This was the day of the scheduled appointment for our two little six-month-old poodles. Little did they know what the day held for them. They were doubtless puzzled no end when we roused them at six, since they usually get awakened two hours later. After they were taken to the backyard first thing, we took our showers as usual, and instead of giving them their usual breakfast we had the unmitigated gall to 'forget' to feed them.

Instead, they were bundled into the car, and we all drove off to Ogdensburg, New York. A nice enough drive, on yet another beautiful spring day. Light jacket weather first thing in the morning, but we knew, from what we'd experienced the past several days that as the day wore on into afternoon it would be warm enough to shed the jackets. And that's exactly what happened.

We dropped the little fellows off at the veterinary hospital. We arrived even before the scheduled 8:30 a.m. admission time, but they swooped us up anyway. The office staff is casual, informed and friendly beyond previous experience. Truth to tell, I hated leaving them. But leave them we did, with instructions to come back at half-past five to pick them up and head back home.

They were scheduled to be spayed and neutered. An awful thing to have happen to two innocent little dogs. Interfering with their natural biology. On the other hand, we're informed, doing so prolongs their life and their health, and avoids a whole lot of nuisance occurrences; that we have siblings, a brother and sister, would certainly complicate our lives and theirs, otherwise.

We'd made reservations at a nearby motel-condominium complex and that's where we next drove to. We checked in, went to our room, refreshed ourselves and then went off to the dining room of the Stone Fence Resort for breakfast. And then began a long but happily, pleasant day noodling about Ogdensburg. Discovering there was plenty to do and see.

Pleasant only half describes our location, right on the St. Lawrence River, close enough to see across to the Canadian side; the river wide and beautifully blue, matching the sky above.