Morning Dog Walk

I have always been a live and let live sort of person.  I expect nothing more from any neighbor than the occasional observation of a social amenity, to include in informal greeting or salutation in passing.  If my home catches fire, I'd appreciate a call to the fire department.  In the bloody aftermath of an attempted home invasion a polite enquiry as to the state of our health or an offer of assistance would most definitely not be amiss.  I offer the same treatment and occasionally more, such as assistance carrying heavy or bulky objects.  I steadfastly refuse to tell my neighbor how to keep his yard or home; the poor bastard has enough problems already.  Why add to his misery?

That said, I most surely wish my neighbors would remove (or never erect) the ubiquitous driveway basketball hoop.  It's an eyesore of the worst kind.  Here's an example:

Tree and Basketball Hoop

Note that an otherwise beautiful flowering tree is marred by the hoop.  Worse, there are people in this world who would cheerfully remove the tree because it provides a distraction from the hoop.  I once worked for a man with this outlook, and it didn't end well.  After I had departed for greener pastures (pun intended), the asinine urbanite attempted to duplicate a desert in the midst of some good farm land and surround it with luxury homes.  He went broke and now makes less mischief, having destroyed as much of the agricultural community as he could, but that's another story.  To continue, here's the tree obscured by the ugly hoop.

Tree Obscured By Hoop

Consider the tree without the ugly hoop and backboard, although not as much of the tree can be photographed.

Tree Without Hoop

I can hear my detractors howling about 'live and let live' and calling me a hypocrite.  Screw 'em.  My own philosophy does not deter me from fantasizing about chaining this fetish of a miscreant haven to someone's Bubba truck and hauling it to a more suitable locality.  Any landfill would do.

Fortunately for the owners of this monstrosity, I lack access to a suitable conveyance.  Plus, I'm distracted by the flowers in Main Lady's front yard.

Mystery Flowers

I still have not discovered the name of these flowers, although they may be called Hostas.  They come in many different colors and designs, and seem to do well in shade.

Blue Mystery Flowers

Lone Daffodil

 

 Lone Daffodil Closeup

I have had trouble getting my camera to focus on the subject of my photograph.  I use a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ4 point and shoot which I bought because of the controls, the 10x zoom and the size.  The point and shoot feature allows me to blame the bad shots on Panasonic rather than on myself, thus saving me a lot of grief.

We passed three ducks earlier in our walk who refused to yield the sidewalk to us.  Excellent Rachmaninoff stalked and flushed them, but they turned up again later.  The female is trying to remain beneath notice while the males stand tall in the face of canine danger.

 Ducks At The Ready

I suspect the ducks are more wary of Rachmaninoff than they are of me, and with good reason.  For one thing I don't have my shotgun, and although I can stalk the ducks to within ten feet or so, I lack the speed necessary to obtain my dinner.  For that, I must rely on Excellent Rachmaninoff who is hampered by his gentle leader.

Excellent Rachmaninoff

Most people mistake this contraption for a muzzle, which it isn't.  Main Lady has arthritis in her hands, and her very own fifty pounds of fun learned early on the pulling on the leash provides its own reward.  Ergo, the gentle leader.  I recommend this system over the usual choke chain, as it provides a lot of control over the recalcitrant canine with very little effort on the part of the dumb two legs.