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Jasper employs this look of melancholy yearning to get his human's off their butts to play. Which of course we do. You can see his toy, Penny Puppy, has a bit of a slit throat. But she's still a player
My happy chappy, checking out the urban wonders of downtown Gilbert, Arizona, the town in which we live. Trivia: Gilbert is the largest town in the United States. Most municipalities get to a certain size and then organize as a city, but Gilbert remains a town. Frankly the difference between a city and a town is lost on me - something to do with voting districts or something. The population of Gilbert is about 250,000, but the downtown has a decidedly small town / home town vibe. The downtown area is only a few blocks long and is lined with eateries, bars and small shops. A lot has been done in the last 10 years to vitalize the downtown to make it a family destination spot. Jasper sure likes it.
When Jasper is bored, he'll often lay like this, staring at us, front paws off to one side. Words? We don't need no stinking words! The message is clear.
Working in my home office over the weekend I look down to see Jasper practicing the art of boredom in hopes that I'll feel sorry for him and we'll get a bite to eat or pick up a ball. Sure, it worked.
Jasper out on patrol again, making sure the neighborhood stays safe. He deftly slipped behind this bird of paradise bush to spy on potential wrongdoers . (Yes, I know the bird of paradise plant in Arizona is weird, not looking at all like the "normal" bird of paradise)
After quite a bit of play last night I just had to ignore Jasper's taunts for even more play. So he went back by his toy stash to sulk. The poor lad never gets any attention 😜
Jasper in front of the infinity fountain at the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden. We had a little outing there last weekend.
If Jean and I start talking human stuff during playtime, Jasper will just go lay down and wait until we're ready to get our heads back in the game.
Foregoing the ottoman this time, Jasper brought Betty Bunny right to me on the couch. The technique is a little more "in your face" and has greater potential to incite a chase. I'm happy to report that Betty Bunny (that's her between Jasper's paws) is in pretty good shape. She came to us in July on Jasper's birthday and she has no open wounds and hasn't required stitches despite daily play.
(in case you're wondering, no I don't pose Jasper or the toy that way. It's all Jasper's doing)
Mom is checking sprinkler heads. Dad is reviewing photos on his camera. Come ON humans! This is about ME!
After the play subsides and starts slowing down we humans get distracted by stuff and Jasper doesn't like that. "Well, Jasper, you stopped playing so we thought you were done." "No, I was just taking a breather" replies Jasper. You can see his trusty Oddball on the ground to his right
For whatever reason I'm fascinated by the twisty trunks of the mesquite trees common to our community. Jasper posed for me but was really more interested in passers by than me and my infernal click box
Jasper is sort of a self-appointed neighborhood watchdog. Don't want riff raff to sneak in and do evil
Jasper watching his human mom re-enter the family room. Hope springs eternal that she's bringing a treat or some delightful new toy. Alas, not this time. But we did play some more, so there's that
..., cried Christmas Bear. Jasper seems to have chosen an unfortunate place to bite Christmas Bear for toting around. That's GOT to hurt! Poor Christmas Bear.
This is Cal, my sister-in-law's Aussie, and Jasper's nephew by blood. He has very interesting heterochromatic eyes. He's a wonderful, gregarious goofball.
Said Jasper as he turned and strode towards me. We make frequent trips to the riparian preserve this time of year. And sometimes Jasper checks out the ponds ahead of me to identify any species of interest.
(In reality, Jasper is always on-leash at this park. He's unleashed for photos, but put back on leash immediately. Too many temptations like desert hares or turtles, not to mention park rules and regulations)
Jasper tries to make sense of the petroglyphs etched on the canyon walls by the Hohokam tribe some time during the first millennium AD. He says that they're instructions on giving your dog more treats and more play. Go figure.
The walls of Hieroglyphic Canyon, outside of Gold Canyon, Arizona are covered with petroglyphs. They are fairly well preserved and intact given that there are people climbing all over the rocks on a daily basis. You can see one of the petroglyphs on the rock Jasper is standing on.
(Is being a canine anthropologist ironic? I don't know. Maybe not)
Jasper gave the playground equipment a quick try. Fun, but ultimately not his bag. There's no Oddball involved - how much fun could it be?
Is it an optical illusion or is that right handle bigger than the left? Did the designer have no sense of symmetry? Just something I noticed.
This particular bush was packed with beautiful blooms, both pink and others that were white, both of which stood out predominantly against the surrounding green foliage.
Welcome to the jungle, we've got fun and games
We got everything you want honey, we know the names
Guns N' Roses 1987
While Jasper isn't exactly a Guns N' Roses kind of dog the title seemed fitting enough. And he can fit the first two lines of the song into his philosophy.
Jasper finally settling down for the evening, perhaps frustrated that I've stopped playing. Sweet boy
Well the Riparian Preserve at Water Ranch is still open. It provides a lot of very wide paths suitable for walking and maintaining proper social distancing. So I took a couple Jasper portraits during a walk this weekend. Jasper's paws are on a mesquite tree trunk which can take on some pretty interesting forms. This one shoots horizontal for quite a ways before turning skyward.
Though clearly not in the mood, I made Jasper sit for a portrait last weekend. An ugly foreground but its what i had to work with in the moment.
Found Jasper on the hearth, his arm around Betty Bunny, willing me to play. So we had a good chase. Ah, good times.
Jasper takes his post on the cool tile floor of the dinette supervising as we finish clean-up after lunch. He'll also help out with the stray bit of cheese that might be left on a plate. You know, just in case the garbage bin is full and we have no other place to dispose of stray cheese
After a month off with a broken foot and then over two weeks of rain I was able to get back out to the beach on the east coast of Australia.
I get the feeling that Jasper was not as amused as I was with having this toy placed on his head. All fun and games at first, but apparently it got old quickly. I think Jasper looks good in a hat.
Over the weekend I was experimenting with Jasper against a black backdrop in a dark room, using only a flashlight to illuminate him. I was going for drama. It didn't really work with this one, but I thought he was nicely isolated as he gave me the look that said, "now what am I supposed to do? I get a treat after this, right?"
I find the twisty nature of mesquite trees interesting and can't help asking Jasper to pose by them to frame him in the shot.
I thought it was funny how Jasper put Wuffy face-down in a scissor lock while playing last night. As I described in my other Jasper post,, he was just insane about play last night and really wanted to show Wuffy a thing or two (link to other post in first lcomment)
When the humans stop playing for a bit, Jasper will plop down on the hearth with a heavy sigh. "How long must I wait for the fun to resume?!?" Poor neglected dog 😜
(Haha, I just noticed that the map no longer says "A mysterious place with no name" But its not the San Tan Mobile Village either.)
Messing around in Lightroom. The background was blown out anyway so I went all the way. Since finding this tennis ball in the neighborhood green space, Jasper has made a nightly practice of running around with the thing. But at 110-112F, (43-44C) at evening walk time, Jasper knows his limitations. Fun is fun though so ball transcends heat for a few minutes at least