It was a beautiful day today, warm and a bit sunny. So Katie and I went to the park; a new park today, as our favorite one is filled with hunters. Katie got lots of sniffing in, and we met some other dogs too. Everyone was out to enjoy the last bit of our Indian Summer in November. They predict snow next week!
We worked a bit on our recall…
…but mostly we just hung out.
Can’t have a better day than this one was!
Yesterday I decided I had missed enough beautiful days doing nothing much in particular, so I decided to go for a walk. Alone. Of course it was no longer a beautiful warm sunny day; it was cold and the sky was gray. But still, a walk alone would be nice. Deciding to walk to town I began my journey. It’s only a mile from my house to downtown, but there’s a lot to see along the way.
First stop, perhaps a third of a mile into the trip was the local cemetery. I’d always meant to stop by and look at some of the older markers from the town’s founding fathers. It’s a pretty cemetery, quite small, and as I came to realize, very old.
Then on down the road to a little park with a bridge to get over the creek that runs from the mill pond into the wetlands. Almost to town! 
And there it is, the entirety of our downtown. Well, there is a little more…
…the other side of the street!
Along the way I enraged two sets of doggies in the windows…This Bulldog, Beagle and Minpin who had been sleeping on the ledge inside the bay window…
…and this pair of Bichons who could hardly stand that I was walking by their house!
On the way back home (which is pretty much all uphill by the way!) I stopped to take a photo of a pretty wild crabapple tree.
And then the crabby Dairy-Queen tree!
And finally a wild apple tree that had just a few apples hanging out at the end of her limbs, as if they were Christmas ornaments.
As I walked up my driveway there was little Katie, not even mad that I had gone on a walk without her. Just happy to see me as always. Today, of course, it’s bright sunshine. I think Katie and I will go to the park.
Several evenings this past week were filled with special events. It’s unusual to have so many scheduled in one week, but there you go, it’s the life of the unemployed; I’m unhindered with work and able to accept all invitations!
Last Sunday my husband and I went to a tiny, intimate theater in downtown Detroit to watch Rita McKenzie’s “Ethel Merman’s Broadway.” I didn’t know much about Merman prior to this show, which told her life story in the first person. Rita McKenzie dressed and sang like Merman as she talked about her life. It was a lot of fun.
Thursday I attended the University of Michigan’s version of “The Marriage of Figaro” with my aunt. It was so professionally done and we had great seats which allowed me to watch the pit orchestra as well as the stage. I’m not an opera fan, but this one was very funny, with modern translations of the words being sung. I enjoyed it and didn’t realize till after it was finished that it had gone on for over three and a half hours!
Last night found us back in Ann Arbor with my aunt, attending the Ann Arbor Symphony. They did three pieces. After hearing the first, Overture on Hebrew Themes by Sergey Prokofiev (who did the ballet scores for Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet and Peter and the Wolf,) I thought to myself, “Well that’s probably going to be my favorite this evening” because it was so fun, flirty and light with bits of humor and history thrown in.
After the second piece, Symphony No 1 in C Major by Georges Bizet, written when he was 17 years old in 1858 as a homework assignment...I thought to myself, “That last movement is my favorite tonight…the violins were crazy busy, off to the races, and it ended about 3 times, almost as if the composer was saying ‘See teacher? Here’s some MORE..and some MORE and MORE!’ ” I couldn’t believe he wrote it at seventeen. And that it wasn’t played for 80 years because he didn’t feel it was worthy, and that it languished in the basement of his school until it was discovered by someone doing his biography.
Then the crowning glory of the evening, a piece by Johannes Brahms, the Concerto No 2 for Piano and Orchestra. The guest pianist was Anton Nel, originally from South Africa, once a piano professor at UM, now teaching in Austin TX. He was phenomenal. I thought to myself “Well…I guess in the end the last movement of the Brahms is my favorite for the evening…it’s racy tunes, the strings driving toward the finale…a wonderful end to a wonderful evening.” Everyone in the audience was on their feet as soon as the last note began to die away.
While we were clapping I wished that everyone in the world could sit where I sat; that surely if they could then we could end wars and crime and all injustice. Because how could anyone that received such a beautiful gift, that let such beauty inside themselves, anyone who sat next to strangers and felt their hearts expand..how could these people not be positively effected? I know, I know. Totally unrealistic. But still.
