Nothing much new

After a very rainy week, we were delighted to have a dry Saturday morning to walk the paths out in West Elmira. Ellie went her own way, coming only when I whistled for her. It's been a week without much exercise for both of us, leaving her eager and pushing the envelope, and me terribly lame and struggling. I felt bad for her and on the way home I stopped at the boat ramp for some pictures (under RiverHag--Ellie wasn't interested; she poked at the shoreline out of sight.)

Occasionally venturing into the water. Now, this is not swimming. If you see any pictures with her tail straight up, well, she's wading.

I won't encourage her swims near the boat ramps. The water is too deep for me to safely retrieve her if she floats away. And the Chemung River in the Elmira city area is treacherous, with currents and undercurrents that claim lives every year.

But she's so happy and active when she wades. At home she will nap the day away, drained of her usually nervous energy.

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Little Pond

From lush spring to dry midsummer

The river is low, but this part is still dangerous for a little doggie.

That's Jones Island behind Ellie. This part is very shallow, and we can wade back and forth. The water doesn't even come into my hikers.

The only thing we don't especially like is the hard-scrabble area, where the newly high and dry rocks make for tough walking. Ellie instinctively heads towards the grassy parts.

That's summer and soon we can expect the river to drop even further.

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Little Pond