This past week has been a reprise of summer with warm days and cool nights. The nights have been clear – our last walk of the evening taken under the canopy of more stars than you can imagine if you’ve never spent a night away from city lights. The waning moon’s rise is late in the night (or early in the morning??) leaving it high in the sky when we venture out in the dark of a Fall morning.

Balmy temperatures and moon shadows…

…have taken me outside to sit and listen and prepare for the day.

The blue light special is Karl :)! He is in his usual spot which gives him a view and a listen over the game trail below.

Bob is usually out with us as well – there is a small critter hidey-hole under the house near where I sit, but this morning he opted for an inside seat.

All this week, though, by the waning moon and with temperatures that felt like summer, we have enjoyed morning by moonshadow.

Orvis the dog book – Orvis’ catalog for all things canine and the supplier of “Karl’s” new dog bed, has a Cover Dog contest every year.

Just this very moment, sneaking in under the wire (9/30 is the last day to enter), I entered Karl’s photo – a favorite of mine, taken on 2/26/2009.

The voting does not affect who wins the photo contest – it is a means to raise money and awareness for canine cancer.

Karl says please consider a donation for canine cancer – here or at your local veterinarian – the medication and treatment for canine and/or feline cancers is prohibitively expensive for many.

Orvis Photo Contest . Search by Dog’s Name, enter “Karl”.

***EDIT 9/30 1:10 P.M. U.S. Mountain Daylight time…
In case you don’t read comments:

Karl’s Mama says she will match donations 1 for 1…for every vote (1 vote = $1/$5 min) – as of 8:00 p.m. U.S. Mountain Daylight time – the family Summers will match dollar for U.S.Dollar….Hoo Rah – we need to beat Canine Cancers and soon!!!

Srsly – look at the Orvis video of 2010 Cover dogs. If those eyes do not speak to your soul… I don’t mean that all of those dogs have cancer because they don’t. I mean that there is something special about loved dogs and the way dogs love. Cancer is a horrible thing, no matter who it attacks. And we give it such power – it is past time to take that power away.

I love sunflowers!

Karl and I rolled into Karl’s Auntie Kris and Uncle Hal’s place midday Saturday to walk and visit and for Karl to dispense doggie kisses all around and collect hugs and rubs in return :)!

The driveway has a turning circle around a beauteous garden. Hal likes to find unusual varieties to include. Until yesterday, I had no idea there were color varieties of sunflowers…I know about the size varieties. This beauty has all of the colors that say Autumn to me. And even in the gray, overcast light, it glowed.

Karl, Kris and I headed out for a walk. We met Hal as he returned from Saturday errands. Karl played chase with Kris and Hal…play-bowed and did his “catch me if you can” run.

An idyllic time with good friends, my good dog and Autumn Beauty*.

**I think that this variety of Sunflower is called “Autumn Beauty”…I await verification/correction :)! (Gayle???)

AND!!! as I was getting this ready to post, the following came to me in an email from Kris:

Remember when you guys left here, all of a sudden Karl perked up and barked and carried on? Later that day, a very large brown phase black bear walked up our driveway and then turned and went between Hal’s truck and the containers and disappeared into the woods. He could have been hanging around and Karl caught a whiff. Bear Dog at Work!

YOWZA! Karl had a Bear Dog Day!!

I ordered Karl a new dog bed. He has several dog beds…one is an outdoor bed that he uses only in the winter….preferring the grass or sidewalk when it is warm.

He has a dog bed at the foot of my bed. He uses that sometimes – mostly in the winter…preferring the hardwood floor in the closet. And yes, I’ve tried all sorts of things in the closet, thinking that wood is pretty darn hard.

During the day he often sleeps on the hardwood in a corner of the living room behind one of the big leather chairs.

As an older dog, I thought maybe more cushioning might be of interest and I thought my best shot at getting him to use a new bed in the living room would be as it gets cooler.

Enter a large, memory foam bed with bolster.

I plopped it behind my chair and threw a toy on it. The thought here is that if Karl walks on the bed and finds it is not threatening, maybe he’ll lie down on it and LOVE it.

These things don’t always work on the first try.

Bob likes the new bed. I had high hopes that maybe a bit of sibling rivalry would kick in and Karl would want what Bob had. I can’t claim credit for getting Bob to go on the new bed – he decided for himself. Now, if I had WANTED him to get on the bed…

A bit of progress! On the bed, lying down, playing with the toy! Maybe this will work.

Maybe not…