Addison carries her own weight around here

Last weekend, Pam and I hiked a beautiful trail in the Emigrant National Wilderness, in Stanislaus National Forest, just north of Yosemite. Yosemite doesn't allow dogs -- well, they do, but they have to stay in the car for the most part, and where's the fun in that? -- so we settled for the next best thing. The day before we left, I relented and joined REI (that's basically tangential to this story), and purchased dog panniers. That's right: saddlebags for the dog. This is how she looked:
I was sure she was going to buck and throw those suckers right off, but she was incredibly stoic about the whole thing, and showed very little discomfort. She was carrying a couple of bottles of water, the first-aid kit and some of our picnic lunch, and we took the panniers off when approaching a mud puddle (because Addison cannot resist mud puddles) or a lake (because I cannot resist lakes). The people we encountered on the trail were evenly divided when they saw Addison and her saddlebags. Half said: "Oh, how cute! She has her own bags!!" Half said: "That's not fair! She's doing all the work!!"
I don't know -- I felt a little guilty about the whole thing, because she was definitely carrying more than we were, but at the same time, she's had this 3-year free ride with me, so isn't it about time she contributed?

The New Fall Season

Oh, man. I've been away from my blog for so long that I actually forgot my username and password, which is really saying something since I have a very limited number of usernames and passwords floating around out there... Still, I just spent way too long trying all the permutations (there are only about 9) and even then it took me the better part of an hour to get back into my blog. This makes me feel really old.

What am I doing? Where have I been? Well, right here, all along. It's the last week of summer session and I'm wrapping up my intensive Spanish class and prepping for the course I'm giving in the fall. The fall course is on Medieval and Renaissance Spanish Literature, approximately 1300-1700. Not exactly my specialty -- actually, about 275 years before my specialty kicks in -- but I have high hopes for the course. The enrollment just skyrocketed from 5 students (I'm imagining a round table, everyone with their coffee cups, thoughtful discussions, first-name basis) to 24 students (all the desks taken, it takes me two weeks to learn everyone's names, ten people who won't talk no matter what the topic). I'm hoping I can live up to their expectations.

But, for now, I'm in intermediate Spanishlandia. A bunch of my students apparently got together to play Monopoly in Spanish the other night, which is about the coolest thing ever, from my vantage point. Spanish has won them over!

Kiss of the Banana Slug

I can't stand looking at that damn fatty tuna anymore, so here's my homage to the banana slug.
The assignment? Pose with the banana slug. The location? Near Muir Woods, 2.3 miles into the Dipsea Trail between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach. The participants? My loyal readership and hiking buddies: PJ, Mrs. Mattsie Garrett, Nickname Forthcoming Kesler and yours truly. Enjoy.