Hi everybody. Guess what? My mom is taking a workshop and I get to go with her. It’s being held at a big yoga retreat center so I’ve begun practicing my downward dog. I almost have it mastered; I just have to remember not to lie down and nap.
The yoga place is in the mountains. My mom didn’t say which ones so I have to guess. All she said was that the place is north of us, which is a good thing because I’ve already been to lots of mountains in the south.
There were the Blue Ridgebacks in Virginia, the Smokey Bears in Tennessee and the Quackcheetahs in Barkansas. Cackle – Who named these mountains? Everyone knows cheetahs don’t quack. I thought we were in the Aardvarks, but they were northwest of Hot Springs where we were.
Okay, so I pulled out my Atlas.
Yes, I still use one of those because it shows you EVERYTHING and you don’t have to squint and scroll and zoom in and out to see the screen.
The closest mountains to us are the Pokeyournose. That’s where they have the places with the 7-foot Champagne Glass whirlpool bath-for-two with celestial ceiling; cozy log-burning fireplace; and the glass-enclosed, heated heart-shaped pool. My mom didn’t say that I could invite a lady friend and sitting in the champagne glass by myself would be a waste of such romantic surroundings. So nope, we’re not going there. Let me just bookmark that page for future reference when I have a date.
YIKES! There are mountains made of cat skulls?!? They’re called, well, the Catskulls. Oh I don’t know about that place. That sounds kind of scary. It sounds haunted….or worse.
As soon as I’m finished posting this, I’m going to send Governor Cuomo an email putting him on alert that this kind of thing is unacceptable. I plan to get enough signatures on a petition to exorcize the skulls and rename those mountains to something more appropriate, like The Pugsleys.
What mom? I don’t care if people wear belts and eat borscht there! That’s a dumb thing to do in the middle of disembodied cat heads.
I don’t even know what borscht is. It sounds like something that would give me toxic gas. I had that once. OMG! Mom went hightailing it out of the house and even I couldn’t stand to be with me. There wasn’t a spray, oil, candle, wax melt or Plug-In created that could make the air smell cottony fresh or like lavender fields. And besides, I don’t have a belt. I heard that you can’t eat Borscht unless you wear a Borscht belt. Why would I need any kind of belt? I don’t wear pants! Well, sure, I wear the “pants” in my family…….
Nothing mom. I didn’t say anything.
What did you say about the Catskulls? Oh right mom, I remember watching that movie with you.
Mom said if we go there I can take dirty dancing lessons so I’m saying it right now, “Nobody puts Pugsley in the corner.”
Okay, moving on………….
There are the Adironducks. I wonder what there is to do there. The ducks should move to the Quackcheetahs. Giggle snort. Oh wait, NOW I see which mountains we must be visiting……..THE BARKSHEERS. That’s more like it. I hope they’re not too sheer. Maybe they’re invisible. How will we find them? Mom said that we can watch the pretty leaves turn autumn colors. Does anyone know if leaves change color faster than grass grows? I hope there are already lots of red, orange and yellow crunchy piles of leaves in which to jump between yoga classes.
The other really fun thing I did last weekend was a labyrinth walk at Sacred Journeys. My new band uniform arrived just in time for me to try it. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a ticketed event, nor did they have an RSVP list. And everyone lined up at the entrance so orderly and quiet. There was really nothing for me to do.
Miss Carrie and Mr. Joel sent me the wrong size uniform. It was a smidge too long and I found out the hard way when I tinkled on it. I’ll have to take it to Mary, my tailor, before we go on the road.
Security team on the job
The labyrinth took about 30 minutes to complete. I walked it with my mom. I stayed between the rocks (for the most part) and when people passed me, they sometimes gave me a little love tap on my head. Aunt Shari bestowed blessings on our hearts as we exited, including mine. She touched me on the head and the blessing went straight to my heart. At first I didn’t feel any spiritual effects, and let’s just say that when I got home I slept for two days. It was like getting Aunt Elly’s Healing Touch on steroids.
As people completed the walk, they gathered in the Crystal Garden or by the fountain.
Uncle Jonathan, I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’m zausted from walking. A half-mile is far with my itty bitty legs.
I met a new friend, Annie, who snuggled with me a lot. She’s so adorable and sweet. I deputized her so now she needs a Hot Glue & The Gun security uniform too.
Annie and Pugsley
When everyone completed the labyrinth, it was time to eat.
Uncle Jonathan, I told you that I’m supposed to test the food before anyone eats. It’s in my job description!
Well kids, I’m not sure when we leave for our trip so I’ll keep you posted. I have to go pack now. You can never be too prepared to channel your inner puppy and crunch in a pile of autumn leaves.
Happy tails – I mean trails –
Love, Pugsley
THE LEAVES ON THE TREES
Tune: “The Wheels On The Bus”
The Leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
Yellow and brown, yellow and brown.
The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
All through the town.
The leaves on the trees are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
The leaves on the trees are falling down,
All through the town.
The leaves on the trees make a crunching sound,
Crunching sound, crunching sound.
The leaves on the trees make a crunching sound
All through the town.
Let’s rake all the leaves into a mound,
Into a mound, into a mound.
Let’s rake all the leaves into a mound
All through the town.
The children in the town jump up and down,
Up and down, up and down.
The children in the town jump up and down
On the leaves on the ground.
–Jean Warren
pugsleysworld 
Pugs, you have such a way with words! But what about our mountains? There’s a famous Georgia to Maine trail that goes just north of Harrisburg on them. Maybe you saw them when you stayed at your friends’ B&B near Carlisle.
Did you leave yet? Are you driving in the dark?
And why were you wearing a band costume to do security? We don’t understand.
Inquiring minds want to know.
Xxooxxoo, Trix and AR
Sent on a Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note® 3
Dear Trixster and AR, I didn’t know about your mountains. I’m sorry. I’ll have to check them out. I guess saying it was a band uniform was confusing. My friends, Hot Glue & The Gun, the awesome band I wrote about in a previous post, hired me to work security for them. So it’s my uniform and they’re a band, but I guess it sounded like I should have worn a uniform like they do in marching bands and carried a tuba, huh?
Love,
Pugs