ShoresLife

Weaver's Delight

2011-07-11T10:24:00.000-07:00

You are invited to an open house Saturday, July 11, from 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m., featuring coffee and snacks, for all San Diego area weavers who are interested in free stuff. Yes, free stuff, and it's wonderful stuff too. Primarily, there is Verda Elliott's huge trove of books. There are weaving books, craft books, art books, and just plain inspiration books, I would guess 500 of them! In addition, there are extensive collections of the magazines Complex Weavers Journal, Handwoven, and Threads, as well as some weaving items, some pottery and basketry, and furniture. All free. There are also two sewing machines, a Viking Husqvarna 1+ embroidery/sewing machine, with all accessories, manual, and many associated embroidery design books; and a Singer serger. These we will sell, but the prices will be reasonable.

We hope to see you Saturday! Please contact Jan Elliott, Barb Elliott, or Deanna Johnson if you need directions to Verda's.

Now, here are pictures of a few things...

But wait, there's more!

2011-07-11T10:00:00.000-07:00

Some of the other things that need re-homing include two nice tub chairs, six bentwood chairs, king headboard, dressers, lamps, pottery, folding bookshelves, dining set (table, 4 chairs, 2 stools), and area rugs. And probably other stuff I've forgotten!

See you Saturday!

Three years of Juno

2011-03-16T16:14:00.000-07:00

Just remembering her puppy days.

Reign (Dad) at the ranch in Warner Springs where Juno was born.

And later at Anna Guthrie's for training.

Getting to know Duncan and Daisy.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T22:47:00.000-08:00

It was a very adult Christmas for Duncan and me. We drove around town looking for somewhere to go out to dinner and discovered a fantastic new Thai restaurant, the Chedi Thai Bistro, where a shlumpy old school Thai restaurant had formerly been. The dogs got two major off-leash walks, wearing their Christmas red and white jingle bell collars, of course. Today they are tired pups!

Naturally we were very lazy, hanging around to watch TV and read. We watched the Mythbusters Marathon on the Discovery Channel. The Bull in the China Shop episode was the best! We also watched the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice. As a connoiseur of Jane Austen adaptations, I rate that one at least an 8 of 10. I like the cast of this version a lot. Keira is a very fine Elizabeth; Judy Dench is an absolutely terrifying Lady Catherine De Bourgh, the best ever; Donald Sutherland is perfect as the feckless father; Brenda Blethyn is an ideal Mrs. Bennet. Matthew McFayden did grow on me as Mr. Darcy, but for me Mr. Darcy will always be Colin Firth.

Happy Holidays 2010!

2010-12-16T22:07:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a happy and peaceful holiday season, rich in friends and family. For us, 2010 had some very special highlights. In September, Vivian and Billy Sheffield were married. The event took place at a gloriously beautiful site along the Colorado River in Moab, Utah.

This is us!

Beautiful sisters!

Vivian, Nicki and Erin. So nice to have a really good friend and a beloved niece helping out!

The Goldbar Campground couldn't have been more beautiful or perfect for the occasion.

Tundra was the ringbearer.

The bride and groom certainly knew how to create a really fun time for everyone.

Billy & Vivian Sheffield

Viv and Billy are living in Brighton, Utah, where both work at the Brighton Ski Resort. During summer, Vivian works as a guide for river rafting trips down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon.

Viv and Billy working Thanksgiving Day.

Lillian completed her PhD and returned from Malawi to Chapel Hill for her thesis defense and where she is now involved in the clinical rotations of 3rd year medical school.

Lillian looking sharp at her PhD thesis defense: HIV Partner Notification in Malawi

Duncan and I carried on as usual, much travel, summer in Astoria, Oregon, and lots of shenanigans with our border collies Daisy and Juno.

Couldn't beat the view from the back deck of our rental!

It got to be a joke to see how many different places we could get pictures of Duncan talking on his cellphone.

But we caught Erin a time or two as well!

Daisy and Juno couldn't care less though. Oregon? It's all good!

Nobody loves Oregon more than Juno and Daisy!

Of course, they are always in the game.

What do you have to do to escape the beach crowds?

