Auke Bay - Comic Relief (July-September 2021)
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Modern life's daily dramas justify a little comic relief, preferably each day. Charley the dog, a moyen Poodle, is a reliable source of comic relief. Energetic, agile, very fast, and not prone to prolonged thought, Charley endlessly entertains his humans, even if, given a choice, he would much prefer to be with other dogs. This post contains no Deep Message. There is no point to adding here to the accumulated praise of dogs for their contributions to humanity and their capacities for faithful devotion and pleasant distraction. Better to simply post photos of Charley at play in Auke Bay in 2021. It was his third summer there, and he was no longer a tiny puppy avidly studied by the bald eagles looming in nearby trees.
Lucius and Leo were Charley's predecessors. They were large standard Poodles and carried stately auras of dignity and restraint. Charley has not followed in their footsteps. Nor has he been guided by his namesake, the original Charley, John Steinbeck's traveling companion. "Travels with Charley" portrayed Charley le Chien as serious, dignified, and perhaps disdainful (dismissively emitting "pfft" between his teeth) or haughty. No one would attribute the qualities of dignity and restraint to our Charley, and it would never occur to him to be disdainful or haughty. Of course he has other attributes that we are still trying to catalogue.
To set the stage, here are two photos from 2018, when Charley was four months old. No heavier than a typical salmon from the nearby stream, he was well within the lifting capabilities of the watching eagles. As a result, he was always on leash or tied that summer.
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Fluffed-out fur concealed his scrawny frame.
Three years later, he had filled out and was no longer a morsel for raptors.
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He missed a trim at home and no local groomer could schedule him. Untrimmed, he looks much beefier than he actually is. But the appearance of muscular power is accurate. He runs like a very powerful and agile half-back.
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Momentarily thoughtful.
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.