There were four curtain calls.
And then a grateful gasp rose from the hall as Dr. Nel, exhausted from the 50 minute concerto he had just finished, sat back down at the piano. Just one man, one piano. And then the sound.. the most beautiful, most soulful, indescribable sound. He played something from Franz Liszt, I don’t know which piece. It was so very beautiful that tears ran down my face. And I said to myself…”This is my favorite.”
I don’t think I was alone.
Remember when I said that having a random work schedule made it difficult to figure out what day it was? That the weekends had no meaning and I was always checking the calendar to figure out where I was supposed to be and when? Well, let me tell you, being unemployed is even more confusing. With nothing at all scheduled I have no place to mark time. So I’m just going to have to fill up the space, organize some organization into my days, get myself going. Or not. It’s taken a couple of weeks, but I’m beginning to like this feeling of not knowing what day it is – and not caring anyway!
Katie and I do have the Monday drop in competition obedience class…but I don’t have to go every week. And last week I did start her in a Rally class on Thursday mornings. So I guess there is some semblance of organization and purpose in my life. Or in hers anyway. We went to Obedience last night. Twenty-four dogs (at least) there. Way too big, we had to do things in groups and wait while other groups were working.
Katie and got there an hour early so that she could acclimate to the building. We sniffed all around the edges of all three rings. Looked at the agility equipment piled in the corner of the building, caught our reflections in the mirrored wall…sniffed all the dog crates. And suddenly as I was wandering with her I realized she was heeling and looking at me expectantly! All by herself! And we were only 10 minutes into our hour! What a girl! So we did some practicing of our own in the empty rings. Heeling, staying, coming, more heeling. She was spot-on. Of course after all that I still had 30 more minutes to fill before class began.
We met three other shelties, and I got to have a long talk with the owner of one of them, a small breeder, about sheltie attitude and shyness and what they (the breeders) were doing about trying to be careful not to breed shyness into the dogs. Mostly though I waited my turn to get a little ring time. Katie is not a patient dog, and was barking when she had to hang around too long. Another sign she was acclimated and feeling her oats, the fact she’d bark at instructors and other dogs.
This week she waited when she was supposed to and didn’t follow me out as we were doing recalls. And she was perfect on her long sit. We were doing long sits and downs near the end of the class and a large group of people were gathering (maybe for another class) in the waiting area. They got louder and louder until it was difficult to hear our instructor. There were lots of dogs waiting as well, and Katie, sitting near the edge of the ring had her back to all this activity. She was doing a pretty good job of ignoring it all when suddenly two big dogs, waiting with their owners right in back of her, got into it. They growled and barked at each other in anger, and Katie went straight up into the air then began running toward me on the other side of the ring. I was already moving fast toward her and we met in the middle. I led her back to her spot, put her back into a down while the dogs on either side of Katie were struggling with their owners, refusing to go back down. Katie just sat and watched each of them, her ears flat. One of the instructors came up behind me and said “Good recovery. It’s OK to go back to her tell her she’s a good girl and come back out. They all need a little reassurance sometimes.” So I did.
That was the end of our class and Katie was glad to leave. I think she won’t need as long to get into the training mode now, and we won’t have to be there so early. She really was ready to go home about the time the class began! And it’s just way too big. So when our 8 visits are over we probably won’t go back. The Rally class is much smaller, the building is more quiet, and she gets 30 minutes of obedience which is just about right for her. So we’ll enjoy that more I think.
On the other hand, when we got home she still wanted to play and brought out some of her favorite toys to entice me. Silly dog, she should have been worn out. I know I was! But she’s still ready to go Go GO!
On this beautiful fall day I traveled down to Ann Arbor to have lunch with a friend from school. I was in AA last weekend, when we went to the concert at Hill Auditorium (pictured above with the UM bell tower), and my husband asked me as we were leaving town if I missed campus. I can honestly say that yes I do. I don’t know if it is the campus itself, the sense of being involved in something new and exciting, or the feeling of belonging that I missed, but I do miss being in Ann Arbor.
