Bandi's First Sunset From Lookout Point

Song:  Clocks

Group:  Coldplay

Today was Bandi's first time to go outside my mother's backyard.

I took everyone (my mother / Hana / Kaida (my younger sister's dog)...

and Bandi...

to lookout point for the sunset.

As it is just seconds from my mother's house...

the fact that it took a while to get the leashes on 

and to keep them from tangling up with one another...

still left us plenty of time.

We first faced East as the clouds turn colors there first.

I thought the clouds here looked like some mythical creature.

Bandi thought the sticks on the ground were the most interesting things going on there.

A nice little rainbow.

We then turned around our chairs to face West to see the near sunset.

I think Bandi needs leash training.  

She kept getting tangled up in the leash.

A few walks should cure that though.

I will get a leader leash so she will hook up to Hana's...

and I will also get a harness for Bandi for walks.

Bandi And Hana

Song:  Give Me Love

Artist:  George Harrison

Just last week...

my mother looked up at me and said she wanted another dog to keep Hana company.

I searched all of the Humane Societies within a 250 mile radius.

I had found a very cute puppy which was part of a litter of siblings...

all of whom had been strays and were at a shelter which was a little over 4 hours away

in California.

I called them and said my mother and I would be there the next morning

to adopt the below puppy.

She had her first series of inoculations and she had just been spayed.

My mother and I left early the next morning and adopted...

Bandi (I named her a female version of Bandit...because of her 'Mask').

She was just weaned and is 8 weeks old.

She is a Labrador Retriever mix...

and she is so cute!

The following pictures I had took in my mother's backyard

on the following day.

Both of the dogs get along well...

and Bandi is very playful and affectionate.

Bandi loves her new home.

For the past few days...

I have been potty training Bandi.

She has responded well.

Bandi and Hana love playing outside...

and then sleeping in my extra cool air conditioned room.

They both sleep with me.

Bandi will stretch out on my bed...

and then cuddle next to me...

or she will sleep next to Hana.

Hana is much more active now.

She seems very happy with her new friend.

I will be taking them on a walk around the neighborhood later today.

I must get some of that puppy energy out of Bandi  :)

(Although she listens well...and she is well behaved.

She loves being held and cuddled).

My mother is having a good time sitting on her backyard porch

as she watches the dogs play and explore.

I feed the dogs outside and give them fresh water...

and then sit on the patio with my mother as we watch the dogs play.

The days are very nice.

In a few days...

we are going to have an outside evening supper on my mother's backyard patio

with my elder sister and her husband.

My Elder Sister And Her Husband Visit Lower Eagle Falls

Song:  Nights In White Satin (Cover / Orchestral)

Artist:  David Lanz 

I took my elder sister and her husband to Lower Eagle Falls

 to photograph the sunrise before the falls become a mere trickle.

Almost all of the snow has melted...

and so, the volume of falls has already greatly diminished.

I had wanted to take my mother also...

however, she had fallen asleep early...

so, I picked up my sister and her husband early.

The drive took just over one hour.

We had actually arrived almost 45 minutes too early...

so, we just sat in the car, just across the street...

until the sky started to glow.

My sister and her husband really liked the falls.

We are still scouting out places for us to visit in the different seasons.

We will come back in the Winter.

I hope to catch a sunrise with snow on the ground later this year.

We then drove just a few minutes to another lookout point to take pictures

of the front of the falls.

We stood at the top and to the right of this portion of the falls.

Down a little farther...

the falls had a lower portion.

My elder sister is 60 and her husband is almost 70.

For our next outing...

we will mountain bike around Spooner Lake...

and then on to the Truckee River trail.

This whole summer...

besides capturing Summer's beauty...

we are scouting out areas to re-visit for the Autumn colors 

or the next Winter's snowfalls.

Retirement is the time to freely chase passions...

and to fully live life as we had once done as teenagers...

as we had worked and sacrificed to reach this point in life of utter freedom...

without worry.

My elder sister and her husband have made some enlargements of their 

favorite photos from their past...

to hang on their walls at home.

This is some of the best art...

as it captures memories as they had lived it.

Our mission is to experience and capture...

once again...

great adventures and moments...

and by doing so...

becoming younger as we age.

Death, we cannot change...

but how we live our lives...

is of our choosing.