Dear Dog Diary: 

If you're someplace warm, you don’t even know what you’re missing.

Been there, done that. We hung 20 toes in sand for years. Endless summer surfing in So Cal - riding waves at Dog Beach - when dog surfing wasn’t even a sport.

San Diego’s wimpy winters meant a splash of near-rain that lasted 10 minutes.

Humans got stuck in traffic because OMG it rained! Circling around like curling up in dog beds. They whined for another week. Then finally got back to surfing.

We LOVE fall in Oregon. It’s not the least bit subtle.

Fall isn’t one fancy store-bought tree per zip code, suddenly turning red. Not just Oktoberfest- drink more beer in the newspaper.

Here in Oregon, we have real weather, real seasons, real nature. We live in a national scenic area - the Columbia River Gorge.  Seasons define us.

They don’t do wimpy here. There is no such thing as a splash of near-rain. Only buckets of rain or buckets of snow. And in summer, buckets of wind. The Gorge is the Windsurfing Capital of the World.

It’s home of the big dogs. Extreme sports. Man and animal athletes. Kite surfing, snow boarding, mountain biking, back country  skiing, backpacking, white water kayaking and rafting.

SUP and windsurf dogs shred the Columbia River. Avalanche Dogs rescue people on Mount Hood.

Salmon swim 400 miles to the ocean and back each year, then jump up hills and rocks, to reach their tiny hometown stream, to breed. Their fish kids grow up here, too.

Small town species are ruff! They have big hearts. We need each other more than folks in the big city.

It's wild and crazy, loose-leaf season!

Fall is when loose-leaf tourists overrun dense, dark forests. Make a scene in town. Hundreds of millions of colorful leaves, all going off - all showing off - at the same time.

Trees raise their leaf kids here, who grow up, leaf home, jump off cliffs, float down with style, windsurf east winds, then pile up everywhere.  

Spunky, scratchy, noisy, playful leaves! Awesome for dog walks. Fun to dive into, roll around with, and wear. Leaves are hard to leave!  

I love fall snap and fall spunk. 

It’s your wakeup call. Just when you were all lazy endless summer surf dog.

Right now, it's crazy leaves season! After that, comes snow.  

Fall is my favorite season of all. It rescues endless summers from being too "matchy match," where every day is the same.

GORGE DOG SEASONS:

•    Rain
•    Crazy leaves
•    Sticks
•    Snow
•    Smell spring
•    Windsurfing

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

•    Endless summer windsurfing.

•    After vacation – leaves go crazy colorful, then take the big leap. 

•   Trees become sticks. 

•    Rain comes and stays.

•    Then snow drops by. 

•    Plants push up through snow and you can smell spring.

•    Rain, rinse and repeat.

I feel seasons deep inside my soul. 

I'm 95 in dog years.

I’ve been seasoned by life.

I have baggage - I’m a rescue dog. But third mom was a charm.

I’m a bagel - a basset mix. We’re thinkers, not doers. I’m not pure - not a lab or a golden – wasn’t born and bred for water. But I rode waves of life, all my life – still do. I won So Cal surf dog contests. 

As If it matters, I’m also blind. Don’t be SoCal-quick-to-judge. I’ll out surf you with my eyes closed.

I’ve battled and beat cancer and glaucoma.

Seasons are a big help when you get old and can't remember things. Yep, seasoned by doggie Alzheimer’s too.

Life is short. Crazy leaves don’t stick around.

Don’t miss the moment.

Change, like poo, happens.

Don’t be predictable.

Go all in.

Don’t be endless anything.

Later dude,

Dude