James has become much more adept at riding his little trike since our return from the states. I think his legs grew enough over the last 2 months to make it much less frustrating for him in general. I have to admit I have not tried to take him out on the bike with the dogs. I am just not ready for that-- it is a two-parent job. Due to the back-and-forth to school, other errands, and the two dog walk a day minimum, I have also not taken James out on solo treks with the bike. I am much more interested in the "killing two birds, or multiple birds, with one stone" prospect. Therefore, most walks are some combination of dog walk and errand/visit to the playground/children's farm/ice cream stand.
That leaves James to pursue his bike riding in the back garden and in Dad's workshop, aka the sunroom. This offers us MULTIPLE opportunities to get "guck" (stuck) each and every day.
Here is one tight spot. Note the handle-bar is caught on the saw horse.
It also quadruples our ability to scare the beans out of Ghost and Keska, who always seem to be right where James would like to go. This is not ideal, and we have been working on explaining that when the dogs are sleeping or lying down, one does not point the bike at them and use them as a destination marker.
Unfortunately Ghost also lacks the ability to avoid conflicting situations. I wish I could chalk this up to his herding ability, and tell you proudly that he only follows James-on-the-bike and then stands directly in front of James-on-the-bike because of his innate desire to gather the sheep. The fact that Ghost has displayed almost NO herding ability AT ALL since we got him in 2000 leads me to believe that this is just a coincidence. This is the dog that is scared of the vacuum, yet repeatedly stands in the way of the vacuum. He has issues.
Here are some shots of Ghost getting in front of James, trying to squeeze through a spot by James, etc. Notice Keska is nowhere to be seen. That is because she remained lying down the whole time, avoiding the bike.
Finally Ghost squeezes his ample bulk into a spot under the grape vines. Feelings hurt but completely intact, he manages to avoid the danger of the bike for a while. Ghost is a sweet boy despite his psychological problems.
Oh yeah-- and Aunt Dor, can you tell we like the shirt? I thought it might be months before the weather was right, but we had a chilly turn and they are perfect. He has on the other one today. When I pull them out he says "michael...embly..dophie!"
1 comment:
I noticed the shirt right off, so glad it fits, and you can use it already. He does look like a pro on the bike, even if Ghost is trying to thwart his every move....
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