On life and death

I attended the funeral for my Aunt Edith yesterday. Her grandson wrote a moving tribute to her that I'd like to share here.

The collection of porcelain teapots on the windowsill rattle their lids as the tractor rumbles by on the gravel driveway outside. My uncle waves to my grandmother who sits inside sipping her freshly brewed first cup of early morning coffee. By the time he returns in the afternoon, the counter tops will be dusted with crumbs of bread and cookies that have been used to prepare a delicious spread for my uncle to devour. My grandmother will have swept the tracks of hay and mud my cousin has brought in on his hunting boots. The morning paper will be spread out over the kitchen table like a thin black and white table cloth. Cups and saucers hold the paper in place. A light breeze sucks the curtains in, then blows them out as if the house itself is breathing. The weather section of the paper flips up and I can see its forecast is true -- sunny with a slight breeze today.

I will never forget the loving home my grandmother created for her children and grandchildren in which we created memories as simple and pure as the one above -- homemade strawberry jam, afternoon adventures in the attic, curling up on the couch in the cozy room with the wood burning stove, a warm hug as she stepped off the plane at the Macon airport, a permanent place in my heart, soul, and mind. I love you Grandma!
~ Michael Rawls

Where Have I been?

I think that says it all :) The end of the school year is rather busy. My dogs have been languishing on the couch. But that has all changed. Some of my criteria has slipped, and we are putting it back in place. Sitting politely at the door. Staying until released for dinner and breakfast. Rumi will start 2 X 2 weaves tomorrow and Thai will work on remembering what a correct weave performance might be. Herding starts again on Friday...or maybe tomorrow if thunderstorms hold off. And I need to get some tracking in there too :) So I will soon have much more to write about than end of school reports, paper work, and clean up the wetlands day (did I mention 400+ of our students pulled out over 1100 POUNDS of Garlic Mustard?).

Remember

I clearly remember this day and realizing it would change my life forever.



"Hatred never ceases by hatred; by love alone it is healed. This is the timeless and eternal law. Forgiveness is primarily for our own sake, so that we no longer carry the burden of resentment. Our hearts are already heavy enough."
The Gatekeeper
Columbine High School memorial

For an interesting take on what we've learned since Columbine check out this article.

Don't judge a book by it's cover

I, along with evidently over 12 million other you tube junkies, saw this video (they turned embedding off).
And then as I was cruising youtube I found this one also.

What hit me more than their music, was how everyone judged them by their outside looks and appearances, and had never taken the time to see what else was there. And the tv almost went out of its way to highlight how "backwards" they were. It made me think, how many students or adults do we do that to in our everyday life. And these people don't have any "stage" to get up on and make them "famous" for their unique talents. There is a Susan or a Paul in some aspect of all of us. Why don't we look harder to find it in other people?

Finally Jeanne's

I didn't get up to Jeanne's last Friday as originally planned due to late snow and then it all melting creating a pond out of the small area at her place. And there has been no recent post because I'm the yearbook advisor and the deadline was this past Friday and with the snow, a lot of the spring sports were cancelled for the week and this created a headache for me trying to get pictures of those sports in the yearbook!

But today I made it up to Jeanne's. Nothing like a 4 hour drive up and a 4 hour drive back for a one hour lesson, but she made it worth while. And I caught up on some podcasts on the drive.

Rumi is working in the round pen and did well, although I still don't always put the pressure on and take it off at the right times. But I'm getting better and he tries so hard to figure out what I want from him.

Jeanne had awesome suggestions with Thai. I worked on some driving, and some exercises to get her to rate herself instead of going full out the whole time and almost enjoying pushing the sheep past me so she can bring them back again :)

One thing I noticed about myself (and I think is true of many teachers) is that I am not a great student. I've noticed that teachers are often the hardest to teach (although we all are hard in different ways). I found that I was very quiet at Jeanne's and didn't give her a lot of information. I think it was because I was trying so hard to digest all her information and not influence her with my view points until she had had a chance to make her own decisions and impressions. But this kind of left her trying to figure out what I and my dogs knew, where we were, and what I wanted. I have only worked with her once before...just under a year ago. So she doesn't know me or my dogs well at all. I really need to work on being a better student and giving my instructors the information they need to work with me...but everything happens so fast and I'm trying to figure out their way of teaching and explaining that I end up not giving them much feedback. Glad I don't have to teach me :)

Continuing Progress

We didn't herd for a few days because of, believe it or not, snow. In April!!! And Rumi is not happy when we don't work for a day or two. Whether it is obedience, tracking, herding, or agility...he wants to be learning and doing.

Thai worked first today and really stayed off my light sheep who think the long bamboo stick might be scarier than the dog. She held them to me on the fence and then stayed way out so they walked down the fence with keeping a gap between them and me. I was way proud!

Rumi continues to work quietly without arguing, although he still is not willing to go between the sheep and fence from a start without strong persuasion. However, the cool thing that he did today was I tossed the shaker bottle at him to get him out on the top and then circled around to pick up the bottle. I went to do what I hoped would be a smooth graceful swoop and totally missed it. As I had to stop and side step to grab it I suddenly realized the sheep weren't running past me. I looked up and there was my dog standing still holding the sheep to me, but not pushing them past me!!! I was NOT trampled! What a good dog ;)

Friday I go up to Jeanne Weaver's for a herding lesson. 4 hour drive, but well worth it.

Herding/Tracking/Training junk :)

Rumi, Thai and I have been herding for the past few days. Rumi is covering heads, almost never barks, and when I've set it up perfectly and he's been worked down, he'll go through between the sheep and the fence on the go bye side without trying to flip back. He will stay easily holding the sheep between him and me on the fence. (not me guarding the sheep on the fence).

Thai and I have been working the lighter sheep in the big field. I have been working on the same back up and stay holding the sheep to me. Today I really saw a light bulb go on as she balanced up and stopped on her own willingly and then stayed out and flanked to cover the sheep as they tried to stay away from me and her. I was so proud of her :)

Yesterday we went tracking. I suddenly realized that Thai's certification expires soon so I thought I'd see what she remembered. It was a windy day. I layed Rumi a track with two challenges...both through heavy pricker bushes (ugh). I layed Thai's in a big open field. After aging it 30 min. I ran Thai's. She was working off the track some, but with the wind and only 30 min. age that didn't surprise me. She did great, but tired out at the last leg. She had great article indications. When I ran Rumi's track it was about 1 hour and 15 min. old. He too did great and had no problem with the obstacles. However, the last leg he too was tired and missed the last turn. Not bad for no tracking in 6 months.