This year April started with the winter that would not end, but by the end of the month we were playing bocce in that back yard.  Agnes keeps getting better about being a model, including coming out for solo walks and photo sessions.

Our Version of Spring

Spring tried to come, then got pushed back by winter 2.0. Winter 2.0 was determined to stay.  This photo was actually a big moment for Agnes. Her first solo walk without the other pups by her side. She was a bit freaky about it, but actually did quite well with only human companionship on the stroll.

Agnes: Dave, is this spring?
Dave: Technically yes.
Agnes: Really? That doesn’t seem right.
Dave: Yup. Spring started 17 day ago.
Agnes: Now I may just be a puppy, but I was pretty sure that spring was all about temptation and trouble.
Dave: Temptation and trouble? That sounds more like a bad reality TV show than spring.
Agnes: Yup. Rain, puddles, mud, grass and flowers.
Dave: Those things actually sound pretty good and not at all like trouble to me.
Agnes: Really? Because last year you kept telling me to stop eating the grass, get out of the flowers and not to roll in the mud.
Dave: Well, when you put it like that ….
Agnes: Nope. I heard you. Those things are all good and not trouble. So hurry up rain! I’ve got some grass eating, flower dancing and mud rolling to do!

The Catcher

Aggie does love her balls. Especially tennis balls. Taken in the mid afternoon sun, with some processing to drop the background exposure. I’m just glad that I got the focus right on this lunge where I lobbed her the ball with my left hand while one handing the camera on my right.

Dave: What a lovely day here.
Aggie: BAAAAALLLLLLLL!
Dave: Is that all you have to say?
Agnes: Oh no. There’s more.
Dave: Really?
Agnes: Yup. TEEEENNNNNNNIIIIIISSSS BAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLL!

The First Step in Coercion

This is a perspective that I see a lot. A smile and an averted gaze is the first step to getting me to throw a ball. Then it turns into direct eye contact with a quivering lower lip. Then she backs up three steps and starts to bark. All three phases are adorable, but somehow this phase is the most endearing.

Bocce

At the end of April we bypassed spring and moved straight into summer. This meant that the lovely bocce set that I got for Christmas could finally come out for a game in the back yard. Maybe I wasn’t thinking straight, but I never anticipated just how much Bruno and Agnes would want to play with the balls too. They chased each and every throw while they were locked up on the deck. They definitely got more exercise than us humans did.

Agnes: Man Bruno, this is great.
Bruno: Yup very close to great.
Agnes: Oh boy. I can’t wait to get till it’s our time to play.
Bruno: You think they’ll let us play?
Agnes: Oh sure. It’s a universal rule of human leisure sports. So it must apply to bocce too. The waiting person just has to declare “I play the winner”. Then it happens.
Bruno: Really?
Agnes: Yup. Totally true. And I’ve said that team blonde plays next. So, we’re up next.
Bruno: Really. And you don’t see the hole in your logic?
Agnes: Nope. No flaw.
Bruno: You’re not human.
Agnes: Really?
Bruno: Yup. You’re not human. Just a crazy puppy.
Agnes: I don’t believe you.
Bruno: Sorry. But I’ll tell you what I can do to make it better.
Agnes: What’s that?
Bruno: I’ll tell you what those delightful bocce balls are like when I get to play. Because I’m up next!