Walking with John

After all the excitement of being in Michigan, life back in Nikko is rather routine and unexciting.  That's okay too but it doesn't give a lot to blog about...

Mostly it has been raining nearly everyday and so it is difficult to find a few minutes of time to go out for a walk with John.  He is so close to the ground that even on days when it isn't raining he gets his stomach dirty...  We saw another daschund the other day who was wearing an apron around her middle.  Her owners said it was to keep her tummy clean when they went outside...  That seemed like a good idea but I guess we aren't going to try it...  There would be no way we could get an apron around John's middle!

This morning it was pouring outside but of course John needs to go for a potty run and so Tetsu took him outside.  When they got back, Tetsu asked for a towel so that he could dry John off but the three of us stood there looking at each other because the humans were unsure about how to go about drying John off as he doesn't like to be touched...  in the end John had to come back to his circle wet...  he wouldn't let us dry him.  He has a blanket in his circle so I guess he dried himself off after breakfast...  Isn't this ridiculous that we have to triple think everything we do with John?!

But John does like walks and so yesterday he and I headed off while the weather held.

 We found ducks resting by a rice field.

No, the picture isn't upside down.  The rice is reflected in the flooded field.

We visited a cow. 

The corn fields are just beginning to grow into rows. 

Oh John!  You blinked!  If I had chosen a dog to own I think I would have chosen one who wasn't black around his eyes...  Choco too had a black "mask" around her eyes and it was always hard to take her picture.  With John too, I can't even tell when he is looking at me because his black eyes get lost in his black fur.  And John being so close to the ground means that most of the pictures I take of him are of the top of his head!  Well, he can be photogenic but it is a challenge to get a good picture of John.

Ah, the sun was coming out and even the weeds were pretty!