Mail call.

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Today we got a couple of pieces of mail from our friend Ajdin.  First up, a postcard from his recent road trip to Chincoteague Island, Virginia.  I hear that place is famous for its wild ponies.  Nice!

The second piece of mail is a package that bears a postmark from Singapore.  What??  Singapore?  When did he visit there?...  

Oh, I see now.  He sent us a prize for our Stuffie Olympics bronze medal finish...and it looks like it was mail-ordered from Singapore.  



It's a little notebook that says, "The best therapist has fur and four legs."

I couldn't agree more!  I know a certain furry,  four-legged psychotherapist who could use this book to record his patient notes.... 

Anyway, thanks for the mail, Ajdin!  See you next time, everyone!

Just milling around, part 2

Hey, what's up, dogs?  We're back to our explorations of the historic Red Mill Village.  Last time, we saw the inner workings of the mill itself...this time, we're moving on to some other buildings in the complex.  

Here's an old tenant house that stands on the property.  People who worked in the complex would have lived here.  It's pretty small, but cozy.

No running water in those days, of course.  There's a washstand and basin in the corner behind me.      

There's a storage shed here with some historic modes of transportation:  an old buggy and an old wagon.  No horses nearby though!  

The next building down the road is a one-room schoolhouse...

Wow, they had to pack students of all ages in the same room.  And the desks were all tiny.  Must have been a tight fit.  At least they had a stove in the middle of the room to keep warm in the winter.

Up here is the teacher's desk, with a hand bell, globe of the world, and...uh-oh!  That white cone-shaped hat is the dunce cap.  If you didn't answer the teacher's questions correctly, you had to wear it for a while. 

 And here's a copy of the student rules, as written in 1872:

How do you think these rules compare to school rules now, readers?  Are they more strict or less strict?  And are students better or worse at following rules now than they used to be?  Something to think about.

Well, that's it for this post.  Thanks for following along with me on this outing, and I'll see you next time!  Cheers!

 

Just milling around, part 1

Hey, what's up, dogs?  This week I took another field trip, this time to the Red Mill Museum Village in Clinton, NJ.  This is supposedly the most photographed mill in New Jersey.  And I can see why--quite a picturesque spot, isn't it?...

Now, the Mill is actually one of several historical buildings that have been preserved and turned into a museum. Let's see what's inside.

Here are some of the gears that made up the inner workings of the mill...

The grain traveled down this chute....

...dropped into this hopper...

...and was crushed between giant grindstones like this one:

Of course, most of the power to turn the grindstones came from the giant water wheel outside.  But...hey, what's this??....

A DOG-POWERED TREADMILL?  No.  Way.

I guess the dogs must have been very fit back then.  I hope they were well compensated with bacon...

All right, let's proceed to the next room.  See you next time, everyone...

The Starbucks "Puppuccino"

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Check out this link:  A police dog went through a Starbucks drive-through and got a tasty treat all his own.  I had no idea this was a thing!  Perhaps I need to start visiting Starbucks...

Und vee're back!...

Guten Tag, my friends, und vellcome!  Vonce again, zis is Professor Dogmund Freud, Dogtor of Psychology und therapist und friend to troubled dogs everyvair. 

It has been some time since vee last met, ja?  Perhaps you may be interested in zee verk I haf done since our last meetingk.  My client must, of course, remain unnamed, but I am currently verking vith a blue-skinned canine who is tormented by zee memories of his lost love, zee mysterious "Clementine."  He simply cannot go a single day vithout singingk a sad song in her memory.  A terrible thingk, ja?

...But I digress.  Today it seems vee haf a new client, Mr. Patch Benjamin Dog.  He has graciously agreed to permit recording of his therapy sessions, in zee hope zat his experiences may help other troubled dogs everyvair.

How are you today, Mr. Patch?

"G-good, thanks, Doc." 
 

I sense zat you are somevat nervous. 
 

"Y-yeah, I guess you could say that.  A-actually, that's part of why I'm here today."

Vell, you haf come to zee right place.  Vhy don't you lie down und get comfortable?  Und vennever you are ready, tell me your concerns.
 

"Okay...(ooo,this is a nice soft pillow).  Anyway...the reason I'm here, Doc, is because...well, to put it plainly, I'm a scaredy-dog."

I see.  Zis is a self-diagnosis? 

"Yes, sir."

Tell me how you came to zis conclusion.

"Well, I'm just...afraid of everything."

I see.  Can you gif me an example?

"Well, um...the most recent example was when my friends and I were picking out a movie to watch together.  I was too scared of the movies they wanted to watch."

Mmm-hmm.  Und if I may ask, vat movies zid zey vant to vatch?

"Well, Spunky wanted to watch Aliens."

My goodness.  Zat is a VERY scary film, Patch.

"You think so?"

Ja, ja.  I zink your reaction vas not so unusual.  But let's examine zis further, shall vee?  Can you gif me another example?

"Well...there was that time that Droopy was kidnapped, and we had to go to the docks at midnight to deliver the ransom...if Spunky and Grandpa hadn't been there with a flashlight, I would've run away screaming."

My goodness.  Again, zat sounds like a situation vich vood frighten most reasonable people. 

Patch looked hopeful.  "Really?"

Jawohl, Mr. Patch.  I zink perhaps you are being too hard on yourself.  You zink you are a "scaredy-dog," but you are only displayingk a very rational reaction to fearful stimuli.   

I vood like to suggest an alternate diagnosis.  I belief you may be an HSP.

Patch looked worried.  "HSP?  What's that?  Is that bad?"

Nein, nein.  HSP stands for Highly Sensitif Pooch, vich means you are more sensitif to criticism, loud sounds, und strong emotions zan your peers. 

So...it iz very important for you to monitor zee sights und sounds you take in.
  

Patch looked thoughtful.  "Hmm.  That does make a lot of sense."

May I make a suggestion? 

"Of course, Doc."

Every day, try to do vun thing zat scares you.  Start very small and build up slowly.  Before long, you vill surprise yourself vith vat you are able to do.  Vill you try zis for me?

"Um...okay.  I'll try."

Sehr gut.  Vell, vee are out of time for today, but I zink vee haf made much progress.  You know how to reach me if you need me, ja?  Until our next session, zen...

Stuffie Olympics!

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Today my friends and I thought we'd share our photo entries for Ajdin's 2016 Stuffie Olympics competition.   

Here's Team U.S.A. prepping for the javelin throw...

Next, the team practices for soccer.  Grandpa Angus was the referee.

"Now, I want a nice, clean match, boys!" he exclaimed.

Lastly, Spunky shows off his skills in rhythmic gymnastics:

We had a great time!  Did you watch the Rio Olympics?  

A dried-up beach, part 2

Hey, what's up, dogs?  We're back and continuing our stroll down this man-made beach.  


As I said last time, the water level in the reservoir is lower than it's ever been, so we're walking on sand that normally wouldn't be exposed.  

And we're finding some interesting stuff.  For example...

It's like a treasure hunt.  This is right up Indiana Fox's alley!

Uh-oh...did I just feel a raindrop?  The weather's been cloudy all day.  Looks like we should head back.  

We encountered a local resident shortly after we turned around...

In an effort to be generous, my human scattered the leftover bread crusts from our sandwich...and all of a sudden, a whole FLOCK of his friends descended out of the sky.

My human said it reminded her of the Alfred Hitchcock film, The Birds.  (*shudder*)  Thank goodness these were friendly fowl!  

All right everybody, that's it for now.  We'll see you again next time...