2010-07-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Start by driving to Oregon! Go to Fort Stevens State Park. Walk through a bit of woods. Hurry up!
Now, climb over some sand dunes.
Hmm....
Look, no crowds!
Hey wait a minute, where did this crowd come from!?
I love pelicans!

New in our driveway...

2010-06-17T08:07:00.001-07:00

It's not easy to talk Duncan into buying a new car. It's REALLY not easy! And when Lillian left her Subaru Outback with us while she was in Africa, there really wasn't space for a third car, so it was easy to avoid a purchase. But now she's driven her Outback back out to North Carolina, and sharing a car is not a graceful process for us. But unfortunately, we have fundamentally different car philosophies. Duncan has deeply mourned the departure of his former 1992 Previa, which, with 180,000 miles on its odometer, lives with Vivian. I, on the other hand, wanted a new minivan. I came home on Tuesday to discover this wonderful new Sienna in the driveway!
Juno and Daisy love it!
But wait. Look what was in the street:
A 1996 Previa with only 74,000 miles on it! All Previa afficionados will now be drooling with envy! The Previa was one of Toyota's most beloved vehicles. Score!!

Hmmm, now we need a new house with a bigger driveway....

...and new from Tennessee!

2010-05-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Mike (the one with the white and curly hair) will tell you that my friend Tom (with not so much!) is a true dog person....So when Tom heard that his friend's daughter had helped rescue a litter of puppies along with their mom, all abandoned roadside in Tennessee, somehow it seemed natural that a certain little gal might make her way up to Buffalo...
Becky's a sweet and small pup, as the rump of Rami, the golden retriever present for scale, demonstrates. She doesn't have an invisible tail, it just wags fast and furious, and just about all the time. She's quiet but enthusiastic!

Upon seeing her pictures, Duncan says, "She's a dog's dog!"
She knows how to chew a stick and make those wonderfully entertaining, face-curled-up chewy faces!
She is an excellent model for our next yoga book, here demonstrating "Downward Facing Dog."
Jessie and Mike have decided they are happy to have her join the family.
And Rami thinks she's so sweet, we'll have her for dinner, thank you!
Welcome home, Becky!

The sun will come out tomorrow...

2010-01-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

After four days of heavy rain, we welcomed it! Daisy and I went to the beach for some sunset frisbee fun. Her game was catching the frisbee. My game was, using a small point-and-shoot camera, trying to capture a shot of her actually catching the frisbee. In low light, the delay between clicking and actual image capture feels like it is close to a full second. One has to have excellent pre-reflexes! The ratio is very low of pictures like this...

...to pictures of a dog with a frisbee in her mouth or a frisbee in the sky above her like this...

But hey, who's this coming onto the beach?? A bride??!! Duncan will be very disappointed he missed a bride sighting. He is a dedicated connoisseur of bride and prom sightings.

A little Jack Russell terrier nipped at the bride's skirt and would have loved to jump up on her, had the gallant groom not defended her gown. I of course was there with a well-behaved dog, so I could look askance at this in a snooty, my dog is better than your dog kind of way. Juno was not with us, so I could do this safely!

I was finally getting good at it when we ran out of light.

I want to be an archeologist when I grow up...

2010-01-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

I was in Connecticut for a day and a half after the Albany tournament. After spending a delightful afternoon with Penny Cattrell, I had a morning to work with. A few weeks earlier, I'd read in a New York Times article about an exhibit of artifacts from an ancient culture that lived in the Danube Valley starting before 5000 BC at NYU's Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. It was the kind of story that made me long for life in a big city with all it has to offer. So, here I was in Connecticut, an hour away. After going back and forth with myself a bit I decided, "Don't be a wimp!" So, snowfall or not, I drove into the city and was so glad I did. The Lost World of Old Europe was a truly memorable exhibit.

The exhibit comprised ceramics, copper tools and ornaments, and gold jewelry pieces. They were all striking, but especially the ceramics. The human and animal figurines were full of personality. The pots, sometimes very anthropomorphic, had more pizzazz than any I've seen, ancient or modern.

