Flight Practice Begins, Again!

Our form needs assessment, but we're thrilled to be back in the air.

Sometimes, especially after lots of practice, we cuddle on a mountain.

Flight Practice Begins, 2018

In Tuscany, over Easter, we had an unexpected flight practice!

And we ate this "Colomba," a sweet bread from our favorite pastry shop, Gelato Café. (Tootsie does not eat it.) The same big bread we eat for Easter in Italy is the same as the big bread we eat for Christmas in Italy. "But it is in a different shape!" says Dachshund Daddy.

Called: "Colomba di Pasqua" (Easter) and "Panettone" (Christmas), respectively. 🐰 

[P.s. This one has pear and chocolate bits.]

Am I A Plate?

Dear Mom,

I saw a note taped to the front door when Dachshund Daddy took me out for my constitutional last night. The note said: "Wash Tootsie."

What do you mean "Wash Tootsie"?

Am I a plate? A dirty dish? Why don't I get a bath?

Here's your new, edited list:

• Give Tootsie a bath
• Stop referring to Tootsie as a plate

You can see from this evidence that I am not a plate.

I am a dachshund who will fly... someday.

Thank you.

Love you,
Tootsie

Flight Practice Begins (Again) On Top of Monte Covreto!

Earth Day

We hope you had a wonderful Earth Day and March for Science!

We waddled our way to the top of Monte Covreto, which is on the border between northern Italy and southern Switzerland.

It's very dry for this time of year, and we're looking forward to rain next week.

If you look closely at this photograph you can see a recent burn on the hill just behind us. It was a small fire, but it's unusual in this area. The smell of soot lingers in the air.

Flight Practice Continues

Tube of Fur. Flight Practice. Near Val d'Aosta.

Extreme Flight Practice

Times like these demand extreme flight practice. So much wind, Tube of Fur's ears flopped back. Her plane could not lift off. And the mountains did not have enough snow. Several Austrian hikers asked me what's going to happen now to the country of my birth, to the Paris Accords, to climate change. I tried to sing, to ask, "what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?" But the wind blew my words away. The wind blew my heart away. 💔 And so we wept on a mountainside.

The Matterhorn & Flight Practice

The most famous Swiss mountain as seen from the Italian side.

Italians call the Matterhorn "Cervino."

It's gianormous and amazing and made our hearts go flippy flop.

P.S. Mom says I need to open my eyes during flight practice!

Swiss Sunday Walkies in Avers Valley, Switzerland

How did we get so lucky to live in Switzerland? The Avers Valley is 6,000 feet high and only two hours away from home. Grandpa -- next time you visit, we will take you there. (The road is not that scary.)

Here is Tootsie in Mom's arms, but she's so little she's a little hard to see.

Tootsie's flight practice continues. There is so much to keep track of when you try to take flight. Now we're working on keeping our eyes open during flight practice.

We continue to believe it is possible for dogs to fly. Closer & closer, we say.

Flight Practice: A Little Help from the Wind

 

Some days, flight practice is more frustrating than other days. But even when things are frustrating, it's imPAWtant to keep practicing. Some people might say that dogs cannot fly, but that pigs can fly. Well, if a pig can fly, I think a dog can fly.

Mom and Dad say that they will help me keep practicing. I'm so lowdown that the wind doesn't get under my ears for a good lift, so I need Mom or Dad to pick me up. That way, my ears get a bit of a lift from the wind, and flight practice is possible.

Mom says she has lots of days with her writing where she doesn't feel like it is going well at all. Well, today's flight practice was one of those days.

If you're having a day when things aren't going so well, you might just need a friend to lift you up so you can feel the wind.

xo

Love,

Tootsie

Flight Practice Begins in Earnest

Spring has sprung, so flight practice has started in earnest. Each year, I hope to fly. It takes more than hope, so each year, I practice. Each year, I fail. Each year, I try, again. This is my recent flight practice session on Monte Crocione above Lake Como, Italy.

Flight practice with cross. Very helpful.

Flight practice stall. Kind of a bummer.

What flight success might look like.

Spring Flight Practice Begins. Again. Gently.

Flight practice just east of the Ticino River near the town of Magenta, Italy.

#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

#TBT - We will practice flight until we fly

#tbt - just to last summer, but it was such a happy, free time of flight practice. This is in Val d'Aosta, Italy. The wind is good there.

Flight Practice Begins. Again.

Halfway between Sils Baselgia and Sils Maria, Switzerland

Post Flight Practice Rest

Gentle Flight Practice

Ear in Profile. Ear in Black and White.