So I was excited to go down to campus again. I planned the trip so that I had time to ride the bus into the center of town. That makes parking cheaper (as in zero) and saves me trying to drive in a town which is overrun with students, cars and buses. Driving in AA totally stresses me out. Plus, if you’ve read this blog long enough you’ll know. I LOVE riding the bus! In a multicultural university town like Ann Arbor you get to see and listen to the most interesting people while riding the bus. Today I listed to a conversation about quantom physics and another about how different antioxidents work on different part of the cells in our body. Riding the bus is an education in itself. I was pleased to note that old traditions continue, like students getting up out of their seats and offering them to older riders, and everyone calling a “thanks!” to the driver, accompanied with a wave, as they depart.
Lunch was spent at a little Korean restaurant that I had walked past and hardly noticed for the whole two years I was a student. I had lovely spicy chicken as we caught up with each other’s stories. It was so good to see her, and hear how things were going in her academic world. It’s such a different world than that of my public library.
After lunch she went back to work and I wandered central campus for a little bit. Things haven’t changed at all. Feeding the squirrels is still a good study break. 
And as usual there was something crazy going on on the Diag, the very center of campus where different interest groups usual hold court or entertain, or preach for their cause. Today there was a fraternity selling chances, $2.00 each, to throw a whip cream pie in the face of a student, all for the worthy cause of ending heart disease. 
Over in West Hall, where I went to school I ran into my favorite professor. She and I were walking through the undergrad library at the same time and actually bumped into each other. We had a moment to talk, which was really nice. She says she’s going to retire. I said sure she is, she says that every year. But this year she just may. She wants to travel the country and visit all her students in all those libraries. Sounds like a plan to me!
After seeing her I headed back to the bus stop. On the ride back out to the car I realized that campus life was fun, but over. Just that bit of walking around showed me that I didn’t really belong there anymore. And more than that, I realized I was glad I was done with school, that it is OK to be finished with student life. That was one phase of my life; a really fun, exciting, and sometimes scary time. I’ll always enjoy visiting, but it’s not where my life is now.
As I pulled into the driveway I could hear Katie howling. Guess she wasn’t thrilled to be left alone most of the day. How soon she gets spoiled. This is where my life is now. And that’s OK with me.
I took Katie to one of the pet stores to see if I could get her to concentrate on me instead of everything else that is so distracting. We spent quite a lot of time walking around the back of the store, back and forth, up and down the isles. She got better as we went, I was pretty pleased with her behavior. I had her stop and wait at one point, not noticing where we were.
She said “MOM! It’s boring here in the kitty litter isle!”
She was much more content near the dog food.
After we had practiced quite a bit I told her “OK! You can go for a walk now!” And off she went on ahead of me, free to explore. Of course we ended up near the toys. She doesn’t need another toy, but she likes to look anyway.
“Can I have THIS one Mom?”
The good part about not being employed is that I get to take the Katie dog to school on Monday nights. We missed last week because I had to work, and I was scheduled to work tonight and next Monday night too. Good thing I got layed off! Because missing even one week has turned Katie into a squirrel. Really.
She was extremely excited to be going to school, running out to the car and standing on her hind legs to get lifted into the back. She pulled as usual, eager to get into the building once we arrived. But inside she shut down almost immediately. I cooked fresh chicken that morning, and had little chunks of it in her treat bag on my hip. I gave her a taste before class started, so she’d know what she was working for and she spit it out. Great. That’s the first sign she’s not going to pay much attention to me.
There were 12 dogs this week. Three Shelties, a few German Shepards, a totally deaf dog that sort of looked like the dog for Target, some Goldens, a Border Collie and I can’t remember the rest. Katie got totally freaked out doing healing around the ring, running to keep up with the dogs in front of us, and never ever looking at me, so she was always surprised when we turned and went the other way, or slowed down, or sped up. And certainly had no clue when we were going to stop. Sit when we stopped? Oh no, not going to happen. Chicken? Who likes chicken? Not Katie for sure; makes her feel sort of ill. Apparently.
We did long recalls. Both times she sat while I walked away but ran to me immediately after I turned around, long before the instructor told me to call my dog. And both times she ran right past me, did a victory lap around me and than wandered. She never does this! I’m going to have to tell them I need to go back to her rather than call her for the next couple of weeks. And probably not go so far away from her either, until she gets used to the building and the class and feels better about being away from me. After the second long recall she asked to be picked up she was so scared. I didn’t….pick her up that is.