It's not possible to know a particular piece's intended use, or what the artisan was thinking, but it sure is fun to speculate about this pitcher!
One imagines this bowl might have been used for a wedding ceremony?

This little guy just says FOX! There was speculation that the piece on the lower right represented a bird, but I would bet it was a ram, since these people had sheep and cattle. It seems to me that it is woolly rather than feathery!

This last pot was very womanly!

Albany!

2010-01-10T09:00:00.000-08:00

Albany satisfied my craving for some snow and ice! And Scrabble, as I played 40 games in the wonderful tournament directed by the stalwart Annette Tedesco. When I returned to San Diego the familiar sun seemed so bland! But I remembered how much I liked it later that day when I swam outdoors under that same wonderful sun, breathing fresh air instead of the chlorine fumes of an indoor pool....

San Francisco!

2009-10-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

I'm here in town for the 2nd annual California Open Scrabble tournament. The field of 132 is awesomely strong -- you have to go down to seed #31 to get a rating below 1700! Elizabeth and I took the ferry to Sausalito for dinner tonight at a fantastic little Italian restaurant called Angelino where I had a parsnip soup. La zuppa era molto deliciosa! Passing Alcatraz whilst en route to Sausalito --

How old is this dog?

2009-10-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Inventing a birthday for Daisy made me wonder how old she feels. She seems much more dignified that she did a few years ago, if that makes any sense. I hate it that dogs have so much shorter life spans that we do! Keep on keeping on for a long time, Daisy.
You go, gal!

Inventing a Birthday for Daisy

2009-10-26T12:29:00.001-07:00

Today I registered Daisy to compete in NADAC Agility Trials. So, the question was, what should I say for her birthday?? On January 5th in 2005, Daisy showed up on our doorstep. Dr. Seals guessed her age at 12-18 months. Okay, she was born on the Fourth of July! July 4, 2003, it shall be.And by the way, the best white dog ever was a 3-month-old puppy then...
You're still pretty cute, Tundra!

Too much wet!

2009-10-26T12:25:00.001-07:00

I'm getting tired of high humidity mornings! The front porch is one massive puddle. Juno, however, thinks that sitting on the seawall in the morning is just a fine place to be.

Sunday Morning

2009-10-25T12:28:00.001-07:00

Daisy, Juno, and I took a walk up at Scripps Institution of Oceanography this morning. SIO is a great place to walk, with lots of nice paths overlooking the ocean.
There haven't been a lot of great waves this fall so far, but this morning was nice.

Close up of those three lads out there, plus mucking around with the image.
I love the plants up there!

Juno wanted photographic evidence that she doesn't bark at EVERY statue!

Dirt, schmirt! If it came from the frisbee, it must be good!

Arriving in Utah

2009-09-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

I've been looking forward to getting out of San Diego for quite a while now. It was a real feeling of almost homecoming to arrive in Salt Lake City, with four days of R&R ahead of me. Best of all Soldier Hollow with a new camera!

Verda's Memorial

2009-08-30T12:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the slide show, part 1. And here is part 2. These pictures are an attempt to represent different aspects of Verda's life.

Putting together the slide show was an interesting challenge. Verda’s hard to find in pictures. She wasn’t often captured by photographic film. There seemed to be years where her presence lay just beyond or behind the lens. Yet...she is present in the pictures.

Often you’ll see something made by her – here’s me going off to a dance, in a dress she made, one-of-a-kind. Or to a senior prom, to my wedding. Thank goodness there were no pictures of the bright green bikini she crocheted for me. And not because the bikini wasn’t incredibly cute and creative!

You’ll see an experience unfolding that was created by her.

Granddaughters fascinated by sheep shearing. And her love of making observations would show up even there. Of course there were cute pictures of the kids and their sweet expressions. But as well, there were careful “Before” and “After” pictures of the ewe.

Coloring easter eggs. She seemed to have just as much fun coloring eggs with little Erin as she had with me well over forty years earlier, and all the kids in between. Always fascinated with the way those colors would overlap or blend on the smooth white curve of the eggshell.

Indeed, Verda had a special affinity for the natural world. She noticed and appreciated colors and forms in nature, especially unusual or non-classical ones.

