We finished milling lumber in the late afternoon. It was a beautiful Spring day so I decided  to take some pictures of the wild cherry blossoms throughout the forest near our neighbor's pool. The discarded petals floating on the mirrored  surface of the pool was magical.

Then I walked deeper into the trees to capture the delicate new leaves and blossoms against graceful dark limbs. The old wooden water tank with it's rotting ladder created an imaginary setting for the wee elves and fairies of Irish legends.

A loud splash behind me shattered my daydreams; drawing my attention to circular ripples moving across the surface of the pool. There didn't appear to be anything in the water to cause such a disturbance until a head suddenly broke through the surface.

It was Bubba (Lisa and Dave's dog), entertaining himself. He's so special that I couldn't pass up this invitation to capture him in pictures and share his delightful story.

 

Bubba clenches an old broken ball between his teeth, and tosses it some distance into the pool. Because it's completely torn, it sinks to the bottom. He waits for it to disappear and then Bubba dives into the water and slowly swims around looking downward to locate it. Then he holds his breath, swims to the bottom, retrieves it and returns to the surface. He likes it better if there is someone to play with.

In the beginning the broken ball may have been an accident, but Bubba is smart and learns fast. When Dave first brought him home, he would visit us and grab any available stick hoping that we would throw it for him. It was a mistake to comply, because he was constantly dropping sticks in front of, or on our feet wanting to play. You can't help but love him, but we had saw-milling to do, and he was in the way. It didn't take long for him to learn that we weren't going to play anymore, but he kept a watchful eye on our activities. He noticed our unsuspecting customers and figured that he could con them into throwing sticks for him. He shows up whenever someone drives in. Most people fall in love with Bubba during their first encounter.

Here Bubba places the stick on top of his paws. Then he puts his nose beneath it, tosses it into the air and catches it.

The Nevada Irrigation ditch divides our properties. One day I heard a splash. Bubba was climbing out of the ditch with a big stick in his mouth. He took it upstream and mightily tossed it into the water, and watched it float along with the current. Several yards downstream he dived into the water, retrieved the stick...and then repeated the process.

There doesn't seem to be any end to Bubba's resourcefulness when there's no one around to play with...By accident, or design, he just figures out the next best thing to do.