August 27, 2011

White Dog, Nuka and YoYoMa (our early birds) went with us to the Farmers' Market bright and first thing this morning. YoYoMa was nervous about skipping breakfast but stoically trusted White Dog that he would not be left to starve. It was a multi-purpose trip: to hand out fliers for the 2MillionDogs Puppy Up Walk to end cancer; to shop for produce; and to scout out a bluegrass band...oh, and to get wonderful breakfast burritos (THE reason as far as White Dog was concerned).

We have reached the perfect morning time of year in Albuquerque. They are fresh and mild and the air everywhere in town smells like roasting chiles. It was a pleasant experience to wander through the booths picking out direct from the farm produce (like incredibly luscious golden beets), and mingling with scads of other similarly-minded folks out with THEIR dogs. The band was upbeat and lively; happy morning and milling music. Our market contains all manner of crafters as well as flower vendors, and farmers selling every imaginable crop from herbs to zucchini. There are local honey, handmade jams and big delicious baked goods...all just beyond our downtwon area, about 6 minutes from our house. Michael was VERY excited to discover he could ride just one bus and come EVERY Saturday if he chose (and it is within blocks of the Holocaust Museum where he now volunteers).

Right in the middle of it all was the giant spinning grill roasting sacks of green chiles and sending the ritualistic call to autumn over the air in every direction. It is a scent unique to the Southwest and is the one thing that those who leave say they miss most in Fall. THE major conversation right now is, "Have you gotten your chiles for the winter, yet?" (No, not yet).

Tucked down a little side group of stalls is a lady that takes a homemade tortilla, fills it with scrambled eggs, potatoes, green chiles, bacon and cheese and rolls it up to become a breakfast burrito that is total bliss. White Dog LOVES these and we discovered that so do YoYo and Nuka. In fact, I had to argue with the trio to get bites of my own breakfast! As we were finishing up, A young couple entered the Park in the company of ANOTHER ESKIE! "Oh Look!" all the humans squealed simultaneously, "We NEVER see other Eskies!" Little Paco was small, like White Dog, and had long foxlike legs. We visited awhile and drew a lots of looks at the growing congregation of White Dogs. Then they were off to shop; Paco clued from our WDA about the burritos and where to find them.

After stopping back home to leave Another White Dog and Yet Another White Dog behind to rest and adding Puff to Pumpkin (Quinn opted to stay home), we headed off to watch the Jack Russell Terrier Races; the local club had invited White Dog to come see them in action. They were FAST little guys...but pretty barky. Puff thought the whole thing kind of scary so she stuck close to Steve but White Dog was fascinated. She investigated the lure, the track and met some of the racers. I bet she would be awesome chasing the lure down the lane! Still Another White Dog fell asleep in Steve's lap and when White Dog sat by the car door we knew it was time to head back. It had been a jam packed Saturday.