I never realized before that the achingly beautiful phrase “an ocean of violets in bloom” from Princes’s song “When Doves Cry” is the dream landscape of my childhood. Nothing made me happier than a field of brilliantly purple wild violets. My father would mow over the field, much to my dismay, and they would resolutely grow back in short order, flouting his disregard like the delicate rebels they are. I would pick a bouquet for my mother and they would last perhaps an hour before they shrank to nothing, but they were a blaze of glorious purple while they lasted.
Prince’s music was an integral part of the soundtrack to my teen years. “Purple Rain” was the first rated R movie I ever saw, sneaking in with my older sister posing as my guardian. My friend and I would wash the family car while blasting the soundtrack to shock the neighbors (so we thought). I had a well-loved and often played copy of the song “Purple Rain” on a purple-colored vinyl single record. His song “1999” created a happy excitement for the approach of the second millennium for a whole generation of people.
Prince’s field of violets is a scene of seduction of course. Yet you can’t deny the innocence of violets, like Prince who didn’t swear or drink despite his sexy music and style of dress. I am saddened at the news of his passing. Like the violets he was gone too quickly and like them he will thrive and live on in a blaze of royal purple – his music.
© Copyright 2016, Woofus | Janet McGrane Bennett. All Rights Reserved
A week from today we begin a long-awaited season of adventure, traveling with our three woofuses and staying in our home away from home, the K9 Camper. Our first destination? New Hampshire. I think it is a fitting topic for Earth Day today, exploring our big blue-green marble. What do I think I know of New Hampshire? Pine forests, rocky beaches and maple syrup. I know once there, we will discover much, much more!
Dogs need to travel as much as we do. I know a lot of dogs, like people, are home bodies. Yet dogs’ senses are so finely attuned, that they smell and hear intensely, at a far greater level than humans. Imagine the joy they feel in an entirely new environment, with foreign smells and sounds to investigate! Ecstatic sensory overload. Knowing that a change in routine – new places, new faces – is not just acceptable, but loads of fun, will make both you and your dogs more confident and happy.
This weekend we were blessed with pristine spring weather – sunny, blue skies and temperatures in the sixties. Birds sang, flowers blossomed and all was beautiful. We decided it was an opportune time to visit New Jersey’s Manasquan Reservoir with the pack.
The five mile trail features a varied landscape. We walked past the reservoir, through forest, along meadows filled with deer, past streams where wild turkeys quenched their thirst, and over picturesque wooden bridges. Hawks flew overhead. Striped bass and bullhead catfish swam in the water.
The park features a large visitor’s center with clean, well-equipped bathrooms. There are water fountains as well as plenty of indoor and outdoor seating to look out over the reservoir. There is a fireplace which must be lovely in the winter when the park offers ice skating, ice boating and ice fishing as conditions allow. You can rent rowboats or kayaks during peak season and there is a boat launch ramp which you can use for your own boat with purchase of a day or season pass.
I am grateful that our county park system preserves such spaces for residents to enjoy. The pups sure approved. They were so happy and exhausted from their walk, that they fell fast asleep in the bed of our camper, all tumbled in a heap!!
Most dogs have little to fear in a loving home. But some have serious issues with a few select things, despite their happy and secure circumstances; they involve going to the vet, going to the groomer and traveling. All of these mean leaving home and familiar surroundings.