She was weird for 45 to 50 minutes of the class, spooked and distracted. It wasn’t till we were doing returns, pretty much on our own and I moved away from the others that she settled down. “Front did you say Mom?” OHHHH FRONT! Well OK!. HEY!!! You have CHICKEN?!! Why didn’t you SAY SO!. Watch me sit and look expectantly at you! Watch me strut my stuff and look at you adoringly!” And then we did stand for exam, which she rarely ever does correctly. And she stood right there when I asked, waited her turn and let the instructor come up and PET HER WITHOUT MOVING! And then the instructor and I stood there and talked and Katie still didn’t move! Way to go Katie! You redeemed yourself!
So. Tomorrow we go back to the park. But maybe we have to go somewhere else, somewhere she’s less comfortable, to practice tomorrow. Wednesday is a fun match, where we can go and pretend we’re at an obedience trial. It’s in the same scary building. I guess I’ll see how she is tomorrow. Or..today, since it’s almost morning here. She’s having no trouble sleeping. Me? I’m still kind of weirded out myself about not having a job. Guess we’ll both have to learn to adjust!
I’ve been promising Katie for what seems like days, and probably seems like weeks to her, a trip to her favorite soccer field/park. Today I wasn’t scheduled to work, it wasn’t raining, and even more motivating was the fact that there were contractors in the basement sawing a window well and a crawl space door into the wall. After hours of listening to the screaming, grinding saw Katie and I ran away to the park for the afternoon.
Since we missed doggie school last night because I had to work, Katie and I practiced our heeling quite a bit today. She did awesome, probably in part because she hadn’t been fed yet so was highly food motivated! This makes me know for sure that she knows how to do everything. Sometimes she choses not to do them, but she sure knew how today!
After we did about 30 minutes of heeling, sitting, staying, stand for exam and recall I switched her to her long leash and we went exploring. I was looking for pretty places to get her portrait. She was more interesting in sniffing stuff.
As we walked along I saw this tiny little nest that was in a bush right at the side of the walking path.
I stuck my finger in this shot not because it’s such an attractive photo, but to give you a sense of scale. I wonder if it’s a hummingbird nest. If not, what other bird would be that small? Maybe a chickadee? I need to look this up and see what I can learn.
After our walk through the fields we wandered back to the pond. Katie actually stepped on a garter snake! Her back feet sort of hopped up which is what she does when she steps on a thistle or a stick, but she kept on going. I glanced down and realized it was a snake! I didn’t get a picture of it as it slid slowly off into the tall grass, but I got a picture of another one we came across, about the same size.
Do you see it? Katie never saw the second one, though she did wait patiently while I photographed it. She’s used to waiting on her Mom while she takes photos I guess. We sat by the pond for quite awhile, listening to the quiet and watching water bugs on the surface of the calm pool of water. Then she heard a chipmunk.
And off she ran to investigate.
Hmmm…I thought. Here’s a good chance to see how she is on distracted recalls! So I called her in my school voice; “KATIE! COME!! And instantly she turned and ran right back to me!
And then of course she sat for a treat. Like a good girl.
She’s adorable, and I’ve been a bit grumpy with her lately. So as we sat pondering things, watching the water, I told her I was sorry I’ve been mad, and promised her we’d come back to the park more often this fall. She said she forgave me. Cause she is, after all, Mommie’s girl.
No, not me…Katie and I went to doggie school tonight. In the past 8 days we’ve been in obedience classes three times. You’d think she’d be back in the swing of it. But no such luck. Tonight’s class had 20 dogs, 4 other Shelties, 4 Shepards, an Irish Setter, a Whippet, a Roti and several others that I lost track of. Katie was excited to go to school, pulling on the leash as we approached the building; but once inside she was overwhelmed by all the activity. Her focus was nonexistent, and she wasn’t tempted by treats again this week. And the one thing that I can always count on, perfect recalls, fast and straight with an immediate sit..well…she ran right past me tonight! She’s never done that before! She was, however, simply wonderful on her long sits and downs. Probably because she was afraid to move! I wish I had a picture of her sitting there next to a Mastiff, a Roti and a Shephard! She’s so tiny!
Now that we’re back home she’s fallen asleep. Upside down of course, against the back of the sofa. I tried to get a picture, but of course that made her wake up.
And now she’s a CRANKY sheltie…so I have to go!
We’ll be practicing in the driveway this week, especially on our heeling and our figure 8’s. Maybe I can get her confidence higher. And mine too.
Change Is Hard 