Mea'Ola's Meanderings

It's another beautiful weekend in Florida so mom took me on another adventure. This time we walked over to a city park near where we live. The golf course is mowed, but not really in playing shape. There are walking paths and a fishing pier. We walked down to the fishing pier on the river.   From the fishing pier we headed out on a long boardwalk. I spied something off to the right and mom said we would check it out on the way back.   I heard waves on the shore and stopped to listen. We were heading down the boardwalk to the boat area in the photo and then just past that.  On the way back mom found some stairs and we went down and walked on the beach a little but there were jellyfish so we didn't stay on the riverbank very long. Mom took this photo towards the fishing pier where we started. This was maybe halfway back to the fishing pier. As promised mom took me to explore what I had spied on the way out. It was a large...

One of the things my mom likes to do, is to attend the Riverside Arts Market in downtown Jacksonville. Until the coronavirus hit it was open every single Saturday, year round. Mom took me one Saturday morning, it was a bit chilly with the wind off the river. There were lots of people there. At first I was a little freaked out by all the people and most of them had their dogs with them also. Mom kept telling me it would be okay and that I was a good girl. We even stopped at one booth and got to sample a dog treat.  After a lap past all the vendors mom said we should walk along the river. The distance would be good for our training for the fall trip. On the picture of the map below we started at the bridge at twelve o'clock and walked down to the bridge at about 2 o'clock. It was nice in the sunshine, when the wind wasn't so strong.  I liked to stop and look into the water along the way. Mom tried to get me to sit on a bench and take a photo of me with ...

After we got back from our road trip to Georgia, mom decided that we needed to start training for our Annual Fall Trip to the mountains of North Carolina. She says we'll do a lot of hiking and I need to learn trail manners.  One Sunday after church we went to the Jacksonville Arboretum. They have lots of trails. We started on one that had a wide boardwalk over some swampy stuff.  Then we crossed a stream on  a narrow walkway. Mom kept telling me not to jump in the water because the bacteria count was really high according to the signs. I was just looking for fish or frogs.  After about 30 minutes of hiking we stopped to rest on a bench. Mom kept telling me how good I was doing.  While we rested we looked at the lake then hiked part way around it and into the woods. As we hiked through the wood, we passed this very large and old Live Oak tree.  In all mom and I hiked just over 2 miles. 

 Well, it's finally here, my first road trip with my new mom. She's a real nice lady, always telling me how beautiful I am and how much she loves me. I was with her for two weeks before I started carrying my tail up on my back. That makes my mom real happy. Anyway, she loaded her car up with pillows, my crate and a lot of other stuff and we headed off down the road. She's always telling me to hold on when she needs to make a turn if I'm standing up.  We were almost to her son's place in Georgia when she told me it was snowing. What's snow? I know it is cold outside of the car when I press my nose against the window. There's white stuff coming from the sky and mom is talking to some man named God, saying she's driven too far and is too close for the weather to screw up our trip. Then she tells me she knows how to drive in snow, it is the other people on the road she's concerned about.  We made it to her son's place and she took ...

Hi, its Mea'Ola again.  Wow, things are sure different here than in Puerto Rico. The first two nights I was with my new mom she had me sleep in my crate. One the third night I got to sleep on her bed with her. At first I wouldn't jump up because I was little scared. One night she came home from work and said it was pretty chilly out and she made a fire. I loved laying near the fire. It was so warm.  It only took me a couple of days to realize that the kitchen rug is a pretty good place for a nap, until mom chases me out of the kitchen when she cooks. She tells me "out of the kitchen" and says its for my own good. The first couple of nights mom put this pad on the floor, just in case, she said. It was an okay substitute for a bed. Now I sleep on the leather sofa or in mom's big arm chair.  The road trip is coming up soon, mom is running around and packing kibble for me. 

Hi, my new name is Mea'Ola. It is Hawaiian for survivor and I am one from Puerto Rico. My mom found me on a rescue site for Chinese Shar-Pei, ( Mid Atlantic Chinese Shar Pei Rescue ) and fell in love with me when she read my story. I am almost 4 years old and lived on the streets of Puerto Rico after hurricane Irma until I was rescued by a group called All Sato Rescue , but not before someone attacked me with a machete and cut my forehead open. Mom didn't post that photo because some people can't stand looking at my wound.  The folks at All Sato Rescue got me spayed, up to date on all my shots and de-wormed. They found friends for me to play with. They took a great photo of me so my new mom could see what a happy girl I could be. This was me saying good-bye to my son Teddy. He was rescued with me and now lives in Virginia. Maybe one day we can have a family reunion.  When my new mom got the the airport this was her first glimpse of me. I wasn...