I saw this barbed wire in two different places. Swiss farmers also use barbed wire, but they don't leave it on the ground like that. Thank you, Fufi, for warning us!

Badgering the witness

Last Saturday I went snowshoeing with Dachshund Daddy in the mountains above Bregenz, Austria. Well, technically, he went snowshoeing and I went snow-waddling, because they don't make snowshoes for dachshunds just yet.

While taking a break next to an old farmstead, Dachshund Daddy lifted me up in his arms to warm up my paws and ears.

That's when we saw him. Look in the photo below; can you see him?

Here's a close-up. Can you see him now?

Yes, it's a badger! The creature my forebears were bred to hunt. The namesake of our breed, since Dachs is the German word for badger. The very nemesis embedded in my DNA. Dachshund Daddy went into protective mode and hung on to me extra tight.

To Dachshund Daddy's great surprise, however, I didn't squeak or bark or squirm or do any of the dachshund things you would expect me to do. I just watched the badger quietly disappear...

through an opening in the wall. Is that self-control, or am I disconnected from my own DNA?

I tend to think it was self-control -- one of the benefits of growing older. Yet, there's something truly powerful about meeting your breed's namesake. It's like a Fox Terrier meeting a fox, a Bulldog meeting a bull, or a Boxer meeting Mike Tyson.

  

P.s. Mom wasn't with us, because she went to Berlin for the weekend. How cool is that?