Malinois Power! Skijoring with Kiersten Lippmann

It's been hot here. Got me thinking about the months (all hot) I served in Southern Illinois. But when I thought about it a little more, I realized that Massachusetts has So. Ill. thouroughly beaten. Here are just a few of the reasons: Why So Ill is Soo Ill. 1. Chiggers 2. Seed ticks 3. Copperheads 4. Water Moccasins 5. Rattlesnakes 6. Huge biting flies 7. Pitbulls 8. Animal abuse 9. Rednecks 10. 100% humidity and 100 degrees for days at a time Why Mass is not So Ill 1. Chiggers were the bane of my existence. I wrote my entire thesis draft with frequent breaks to itch and otherwise attend to my numerous chigger bites. I found these techniques alleviate, but do not eliminate the burning itch associated with chigger 'bites' (they form tubes from your skin cells and suck out your juices, then die inside of you) a. nail polish- yes, it feels nice and cool for about 30 minutes. Then it's back to itching, only this time you have to chip away the nail polish before you start s...

This seagull was begging for food, but was a bit nervous of the dogs. My primary concern was porcupines, given the one we encountered last time we were here, but we didn't see a one, not even a road kill to practice with. The park was busier, but people all tend to disappear in the rain. I don't know where they go. Martha Stewart's house maybe? Great times all around. We took a kayak tour. Tikko and Tessa got to hang out at the kayak tour store. The owner of the store decided to take the dogs for a walk around Bar Harbor. I guess he got kind of bored. Tikko didn't like that so much and slipped his collar. Happily Tikko wasn't real interested in going anywhere and was quickly apprehended. He then howled in the back room and got to hang out in the front. He'd rather have come on the tour, sounds like. Most of the week was rainy, misty and/or overcast. We had one sunny day where we took long hike/run on the amazing trails, and then took the kayak tour in the after...