Nice work if you can get it (updated)

Lizzy snoring behind my desk.

We take a break from our regularly scheduled food blogging to bring you these snapshots of our daily life up here in La Honda.*

Pretty much every day when I wake up I sit down with my cup of coffee and write or read, or work on the project in front of me, for a good six hours or so. It's a good life, and I'm deeply grateful for it.

But I'll tell ya, it's nothing like what these two creatures have going on, up here in La Honda. Of course, Lucy, pictured below, earns her keep by mousing in the barn where we live. Lucy belongs to our landlords, C. and D. But Lizzy: phew! What a life. Sleep all day, sleep all night.

Lucy stretching out on her favorite chair.

Our daily walks together are what I'll miss most when we leave here. At first it was just T., Lizzy and me. After a few weeks, Lucy joined us. As we walk Lucy goes hunting up and down the path. Sometimes, for no reason, she'll just scoot up one of the roadside trees or plant herself on an old redwood stump.

Other times she'll linger behind to go down a badger hole and then in a few minutes we'll hear the pattering drum beat of her paws running up the hill and - vroom - she'll go speeding past us, tail up in the air. Once in a while Lucy will speed past us and run under Lizzy, allowing her tail to knock Lizzy in the face. Lucy has a lot of personality.

our twice-daily inter-species walk

Lizzy, on the other hand, likes to stick close, occasionally nuzzling a hand or a leg and then stopping on the path behind and staring at us, pleading. Usually she's asking us to turn around and go straight home. Sometimes, though, she wants to play a complicated form of doggy tag, which involves pretending to hear or smell something, standing still and letting the anticipation build up, and then - POW - racing up the hill like we're being chased by the law. T. and I don't really understand doggy tag, but we play along.

I learn a lot from Lizzy and Lucy on our walks. I've learned that when beings you trust stop and smell the air, or listen hard, you should too. I've learned that the rustling in the forest can be the wind, or a rabbit, or, as it was a few months ago, a lone coyote. Today it was a bevy of quail**bouquet of pheasant that took off, all at once, beating their wings and making us all jump.***

Mostly we stick together, a band of misfits: me in my ragged writing clothing, thinking about my second cup of coffee, Lizzy going faster up the hill than down because she's anticipating a treat, T. taking some deep breaths between reading cases for school and Lucy, glad to come along for the ride.

* -- Upcoming: the Wednesday Santa Cruz farmer's market.
** -- Oh, excellent website! You must check out this inestimable link.
*** - Thanks, D., for the correction!