I'm not worried about the JM being subjected to the cold here. In my 6 years here in the Denver area, I can tell you that it's been below zero only a handful of times. And never has it been below -10. My biggest worries are the intense sunshine (300 days of sunshine here is not uncommon), the late winter to early spring snow storms that dump lots of wet, heavy snow and the freezing that come right after 3 days of 70deg. temps (it's snowed here just two weeks ago), the hard, clay soils that hold moisture, and the occasional winter winds that can be strong at times with some winter storms. Some of those problems can be alleviated somewhat. I can dig down a few feet and amend the soil. I do have a fenced back yard, and living in the suburbs the neighboring homes are close, so that can protect from the wind somewhat. And I can always build a windshield to put up in the winter. However, I cannot protect against the sunshine. The only way to do that would be to build a shelter of some kind that could filter the sun, however that is against my community architectural guidelines, so that won't be happening. If I could guarantee that the JM wont die because of exposure to the sun, then I will have no problem planting one. But so far I haven't been able to determine if the sunshine would be too much, or just cause leaf scorch in the late summer.

I'll have to suggest the aspirin to my parents. I know they used to give him but i think it was coated and I'm not sure if they are still giving it to him. He is not completely emptying his bowels. Its probably more like 'sawed off turds' and this happens when he's struggling to get up. This is the reason I'm reluctant to take what the vet says about him not feeling it as the reason for it. He's struggling to get up from lying down and he's straining himself. If he's experiencing pain while trying to get up, as well as just straining to get up, he's not likely to clench his butt cheeks tighter to prevent an accident (if he's in pain then that is what he's feeling not the passage of stool). The problem with Jessie is that he has always been a quiet dog. My mom said she never heard him bark until he was 5 years old. One afternoon (and it scared her) but he was barking at the hot air balloons that were going overhead (he still barks at the mention of balloons). He makes a mumbling sound, kind of like 'woo, woo' because he did that as a puppy and my dad would do it back so they'd talk like this, lol. If he wants food he usually does this noise and if no one gives him food he just gets louder and eventually barks. I can't say I've ever heard him whine. When he wants to go out he usings his snout to hit the door handle and it makes a rattling noise with the key in it (the really old type of keys). So its difficult to see if he's in pain except the way he walks you can tell if he's stiff, especially in the morning. The problem with my brother is that he rarely comes over especially when my dad's around (he works evening shift so he's gone in the evenings). It would be hard to get them together. We are all going out for dinner to celebrate my parents retirement but that's not until June and I'm not sure that's the best time to bring up doggie accidents. But I'll see if my brother will mention something if they cross paths.

As I took the photos last night of the moon, the coyotes started up several times with their howling, how neat it is to hear them bark, yap, and howl. You are correct about the two-day full moon appearance, but I will add that the moon increases toward full moon. At some point, it reaches 'full', then begins it's decline back to new moon, so actually it is only full for one short period of time, but appears to be full for a total of a couple of days before it is noticeably showing signs of Earth's shadow again. This moon is known as the Harvest Moon, since it is when harvesting takes place and in years past, particularly when harvesting was done by hand, harvesting could be done all night long, by the light of the moon, hence the name...Harvest Moon. Out here in the country, most people stay outside late into the night, especially on weekends, so it might be more strange to NOT find someone outside than to actually find someone outside. Stargazing is a part of country life, I guess, but with encroaching city lights and people moving from the city to the country and putting up bright lights that stay on all night, it is becoming harder to find a good spot to really see the beauty of the night sky. Thanks for the websites on the moon and sun, very interesting. Kt

Lucky for us, it was the perfect night to view the eclipse and the big Harvest Moon. I'd made chili, and we had a late dinner of it out on our back portal while we enjoyed the "show". We spend hours out there just talking and watching the eclipse unfold. At one point, DH went in and made us Cuba Libres. It was a wonderful, very special way to spend the evening. Will try again in, what, 33 more years?