September 1st

Greetings loyal readers and new comers too! This is The Daily Bone and I'm your quintessential doggie reporter Chester L. W. Spaniel. 

It's September 1st! That means next week the kids around here will be going back to school. Ghostwriter says that day used to be a big event at our house back when the siblings were still school age. The day all four of them got on the bus at the same time, ghostwriter and Dad had a big celebration, and my Patron Saint Old Charisma dog took an long and well deserved nap! 

Ghostwriter started thinking about when she was in grade school and how different things were back then. This lead to her looking back to a post from two years ago.

Under the tree in 2014

1966.

Whoa! Look at that tree! I betcha I can climb it faster than you can. Last one up’s a poopy head!

2016.

1. Child expresses interest in climbing tree in back yard with his friends.

2. Parent sets a play date for September 1, 2017 and sends out “save the date” notices to a select group of friends.

3. Parent hires a lawyer to write up legally binding waivers for the parents of these children to sign before the tree climbing event.

4. Parent checks with local zoning board to make sure no one objects to a tree climbing event.

4. Parent searches on line and hires a reputable tree surgeon to establish that the tree is safe to climb and there are no weak branches.

5. Parent consults the EPA to be sure the tree is not an endangered species and that no endangered species might be living in the tree.

6. Three months prior to tree climbing event, parent sends out official invitations, along with the waivers. No child will be allowed to participate in the event unless the waiver is signed and notarized.

7. Parent hires a climbing expert with tree climbing experience and rents the appropriate safety equipment for the event, including helmets, safety ropes, knee and elbow pads, and an array of nets to put on the ground under the tree in case someone falls.

8. One week before the event, parents have tree surgeon return and recheck tree for problems.

9. Parent hires emergency personnel to be present during the event in case anyone gets a cut or scratch.

10. Parent sends child to grandparent’s house for a couple days.

11. While child is gone, parent chops the tree down. When the child returns, parents tell the child the tree was struck by lightning and fell down while he was visiting Gramma and Grandpa.

12. Parents plant a new tree and tells the child he can reschedule his tree climbing event in thirty years when the baby tree is big enough to climb.

Joey under the tree in 2014

Hey, I think you're kind of going off on a tangent here, ghostwriter! I thought this post was supposed to be about the first day of September today! 

OK. This is what the day looked like:

Driving home from work on Route 15 North.

Young cardinal on top of the bird feeder.

Evil squirrel

Warp speed zoom!

Almost got him that time!

The sun is setting earlier now.

Good night.