Summer travels on

Wow! Has anyone else noticed how fast this summer has been traveling through the northwest? I had hoped that by the end of the first half of summer I would be caught up, have a routine, and be able to enjoy all the events at Port Gamble and even let you know before things happened as to what was coming.

Did I mention the Medieval Faire? Did I tell you about the grumpy people at the Civil War Re-enactment? NO TIME! I was too busy getting our house ready to go on the market, so I wasn't even here. Grumpy people? It had to do with Civil War folks having to sleep in tents in the rain ... not pleasant ... and locals having to listen to Reveille before 6am, also not pleasant. And our house ready to sell? After Kris and I signed the papers to sell, a week went by before THE offer came through.

I've always noticed one thing about time. When you look at time past us, it has gone by incredibly fast. I remember giving our grandchildren their first ice cream and it must have been  a year or two ago, but it seems like only yesterday. Now they are into licorice.

 But time ahead? It seems like it will take forever. Like the time from getting that offer on the house to the date with the title company. It's only a month, but it is draggggging on.

But now I have a weekend off and I can at least tell you about the MudPACK (Muddy Paws Agility Club of Kitsap). Annually, this wonderful group of dogs and their owners swarm the south field at Port Gamble  to ... I'm not sure exactly what they do, but almost everyone has a wonderful time. There are vendors selling everything from biscuits to dog collars, people getting in the way of dogs, and dogs EVERYWHERE.

I'm sure I offended almost everyone here when I came to people with camera in hand and told them I was hoping to get a picture of an owner and a dog who looked like each other. Apparently it is not considered pleasant to look like your dog.

No, this "owner" doesn't look like his dog. But if we took off the beard ... hmmm.

 I did find some "mutts" that I liked, though.

This one was "dog" tired after having roped sheep all day. He was looking forward to a "cat" nap I'm sure.

How this monkey got in, disguised as a dog, is beyond me.

This little tyke looked like he was caught in a ball of yarn some cat left on the field, and unlike the cat, he was enjoying himself in it.

But for three days each dog and its master would run around a course with the person barking the names of obstacles for the dog to miss.

 

 No wait, the person was mentioning obstacles the dog had told him or her to miss. Or maybe they work as a team and both try to miss them all. It looked like it could have been all three, but I can tell you this: It sure seemed to me that all the people and the dogs were having more fun then the medieval folks or the Civil War soldiers were having on their weekends.

And not a cat in sight!!!

And for the stores in Port Gamble? With six new stores here this summer, there have been a lot of nervous shop owners doing their own agility trials. But it seems to me that the nervousness of the beginning of summer has transformed into the joy of meeting new people from all over the country, and the world, for that matter, and offering a pleasant glimpse into why so many of us enjoy having so many come here.
So with the rough edges smoothed to a pleasant surface, I highly recommend you take some time and make a day of Port Gamble. I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but with time in the future coming so quickly, you better get here while you can!!

And speaking of the future, you might want to check Port Gambles' web site's calendar (http://www.portgamble.com/)
for August where scheduled are races in kayaks http://www.paddlekitsap.com/ ,
races on foot http://www.rootsrockrun.com/ ,
and races trying to get to the treasures in the Port Gamble Garage Sale (write to portgamble@orminc.com for info).

Also in August is the fifth annual maritime music festival, featuring the likes of The Whateverly Brothers, Broadside, Tugboat Bromberg, Wendy Joseph, and Spanaway Bay http://www.portgamblemaritimemusic.com/.

As near as I can tell, Port Gamble has "G" rated events only, so don't leave anybody at home. (And do us a favor...don't leave them here, either)