From Tiny Things

In April of 2020, Remi barged into our lives as a tiny tyrant. He was so noisy.  He grumbled and growled and moaned and groaned all the time. Even in his sleep. I thought he might be in pain or something, but he was just very vocal. Notice how his head comes up just barely over where a pair of gardening boots might fit on The Beautiful Mrs. K's leg. 

And in April of 2025, here he is, guarding Mrs. K's gardening boot. He's playing a game here to get her to come outside and chase him. At 90 pounds he still moans and groans a little, not like he did as a pup. These days, I'd have to rate his bark as the loudest I've ever heard from a dog. Google says the loudest dog bard ever is 113dB and my ears say Rem might be close.
 

MTB racing, iPhones, and Hound Dogs

For three years running, we've loaded up for the Iron Mountain MTB race in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. (Does anyone else feel like Arkansas just kind of ran out of names for towns, so they just started joining existing names and going with it?) This year, we had a larger group show up, about a third of the South Side XC Devo team. Isaac and Eli went One/Two again in Cat 1, and we had 5 other top tens in the Cat 2 fields. It was awesome! The red/white/black Devo's were everywhere!

Great pic of Eli, taken by one of the Devo parents. It was not an official race on the calendar for the team, but we talked it up a lot. We had the big tent, screaming parents, and bottle hand-ups that would make the pros envious. 

No fault of the photographer, but I don't look quite as awesome on a bike as Eli. But I'm 58 dammit and I'm still racing bikes....

...and I got a second place in the old guy Cat 1 class! And I was the second-oldest, believe it or not. 

Speaking of old. My iPhone turned 6. The case is 6 years old, too. Parts of it have broken off, kind of like an 80's car, only with fuel injection and no ash tray. Still charges fine. Won't get reception if I leave my street. I just hold it up really high and walk in circles until I get a bar or two.

And then there is the Hound Dog. You see that brown? That would be green grass, like the rest of the yard. But this monster has beaten a path straight down the center chasing squirrels and birds. 10 times a day, every day. And he loves me for playing Frisbee with him. Which beats down the grass even more.