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Wordless Wednesday
Tag Archives: fun stuff
Obedience? Did someone say obedience?
Is it my turn yet?
Katie here. Mom said I should tell you all about her first try at obedience. She says maybe I can learn something if I tell you the story. Huh. Don’t know what, because I’m the smartest one in our family. Whatever.
So anyway, I got my Mama up at 5:45 this morning just like I do most weekend mornings. I figure the more time she’s up the more time we have to play. Anyway, for some reason she didn’t seem to be upset and got right up. I amble out to the living room and am doing my daily morning stuff when my Dad gets up! Now I know there’s something up. And I don’t like it. Not one bit. Whenever my Dad gets up early I end up at the kennel or worse, the groomer!
They keep telling me we’re going to school but I’m not fooled. My Dad doesn’t go to school with me. So I pant a lot in the car but other than that I stay really quiet, hoping they forget I’m back there.
We drove for about an hour and I knew it wasn’t school as soon as they opened the car door. There were dogs and cars and motor homes everywhere! I led the way inside a big building and oh my goodness, all these poor dogs were up on tables getting brushed and washed and they all looked miserable. I got my Mama out of that room right away! Didn’t want her getting any ideas that’s for sure.
Our room was way far away from all the commotion; it was really small, hardly bigger than the ring and only a few dogs and their people were there. Mama and Dad and I watched 3 dogs try to do Utility (the highest level of obedience) and 2 dogs tried to do Open (the level ahead of me) and not one single dog qualified! Oh man, my Mama was getting nervous!
In our class, Novice A, there were supposed to be two dogs, me and someone else, but no one else ever showed up so I had the place all to myself. Just about everyone else had left, so it was me and my Mama and my Dad and the judge and the stewards. It was real quiet.
I still didn’t think we were at school. So when Mama and I lined up at the start and the judge asked Mama if we were ready I wasn’t really interested. And the whole leash pattern I had my nose on the ground and wouldn’t look at mom and was about 3 feet away from her sniffing sniffing sniffing. I sort of kept up with her but I left her alone to walk a lot too. If I had looked at her I’m pretty sure she’d have been staring daggers at me, because she can’t, like she does at school, talk to me and remind me I was there to work!
Then just before the last about turn I suddenly realized I was supposed to be paying attention! Well! Why didn’t you SAY SO Mama! By the figure 8 exercise I knew the game plan and I worked it. Hardly any lagging and I was looking at my Mama most of the time. She said she was relieved. Me too, though I was wondering where my treats were!
And you know the stand for exam? Where my Mama tells me to stand and stay and then she walks away from me and a STRANGE PERSON comes and TOUCHES me? No sweat. I already liked the lady that was following us around anyway, she seemed nice. So I didn’t move a hair on my pretty head and my Mama was grinning like a crazy lady. Which she is a crazy lady, but that’s another story.
Then we got to my favorite – the recall, where she makes me sit straight (I don’t like the straight part) and then she walks a real long way away and I get to come when she calls. I like that because it shows off my beautiful furs and because I love to run. Especially to my Mama because she gives me treats. But this time no treats again! If I had known that I wouldn’t have done it so perfect and come in so straight and sat so pretty! But it was too late, I didn’t know the no treat thing until after I showed off.
Then we got to do that heel pattern thingy again. I guess because I had messed it up so much the first time. But this time there was no bothersome leash involved. Mom wasn’t worried because I had made it clear I knew what was going on by then. And you know what? I nailed it! My Mama was so happy!
I don’t even need to tell you that my long sits and long downs were awesome! Mama says she nearly had a heart attack near the end of the long (3 min) down when I shifted to my other hip. She knows that lots of time when I do that I’m about fed up with staying and am contemplating getting up to see what the heck is going on somewhere else. But I stayed right there because she was staring daggers into me again.
So the long story short is Mama got her first leg (she has to get a total of 3) of Novice Obedience! She is very excited. I was excited about the toy they gave me.
