Archie's Joy-Love Tour

After the difficulties of traveling with Remy, I am having a whole new experience which I refer to as in the title: Archie's Joy-Love Tour. 

Archie is now almost 4 months old. He weighed 2.5 lbs when I got him at the age of 9 weeks. He weighed 4 lbs when we visited the vet on April 13. I guessing he might be up to 5 lbs by now. His heritage is Australian terrier (which gets up to 14 lbs), Pomeranian (up to 7 lbs), and Chinese crested (up to 12 lbs), so I'm guessing he might end up somewhere around 10-12 lbs. This makes him easy to carry!

I adopted Archie in Johnson City, TN. His coat is very much like the Chinese crested, so he's not too crazy about cooler weather. Fortunately, Chris and Jackie gave me a couple of sweaters which he is gradually growing into. 

Archie absolutely LOVES everyone. He's a little afraid of bigger dogs at first, but he seems to adapt to them sometimes more quickly than they do to him. While we were in Cortland, he and Adam's dog Jake finally played together a bit. Below: Archie with Abby, with Abby and Eloise, with a couple of Abby's former co-workers at Trader K's, in a pensive moment at Abby & Adam's house, and with Jake (L) and Eloise (R), keeping warm by the stove.

Back in Grand Rapids, we visited Chris, Jackie, Spencer, Jackson, and their dogs Buttons and Jake. 

We moved into Annie's basement, where Archie quickly made himself welcome with Annie, Ruby, and Hamish.

He even made friends at the chiropractor's office and someplace else with someone I don't even know.

Below, we stopped for introductions at The Morrisons. Their dogs weren't as happy to meet Archie as Carolyn was.

Rylee's Ace Hardware always welcomes dogs, but Archie made a couple of new friends who will look forward to seeing him again. And he will look forward to seeing them because they have TREATS!

In Grand Rapids, introductions are made to my niece, Vanessa, and friends Cynthia and Sue. 

In Cary, NC, a peaceful moment between Archie and Riley. Riley is a fairly elderly dog who was not pleased with the efforts of this young whippersnapper to get him to play. There was a fair amount of warning noise, but ultimately I think they understood each other.

An arts and crafts fair in Apex before leaving NC yesterday. Many more than these two stopped to admire and pet Archie and to receive his dainty kisses.

And what have I been up to, you might ask. I've been thinking about how to spend the next 40 years of my life, starting with this year. I'd like to write some more songs and make a CD, or whatever it is people do these days to get their music out to other people. To do that, I need to get familiar with different drum rhythms, so everything doesn't sound classical or folk. 

I had a job interview in Albany, NY, for a church music job. I liked all the people I met, and the community is architecturally stunning, but as I drove away I thought, "I could make that work." And then I thought, "Is that what I really want to do? Make it work? If I'm going to live someplace where I have to shovel and make it work, I'll go back to GR where my parents and many friends are." So I told them to take me out of consideration.

About 3 weeks ago, I heard from a UU church in Johnson City, TN. I'd sent my resume way back in February after visiting the church and seeing that they were seeking a choir director. At that time, the minister told me that they were considering how to spend their music dollars -- whether to hire a choir director and accompanist or a music director, or what. I told him I could do any of those things, so I sent him the resume. 3 weeks ago was when the church finalized its budget, including money for a music director, so the minister called to see if I was still interested.

I had the interview this afternoon. I'll meet a couple of committee members again Tuesday evening, but I think there's a good possibility I'll be spending at least this next year in Johnson City -- not as far south as this past winter, but far enough not to have to shovel And if you've ever been through here you know it's gorgeous. 

Johnson City is in the very northeastern tip of Tennessee, only about 25 miles from Bristol (of the Geico commercials -- "now I'm in Virginia, and now I'm in Tennessee ...) and about 45-50 minutes from Asheville, NC. Tennessee is very conservative, but Johnson City is much less so, and it's close to Asheville, a liberal enclave in NC. And I'm happy to say that I've already become familiar with the Earthfare market, the Natural Food Store, and the Natural Pet Supply, as well as the Barnes & Noble. 

Not sure where I'll live yet, but I'll start looking around before I leave in a few days, and I'm sure others will help me by keeping an eye out for places while I'm away in New York and Michigan.

In a few days, I will drive on to Cortland to pick up Abby and take her to GR for a wedding shower, then drive her back, visit Cape Vincent where the wedding will be held, and drive back to GR. There were plans to take my mom and dad to NC for my nephew's high school graduation, but I initially got the date wrong, so now there's a possibility that won't happen, or won't happen when we expected it to. 

I start housesitting on July 7, so from there till the end of Blue Lake session III I'll be in GR -- just in case you wanted to see me and couldn't figure out when I'll be around. 

If I get this job in Johnson City, I'll start mid-August, so as soon as Blue Lake is done I'll be packing up and getting on the road.