Tom and Patti Saunders
Dog's Breath Acres 2019 Annual Report
Dog's Breath Acres - 16 Things You Need To Know:
I've been working on the railroad a little bit in 2019.
In April Patti and I flew over to Kaua'i for some tropical vacationing and bird list padding.
Click Here for all the pictures.
And in May I went on a camping loop around the Northwest, with a stop in Idaho to tic Cassia Crossbill.
In my old age, with the attendant creaky knees and growing waistline, my hiking mileage is dropping with each passing year.
But I still got in a few hikes, and here are the pictures.
On the other hand, I still head out (often accompanied by Patti) nearly every morning for a walk around nearby Paradise Valley Conservation Area with Daphne. We've been doing this for more than 10 years now, and by my precise calculations I have walked a total of 8912 miles there. According to Google maps, the distance (by freeway) between Dog's Breath Acres and my hometown residence on Saltus Drive in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, is 2971 miles. Further calculations (once again, very precise) show that I need just one more mile to have walked the equivalent of exactly three times across the country. Accordingly, I've burned 1,185,296 calories (maybe not quite as precise), in so doing. This is the caloric equivalent of 338 pounds of weight loss, or 7408 Hostess Cupcakes.
In August Andra and Jennifer stopped by to drop off Fiona for a month while they vacationed in Paris. Fiona was great fun, an indefatigable (if slightly slobberly) retriever, and Daphne really enjoyed her company. Here are a few more pictures from her visit.
Patti, Allison, Kiara, and Sienna traveled up north for a weekend in Vancouver, which included fireworks. A few more pictures.
Kiara has added piccolo to her repertoire: (photo by J.M. Burns)
In September Patti took part in a Climate Strike and Die-In in Everett:
In October, while waiting at a red light in Woodinville, Patti was slowly side-swiped by an 18-wheeler turning in front of her. No damage to Patti, but her poor Prius was nearly totaled, destroying her driver's side rear door and ripping off her rear bumper. Out of commission for two months.
Patti continues with her book making projects:
Here are Patti and me and Daphne on our morning walk. Unfortunately, since this picture was taken, Patti has been severely hobbled by an injury she suffered in November on our walk. As we passed a couple of large, quite rambunctious dogs, Patti got tangled up as they helicoptered around her, hyper-extending her right knee. Recovery has been slow, but she should be okay by 2020.
Friends Doug and Sue joined us for a small Thanksgiving dinner, with a big turkey:
Here are photos of our family and friends from 2019.
