Settling In

      Sorry that I have ignored my readers for a couple of days but I've had a whole lot to new experiences to deal with.

      On Thursday morning the crew from Seward Fence Company finished installing my new fence around the back yard.  As you can see from the photos, I am now Queen of the Manor.

      There are many, many squirrels around but, so far, only one has dared to come into my   area.  Unfortunately I didn't see the scruffy little bugger until it was already halfway across the yard and traveling fast.  I closed the distance between us before he reached the fence but to my frustration he hopped between the bars just as I was about to grab him (or her).  Unfortunately, my head won't even fit between the bars let alone the rest of me.  Squirreling is going to take patience.

      I'm amazed how many cars there are here, and how big they are.  I think I have mentioned previously that I never took many car rides back in Slovakia, but that has all changed since coming to America.  I think I've already logged more than 20 hours in the back seat of one or the other of our two cars.  Back in Kosice the roads were mostly flat and fairly straight.  Boy, is that not the case here.  I am proud to report that I am well along on mastering the canine techniques needed to cope with the strange centrifugal forces that try to throw you around in a car when you go around corners and curves.  Strangely, I do seem to grasp the physics of this phenomena.  The head out the window thing, however, is going to take more work.

       And please, somebody explain to me who this person is that comes to the front door every afternoon and pushes pieces of paper through a slot.  I am not happy with that person and I have found myself barking really loudly at her when she walks across our yard in front of the big window in the living room.  There was NOTHING like this back in our flat in Kosice.  I'm usually pretty relaxed and friendly with humans but there's just something in my gut that tells me this lady is not my friend.  The only other people that I've felt this way about were the little old ladies in Kosice who would try to sell us flowers when my best friends and I were having a nice meal at one of the local restaurants.  They all looked pretty much the same and dressed alike.  They were short, plump, wore black boots and big skirts and ALWAYS had a cloth thing wrapped around their heads and tied off under the chin.  Scary ladies.  I always barked at them. 

       

      Every day that goes by leaves me with more questions to ponder.  Actually, I think "pondering" is a skill that America will help sharpen in me and I will try to share my "ponders" with you as I sort them out.  Such as...

      Why do Americans have so many more big cars than Slovaks?  A perhaps related question is why are Americans so much larger than Slovaks?

      Why can't I go into the coffee shop?  Heck, I'm sure that I'm cleaner and healthier than most of those people I see inside.  What's the point of being Man's-Best-Friend if you can't follow them everywhere and anywhere?  Have I mentioned that I really like coffee shops, that I behave great, I'm bilingual, I can't read a newspaper but I enjoy watching others read them, and I'm getting much better on "reflective" thought.  What other skills could you possibly need to enjoy a coffee shop?  And they smell soooo good!

      I'll be back tomorrow with more pondering.