Up and down

K and I had a mountain bike ride that mixed snow and dirt, clouds and sun, and sleepiness and energy. Here was one of K's down moments, while she guarded my back as I checked a wildlife camera. I truly appreciate her doing this guard duty when I'm checking cameras that mountain lions visit regularly.

Then, as we rode under the steelshot gray skies, I spotted a partial rainbow over the mountains. You can see it to the right of K in the photo below.

In the warm weather since our big snow, the flowers have had a spring party. Pasqueflowers are popping up everywhere.

But, I've never mentioned that K has a vendetta against Pasqueflowers. Because they're our first flower of the year, I tend to fawn over them, getting down on the ground to look at them closely and photograph them. K doesn't like me paying so much attention to anything besides her.

So, she beheads them. Literally, as she runs past one, she bares her razor sharp teeth and bites off the flower. She spits it out in the grass and runs onward, pleased with her destruction of these flowers that distract me from focusing on her. As you might imagine, I completely freak out, telling her that she should never again behead a beautiful Pasqueflower. My lectures have never had much effect on her, and the Pasqueflower destruction has continued.

So, today, I tried a new strategy after five springs in a row of K beheading Pasqueflowers. I had her lie down next to one while I photographed it. I gave her tons of treats as I looked at the spring flower. My hope was that she'd start to see Pasqueflowers as a good thing in her world - they cause her to get a lot of treats! I'm sure that we have a long way to go... but, for today, she didn't behead any of my favorite flowers!

After I left K at home, I went out for a leisurely ride, stopping to enjoy the small signs of spring along my route. As I passed a small willow tree, a buzzing sound overwhelmed me. I screeched to a halt, and I saw that the willow catkins had begun to produce pollen. Fortuitously, or due to the incredibly precise timing of nature, bees had emerged for the first time this spring and were hovering all around the tree, diving into the pollen dust like a dog dives into a bowl of ice cream.

The willow was a literal beehive of springtime activity. I smiled.

A little later, I spotted my first Aster flower of the year. I don't know what species it is but it's a tiny one, and always blooms very early in spring.

Those two small things, the willow tree and the aster flower, made me smile throughout my ride.

Unfortunately, I arrived home from my ride to discover that K has a full-blown urinary tract infection. These infections invade her body regularly due to a congenital defect. Using preventive measures, we've reduced their frequency to about once or twice a year. She now has antibiotics and pain medications in her system and seems subdued but less uncomfortable. That's a good start.