Moose the Bale Climber

I was up at the farm this weekend. We decided to go for a walk to the old, abandoned one room schoolhouse and back. I really enjoy these walks because everybody wants to go and the dogs can run free instead of being on leashes and because frogs are jumping so plentifully that they caboom into the sides of your ankles and the scenery is beautiful. My niece, Michelle, the up and coming young gymnast, ran ahead with the dogs so she could climb the round hay bale and watch us approach. My dog doesn't run ahead because she is clingy. The other two dogs ran ahead with Michelle. One is a Golden Retriever puppy named Migo. He is clumsy and uber active and very mischevious. The other is a mutt named Moose. Moose in an appropriate name because he is so large that his head comes just above my belt line when he is standing on all fours. When he is up on just the back legs, he is above my head. His tail is long and sleek and (I kid you not) about a yard long. He looks like he is part Great Dane. Anyway, back to the walk. We're walking along between corn fields and approaching a hay field on the left. I look up to see Michelle standing on a round hay bale. Hay bales are about 6 feet high and hard to get up because of the round shape but she's a gymnast so no problem for her. I also see some animal up there with her. "What is that dog doing up on the hay bale?" I ask. I cannot believe Moose got up there. But he did. And he proceeded ambulate on and off that hay bale as if it were a slightly high step. Incredible.