When driving us kids around Farmington to yet another activity, we would pass by a tall, elegant vase-shaped elm tree, bearing a beautifully scripted sign: “The Perfect Tree.” A bit further down the road some wag had tagged up on a huge, gnarly and extremely unsymmetrical old oak tree an unevenly letter sign: “More Interestinger Tree.” This always made her smile, and I knew her heart was with the oak.

Most of all, her art. Her weaving gave her a venue for that eye she’d been developing all her life. And fellowship and adventures galore.

Verda appreciated the way organisms grow and develop.

I have an especially vivid memory of her tadpole collecting expeditions in the spring. Back home in the aquarium, it was fascinating to watch those tadpoles lose their tails, sprout hind legs, and then front legs, and become little frogs.

She liked to garden, and she’d take the initiative to create a bit more unusual environment. When we moved out to the suburbs, all the yards surrounding our new houses were bare dirt. That part of Michigan was a glacial moraine, and there were stones and rocks everywhere. Verda didn’t see them as a nuisance, as most did. She encouraged us to search for fossils, and in fact helped me find an almost complete little brachiopod amongst the rubble. Then one day she flagged down a worker driving a back hoe. She had him push all the big rocks into a heap in our backyard. Years later, that rock garden sported tiger lilies and a tree shading trilliums she’d saved from the bulldozer’s blade. Everywhere you’d find interesting and unusual plants in that yard. In addition to the forsythia and pussywillows, we had a huge nutmeg bush. And our rhubarb patch was like the creature from the deep. No one could kill it! She loved to watch things grow.

Most of all, her children, and then her grandchildren. She was an incredibly nurturing grandparent, and since now there are other camera-wielding adults on the scene, you’ll see more pictures of her in action.

These pictures show a woman who was engaged with the world in many ways – family, friends, and craft.

Pied Beauty

by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things –

For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;

For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;

Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;

Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;

And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;

Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)

With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;

He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:

Praise him.

No backyard today!

2008-10-01T11:33:00.000-07:00

There'll be no backyard playtime today! The housepainters are making terrific progress, and we should be back to normal soon. Then all my backyard renewal plans can take shape.

Meanwhile, Juno is doing great at Anna's, and little Dottie is growing up so fast! Dottie has a very outgoing personality.

Smiley is lame from stepping in a hole, so Big Daddy is filling in as a school sheep. He probably weighs over 200 pounds! It's pretty amazing what a 30-pound dog can do.

More September Stockwork

2008-09-16T21:51:00.000-07:00

It's hot, but the foxtails are old and soft, and we're loving getting out to Valley Center. Anna is raising a new puppy, Dot, and it's fun to watch her grow. Juno is hot to trot, for sure.
Juno's learning a lot these days.
A particularly nice side benefit is picking cherry tomatoes from Anna's garden. They are absolutely delicious! They made for a wonderful dinner of salad and bruschetta with goat cheese.
There are sights, like Anna's neighbor's pumpkin patch, that remind us that summer is over.

Off to Utah for Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

...which always includes the Soldier Hollow Classic, the most wonderful sheepdog trial! This is the third year I've gone, and I just love it so much! I guess it's a tradition now. Here are slide shows from each day.

Friday's slide show

Saturday's slide show

Sunday's slide show

Monday -- the double lift final

Friday I had the special fun of sitting up at the set-out area with Anna, Connie, Charlie and Dan, who were in charge of setting out the groups of five sheep for each dog's run. From up there, the handler's post looked pretty far away.

The dogs are remarkable. This is Bill Berhow's Pete, who won in 2007.

Back to work

2008-08-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

First thing to do back in California -- go see sheep! The work we'd done on lie-downs and stays and just general responsiveness paid good dividends.
Juno had three sessions with the school sheep. The first went great, the second pretty good, and by the third, both she and the sheep were pretty fried and it wasn't as pretty. I'd had a gut feeling that could happen. She and I know each other pretty well after the summer together! She certainly enjoyed her well-earned cool-offs.

