A cool day in July?

Friday was an unusually cool and pleasant day for July in Virginia.  I hadn't been out in my canoe since December, I believe.  Winter lasted so long and the spring was so wet that the river was too high much of the time.  The last couple months I've been too busy on weekends, but today was free, the weather was perfect, and the river was passable.  It was still quite muddy and was running higher and faster than I like, but it was too nice to pass up.  I didn't get an early enough start to see much wildlife, but it was still nice to be out.  It was one of those days where the sun and the breeze just feel good on your skin.  

I poured a few bottles of our home brew into
a stainless steel growler sent by my family
in Montana.  I didn't drink much, though,
because I needed to keep both hands on the
paddle most of the time.

The stretch of river that I cover is just about 7 miles and I made it in under two hours.  When I got back home, I took a select pack of dogs out to the pasture for a good romp:  Maya; Gigi; Vince; Max; Ochie; and the new girl, Stella.  Maya didn't stay with us for long; she hopped a fence somewhere to go off to pursue her own agenda, but she was back in about 20 minutes.

Stella meeting Ochie

Max, Ochie, Stella, and Maya

Stella doesn't move like a 12 year old dog.

I gave Max a bath the other day along with Trooper and
Gambit.  It helped, but he still needs a good brushing.

Stella with Ochie

Vince doesn't run like an old man either.

Gigi

Gigi enjoys the pasture on a nice day.