My Mama got a ribbon, but I got the real prize! A toy!!
At home Mama tried to get a nice picture of me and my toy.
This is MINE!
But I figured I had been good long enough. I wanted to play with it!
So I did.
A girl can’t have too many toys!
Mahler 6
If you like your symphonies full bodied you should have been in Ann Arbor last night when the Ann Arbor Symphony did Mahler’s Symphony No. 6. With just under 100 musicians the stage was packed. And every one of those musicians played their hearts out.
The 6th is relentless…full…lush spellbinding. It could be…should be…the score for a movie. That would be something wouldn’t it…to make a movie…perhaps a silent movie (the better to enjoy the music).. to fit the drama of Mahler’s 6th. It has everything an epic movie should have; marching armies, intimate battles, galloping horses, angst, star crossed lovers, mothers tenderly watching their children who grow up to march in armies heading off to battle, gentle love scenes, peaceful pastoral settings…more marching armies. Life. Death.
The musicians played 80 minutes and there were very few of those minutes that allowed any of them to rest. Those of us in the audience sat still for 80 minutes, only letting our breaths out for the few seconds between each of the four movements.
We enjoyed fantastic woodwinds, royal trumpets and stunning horns. The strings played as one, the harps were ethereal, the percussion added a sense of drama alternating with humor. The music swelled and lifted us in ever tighter revolutions, higher and higher into rarefied air and then let us down gently onto a moss strewn forest floor where we luxuriated in sunshine and harmony until the music swept us up on the next wave of emotion again. Over and over we raced high above earth and then floated back.
Mahler wrote about this piece as he was composing it. He said it was going to be like nothing the world had heard before. Last night it often seemed bigger than the world, as if it could touch every corner of our planet. The sound was bigger, brighter, more luminous than words can describe. You had to be there. You should have been there.
Finally the whole piece came down to the last measures, measures as soft and delicate as a final breath. They gave me goose bumps. And as the musicians let that last note go, as the conductor stood still with his hands in the air as if to hold on for one more moment, as the audience held it’s breath, my eyes filled with tears.
Profound.
Lots on my mind.
It’s a full moon and the end of the month. The combination appeared to make the mortgage industry this week simply insane. So I’m glad it’s finally Friday night.
This weekend will be pretty busy. We are going to the Ann Arbor Symphony on Saturday night. I’ve been so stressed I’m not even sure what they are playing, but it doesn’t matter. I could so use some music therapy right about now.
And on Sunday morning Katie and I are going to attempt to earn the first leg of her Novice Obedience title. I’m mostly freaked about her off leash stuff. Unlike Rally where I can talk to her and call her back to me when she wanders, Obedience doesn’t allow talking other than the heel commands after each halt. And there are a number of things we have to do, so our time in the ring is longer…without treats to keep her motivated. I’m hoping that 6 years of school click in and she’ll just do what we’ve done for years. If she is on her game…and if I don’t mess this up…well…there will be a jackpot waiting for her. Between you and me there will be a jackpot regardless of whether we “Q” or not…just because we love her.
So anyway, after a very stressful week at work I’m now sort of stressing about the weekend. And next weekend I’ll be in Washington DC at my 5th Sorrow to Strength. I need to get prepared for that too…but I can’t seem to think about it too much until I get past the Obedience Trial.
Sometimes I wonder how I get myself into all this stuff. But really? It’s just that almost everything interests me and if I could have my way I’d be doing even more things. But for now I’ll focus on the symphony on Saturday and on getting to the trial on time for Sunday.
I’m sure Katie will take it from there.
What you talkin about Mom?
Color me red
When Karma challenged us to find photos of a color we are drawn to I was stumped. I love all color. Sure a lot of my clothes are blue and green. And gray and brown. And black. But I don’t think I have a favorite color; I’ve always struggled with that question.
To compound the problem I like to go out and find new photos for Karma’s photo hunts. And my world here in Michigan is pretty much brown. Which is better than white. But still.
