Audrey departs

This morning, Audrey was whisked away in a blue van. It wasn't intended to be that way. Her journey to Beijing began earlier than expected. Today, the blue van's job was to get her papers in order and to get her cleared for her trip. Instead, a voice appeared over the driver's phone. "There are issues with her flights. She must leave now." Now? "Yes."

We're not even really sure where she is at the moment. The blue van took off and we believe she boards a plane for Hong Kong on Sunday. The girls return home this afternoon to a home emptied of their pooch. Maybe it is better this way? For weeks, Xian has called Audrey's name as we leave school. The excitement of seeing her furry friend has calmed many car seat conflicts. It will be months - Audrey overnights in Hong Kong before flying to Beijing to spend the rest of the summer.

Just over three years ago, we were dealt miserable travel plans for our trip to Taiwan. In order to make the trip bearable for Audrey, we scrapped a portion of the flight plan and decided to drive/camp to San Francisco. In the middle of the night, on the banks of a beautiful river, Audrey felt the need to get out of the tent. The next day we all paid the price for her evening excursion. This time, we hope that Audrey has a quick travel and a fun summer at "camp".

In Taiwan, Audrey's favorite locations involve coast lines. If swimming is an option, she is a happy dog.

An early trip to Kenting, on the southern tip of the island, found a perfect spot for her.

A fast moving stream in Taroko Gorge

East side of the island

Audrey - we hoped you enjoyed your days in Taiwan. Your pack doubled in size and you have a few little ones to take care of once we rejoin in Beijing.

Grasshoppers on the afternoon walk

One of the perks of living where we do is that we can entirely avoid the city on most days. When we finally leave work after school, we scooter with our back to the city as we wind up the hill to our home. Excitedly waiting for her afternoon walk, Audrey is ready to pounce as soon as the door opens. We quickly head back out the door to walk on the roads near our house. With the "jungle" encroaching at every possible point, it is rare that we finish a walk without some encounter with other life forms. The scariest so far was the cobra on the trail last June. One of the coolest, was a few weeks ago when we came across a moth larger than the width of my hand. Where, oh where was the camera?

Recently, large grasshoppers flutter everywhere and Audrey seems to enjoy interacting with them (I'm not so sure what the grasshoppers think...)

The encounter

From Random Taichung

The grasshopper

From Random Taichung

Playtime

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Another creepy-crawly encounter

From Random Taichung

What about my summer?

Audrey here. Today, Mom and Dad left the computer plugged in so I finally have a chance to let you all know what my summer was like (I haven't figured out how to turn this silly machine on - any tips?) If you've been reading along, you probably know about the glorious trip my "rents" took through the Greek islands. Ruins, olives and beaches...How many of you have wondered what happened to me as they gallivanted around the world?

I was dropped of at Honey's Friends.  Mom and Dad call this place camp and it's great. There are other dogs. I get to play all day and the people are so nice. I guess if I have to be stowed away for six weeks, this is the place to go.

I got dropped off with this huge bag of food

Do you have a dog? This bag represents a form of torture. Yeah, I know that some of my four-legged friends gulp it down like crazy but every day? Twice a day? Come on - could you eat the same thing day in and day out? The food is awful. Crunch, crunch, crunch. No flavor and oh so dry. Plus it turns my stomach into knots.

So here I am, abandoned with a Costco-sized bag of kibble. Yay! It's summer time. Then my problems started. My body just couldn't do it anymore.

Quick! Let's go to the vet (one of my least favorite places) so that I could get poked and prodded. The test results came back and my liver was shutting down. Is that a good thing? It seems like it because the big bag of food disappeared and I was given yummy bones to eat.

Life has been better since then. Mom and Dad returned and the bag of food stayed far away. I wonder who ate it? Each day I now get raw bones to munch on. Oh, it took some getting used to. Mom kept giving me the bone until the whole thing disappeared. Am I supposed to crunch the bone up? Something urges me to and when I finish with the bone I get a bowl of rice and raw, ground meat.

I love it! The boys say that my breath doesn't stink anymore. My beautiful fur doesn't shed like it used to, liver function is back to normal and my stomach isn't upset 24-7.

What's that noise? Gecko - gotta run n catch one of those wall climbers!

Summer Shavin'

How absolutely ridiculous!  Near one of our local grocery stores is a dog groomer / day care location that caught our early attention as we settled into Taichung (almost a school year ago...) We laughed at this lion looking dog..

From Random Taichung

Krista was determined that her precious Audrey would never be shaved down to wander the parks of Taiwan looking like the kid with a bad haircut on picture day.  Fast forward to May.  The heat has returned.  Audrey sounds as if a coal engine is installed in our living room.  The panting rarely stops.  Hot air pours out to accompany her drooping, pink tongue.

"That's it, she's getting shaved!"  Krista changed her mind and out came the clippers.  A nervous looking Audrey is pulled over and the process begins.  Not wanting to gouge holes into her coat, Krista begins with a guard for a nice trimming.  As if... This dog is a lab and her coat is a high tech weave.  The clippers groan under the strain of passing through layer after layer after thick layer of fur.  Audrey's undercoat is a thick mat that eventually gets cut down (only a few holes are put into her coat).

In the end, the poor pooch is more than tired of being buzzed.  Her ears droop behind her head and those puppy dog eyes beg for an upgrade on life.  But, she has to feel better right?

Audrey's dark fur does not allow for a distinguished mane around her head so Krista goes for the devil tail.

In the end, Audrey seems to have lost several years of life and has a come-and-cuddle-with-me-the-cute-little -sheep-look about her.

Chuck-It!

It definitely was not an afterthought that brought this arm shaped piece of plastic to Taiwan.  Our dog, Audrey, lives for the moments when it gets pulled off of the shelf.  Her tail wags.  She begins to pant a quick in and out breath.  She does a little prance, bouncing up and down while wiggling her butt.

Trips to the park revolve around her manic desire for retrieving.  The up side is that she runs her little heart out and often collapses in a pile upon our return.  Tired dog, check!  The down side is that the obsessive part of her brain gets put into overdrive.  It consumes her thoughts and is strictly off limits in the house.  At times, she becomes so focused that her eyes roll a bit back into her head and she is unable to listen to basic commands.

The equipment is simple: the chuck-it and a tennis ball.

From Random Taichung

What had not been expected was the Taiwanese response to our daily activity.  Audrey must be the first Chuck-It playing dog in our part of Taichung (if not the city).  People walking in the park often stop and spend 5, 10, 15 minutes or more just watching Audrey run back and forth.  They laugh and make sure that small children, grandparents, or anyone around witnesses the sight of two crazy people chucking a ball for their little black dog who tears off after it only to bring it back and repeat.  Time after time after time.

Krista in full Chuck-It pose:

From Random Taichung

The best response is from the numerous dogs hanging around in the park.  Some of the dogs are on their daily walk while others belong to the local pack - a group of generally nice dogs who live in the surrounding undeveloped areas and survive off restaurant food and other drop offs.  These pooches were not able to comprehend Audrey's behavior when we first began playing.  On some occasions, there were four to five dogs sitting in a row watching her go.  Motionless, except for their heads tracking her movements, they just observed as if trying to determine if this crazy dog of ours is the same species or not...

From Random Taichung