Dear Friends...

Sarah and I have been slack about sitting down at the computer and writing to you all. Hope you can forgive us. It is just so hard to stay inside when there is so much to enjoy in this area. In the Fall, we just need to escape every once in awhile to enjoy the beauty and the fun of Little River Canyon. In 2004, it was a little unusual. We thought the colors had peaked in late October but it was not spectacular. Then in the second week of November, the maples decided to show off. You would come around the corner and the brilliant reds would just astonish you. So Sarah and I snuck away to Little River Canyon one Monday before guests checked in. We hiked down to the river at Eberhart Point and I loved chasing the sticks in the river She did torture me by trying to take a Christmas card picture of me in front of one of the brilliant red trees. She never sent any Christmas cards but maybe she will put my pics on the website as I do outshine the trees. April is always a great month for me because our friends from Athens Academy come to visit. I get hugs and pats from Becky, Joe and all of the students. Best of all, Harris, my best friend, comes to play. He’s a golden a few years younger than me that lives in the city so I always show him how to romp in these woods. His life has changed a bit since two cute twin baby girls are in his home so he enjoyed being on the mountain with just the boys.

Ever since September, Sarah has been talking about this great hike to take that she discovered during Ivan last year. Yes, some crazy women were at Camp Take Me Away at Camp DeSoto and she was leading hikes in the rain just before and after Ivan hit. It is about an hour and a half hike that goes back into the woods to Laurel and Lost Falls (How is it lost if we found it?) They loved it even in the rain so we have been trying to get there all Spring. We wanted to see it with the mountain laurel in full bloom. Finally, we did one Sunday afternoon in May. It was a great time together even though I had to rest a bit more than usual. I am slowing down but I will always be here to greet you even if it is only in Spirit.

Licks and Hugs to all, 

Baxter

Dear Fellow Dog Lovers...

My life is wonderful. It was a great summer with lots of kids and cooler weather. The Fall weather has come early this year with many cool nights, many beautiful moon and star filled skies and guests galore to play with. The mountain has been hopping lately especially with that big bounce we experienced in April. I was in my usual spot under Sarah's bed when suddenly at 4 a.m., it felt like a car had run into the house. The swelling of the ground bounced Sarah out of bed. She ran around the house trying to see the car on the side of the house. It scared her a lot. She thought I was sticking close by to protect her but I was scared out of my wits too. She was just about to call 911 when her friend, Jeane, called to she if felt that 4.9 earthquake. She had lived in LA (California, not lower Alabama) so she knew what it was. Stories around town varied from someone thinking that it was the second coming and she had been left behind to a terrorist bombing. Thanks to all of you that called to check up on us. We were a bit shook up but no harm happened during the quake or with the aftershocks.

If an earthquake in Mentone was not enough, guess who came to visit me this summer? She was lucky enough to get her picture taken with me. You will have to come visit to see my beautiful face and to discover which well known country singer came to Mentone to get a few licks from me.

The leaves are beginning to fall and winter will soon be here. Sarah is once again hoping for some good snowfalls. I hope she won't be disappointed. I do love chasing and barking at those snow flakes.

I’ll be waiting on the porch for you to come back and visit. Be thankful for furry friends like me. 

Licks and Hugs to all, 

Baxter

Howwwlllong must I wait for you to come and play with me?

The crisp mountain air keeps me feeling young and alive and I need a visit from my favorite guests. However, I am in despair, my coat has grown back from my summer shave and someone has obviously spilled some paint on me. I keep finding too many gray and white hairs and they cannot be truly mine. I am way too young at eight to be coloring my hair! Will the gray show up in all my photos? Oh dear, what is a good looking dog like me to do? With the promise of snow, I’ll just go roll in the leaves and chase away the wild turkeys and hope the flakes of winter will blend in with my smashing gray highlights. 

Although I can be frisky as ever, I am beginning to settle down . Sarah has retrieved me from DeSoto Falls only a few times lately. I enjoy being around the house more as I have a new friend named Elizabeth. She is helping Sarah with the Inn and she loves to spoil me. I just have to give her that poor pitiful me look( I am sure you know it) and I usually get a few dog bones and some ball throwing time. She even stays with me when I am left at the Inn by myself. Elizabeth has been enjoying the Mountain Laurel Inn cookbook. She has made just about everything in there and she promises to make me some treats from “Baxter’s Buffet” section next week. I cannot think of a better way to be thankful for Thanksgiving.

Now do not be mislead, I do need some extra attention because Sarah does not need me as much as before. She has been riding her bike this Fall instead of taking walks with me. She leaves me at the Inn to protect it. And guests are enjoying the walking sticks so much that they forget to ask me to walk them to the bluff. Relaxing on the porch is all that I have done lately and listening to my favorite song by Allen Levi: “If the prayers of dogs were answered, bones would fall out of the sky…”. It is a rough life at Mountain Laurel.

May we all be thankful for life’s small gifts this season and may your holidays be full of blessings and fun.

Love and licks, 

Baxter