Brown cornfield with brown oak tree.
Yep, the world here is brown. And beige.
Katie’s park is drab right now.
And so I thought I’d do the piece about green. I like green well enough. There are so many shades of green, and it’s a color that brings such hope for those of us in the north after long winters. I wasn’t quite satisfied with that decision, but was starting to look around for some new green photos when I saw this:
Welcome home.
I saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was on my way to a bright green soccer field I had seen Friday night. And suddenly I knew. The color that attracts me most as we inch our way out of a long, cold, and endless winter… is red. Bright red. The color of spunk, of confidence, of joy.
So I switched gears and began to notice the red all around. It’s everywhere, little bits of warmth, of the promise of summer. Some of it is tucked away…
Hidden behind the pond.
…some of it is in your face bold.
A local family farm.
Some red I found at our local nursery….
Promise of summer.
…and some I found last weekend on a trip over to Lake Michigan.
South Haven lighthouse.
Joyful red is everywhere. I just had to spend a little bit of time to notice.
Made you smile!
Sunshine on my shoulders!
Welcome to my park!
Katie here! Guess what? The sun came out today and I got to go to my park. Hey! Do you think there is a correlation? Mama said “Hey Katie! It’s nice outside, do you want to go to the PARK?” Well of course I did…so I got all jumpy and excited and barkey and she could hardly get me into the car. Then I barked all the way there. I was telling her to hurry up!
No one was at the park except a couple of little league teams. They were all busy playing ball so we had the rest of the park to ourselves.
Play ball!
We were almost at the back of the park when I heard a loud noise and the earth started shaking. Mama said it was a train, but I think it was a really really big car! It has never been back there when we’ve been at my park before. I stood stock still and watched it go by.
That’s a BIG car!
When Mama asked me if I wanted to get closer I sat down. No way! I’ll wait right here Mama!
I’ll wait right here.
After the big car was gone I was quite happy to continue our walk. We came to the only wet spot on our walk and Mama walked right by it on the edge. I stopped. Mama got on the other side and looked back and called me. No way! She forgets all the time that I’m a princess. Princesses do not get their feet wet. I made her come back and carry me over. You’d think she’d have thought of that first. Geeze.
Are your feet wet Mama?
Anyway, I had a great time and wish my Mama was home all the time to take me to the park every day. Oh wait. I forgot. Mama brought ‘treats’ because she wanted to work on our heeling. She brought dry dog food! Can you believe that? I came and sat once when she asked me and she gave me a piece. I was disgusted and spit it out. Honestly. Sometimes she is not very smart. If she had brought chicken I’m sure I would have run through that puddle.
Mama’s got a lot of learning to do.
Come ON Mama!
The colors of our world
Karma has challenged us once again. This time she wonders what colors we are drawn to. I love all color so it’s going to be hard to choose. Plus I like to find new photos for Karma’s challenges…and currently the world in Michigan is pretty much grey and brown.
Hmmm…wonder what I’ll end up doing. It’s not due till the 28th so there’s lots of time! There is time for you to share the colors of your world too!
Say….what colors do you see in the clouds floating overhead today?
Sunshine arrives. Finally.
Maybe there really is some color out there besides gray and brown.
Attack of the robins!
Gotta watch out for crazy birds!
Katie and I were outside this morning, just as the sun was coming up. She was sniffing around looking for the perfect place when from across the street two robins flew up from the lawn, flapping their wings and screeching at each other. Up and down they flew, chest against chest, then they began chasing each other in larger and larger circles still screeching. Soon other robins entered the fray, and they all began swooping and diving in a frantic dance. The swarm of robins burst across the road, diving around our heads, then spun around a tree, then flew back across the road where they all dissipated, each to a separate tree except for two who ended up on the lawn where it all began.
Katie and I looked at each other. “Well that was weird” I said. She nodded and finished up what we were out there to do. We headed inside for breakfast.
Morning peace was restored.
Change Is Hard 