entertaining ourselves

Monday morning was miserable, especially by south Florida standards. In the 60's, drizzly rain, serious foggy skies.

We were in the car and discovered the yukkiness as soon as we drove out of the parking garage. It was a much less desirable dog park day than it had looked from the windows on the 19th floor.

Remember that H-Mom though, the one who stood under the drawbridge in the monsoon with Booker and the WTF convention ...

Madison is slowly discovering that there is a streak of stubborn determination in H-Mom that will match her own to plant her giant puppy feet and dig-in-and-don't-move attitude.

H-Mom was going to the dog park in spite of the rain. And so was Madison. And if that meant walking with an umbrella and yellow slicker, let it rain.

It was no surprise that there was not another parked car, dog or dog walker in sight.

But what a little trooper Madison turned out to be! She took off in a joy-filled bounding circle, surveyed the 3-acres that she had all to herself and figured out that sometimes the best fun we have is all by ourselves. There were toys to be discovered and not shared, mud to stretch out in undisturbed and palm tree debris to wrestle without competition.

In the "jungle" the Beautyberry bushes are covered with lustrous purple fruit. It is highly astringent and not used by people for anything, although it has been found to have insect repellent qualities. The birds will eat the tiny crispy berries if there is nothing else available.

On the way home, Madison made a stop at the groomer for a bath. When it rains, it pours.

PS Gussie found a little black dog masquerading as an elephant in one of the photos. See what you can do with a piece of palm tree in your mouth and a phonecam?