Our last week in Oregon

2008-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the last few days in Oregon are mixed in this slide show. Our little experiment was so interesting. Astoria was a wonderful place, and you couldn't beat the climate. On the other hand, it was a two hour drive from a second tier airport, PDX, which made it hard for Duncan. I miss the beach there so much!

It was fun to stay on a hillside where you could see so much happening, in the river and town.

The Shipping News

2008-08-14T16:01:00.001-07:00

Astoria version, that is. We are continually fascinated by the variety of shipping we see coming up and down the Columbia River. Every weekday morning, the community radio station presents a 12-minute show -- The Columbia River Ship Report -- describing that day's comings and goings, and answering questions that listeners submit about the ships and their doings. The Ship Report is sponsored by the Columbia River Maritime Museum, which is the riverside building with the arced roofline in the picture above, taken from our window.

A rare sunny day at the beach

2008-08-14T13:49:00.000-07:00

Here's a short slide show of this morning's beach excursion. For the first time, the sun shone on us this morning at Fort Stevens State Park.
I have to confess rather liking the misty overcast conditions that usually prevail. Even though the weather was *perfect* the beach was still empty. Duncan was inspired to do some stretching exercises. Juno watched with great concern; Daisy seemed to think it was quite curious.

6 Months Old!

2008-08-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Juno is 6 months old today. Whew! That happened pretty quickly. She is about 19 inches tall at the shoulder and 29 pounds or so. She still has some growing to do.

She and Daisy are thriving in Oregon, and she is learning a lot, including how to take turns. Actually, both she AND Daisy are learning to take turns! Didn't mean to imply that Daisy had already possessed that particular skill.

Happy Birthday, little one!

Oregon is a flowery place too!

2008-08-09T09:46:00.000-07:00

Oregon boasts a wonderful assortment of wildflowers. Foxglove is a common wildflower here. You see it along every woodsy path you hike. It's also found in many gardens including ours.
Hydrangea bushes thrive in local gardens. The hydrangea flower's color is sensitive to the pH of the soil. Most that you see around here are blue. I rather like these odd ones that have bits of both blue and red. This bush grows in the shade along the margin of our lawn.
The garden's daisies are huge and gorgeous, in their corny, mundane way.
I like the odder flowers.
I'm charmed by the mauve shade of these:
And these are just so neat!
But the best parts of a garden are the good hiding places!

Oregon is a fruity place!

2008-08-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

Every week we buy fresh fruit at the Astoria Sunday Market but our own yard has plenty to offer too! Last night I brought in rosemary, chives and elephant garlic for cooking dinner, and I picked some blueberries for dessert.
The garlic flowers are other-worldly! They're shedding their little clown caps and displaying their pretty little purple flowers.
We'll soon be picking some nice crispy apples.
We've had to share our bounty with birds and some four-legged visitors.
I think the birds ate more of the cherries than we did, and the raccoons certainly made short work of the strawberries!

"Our Beach"

2008-08-09T09:07:00.000-07:00

The beach at Fort Stevens State Park is immense and empty.
Just perfect for two dogs who love to run!
I think it's Daisy's idea of heaven! She loves the cool temperatures, and there is so much room for her beloved frisbee and ball games.
There are many, many pelicans. The fishing seems to be good for them.
Juno has not given up on the idea that someday she may catch one!
Time to go! That'll do, girls!
Okay, okay, here we come.
Actually, these trails are just as much fun as the beach!
Come on, Juno! The best thing is, there are NO foxtails!
We'll be back!

In Oregon for the Summer

2008-08-06T09:56:00.000-07:00

We're in Astoria, Oregon for the summer. We're staying in a house on a hillside looking over the Columbia River.
From the house, the view of the river and its shipping is fascinating and always changing.
Juno and Daisy are liking it here. The beach here is wide, long, and mostly empty. It is perfect for Daisy, who is always getting too hot when she can't cool off in the water. The expanse of open sand is pretty amazing. Here is an expedition with the dogs.

Off for two weeks of sheep dog training

2008-08-06T09:38:00.000-07:00

At four months of age, Juno headed up to Anna's ranch for two weeks of Sheepdog Camp! She is really fascinated by sheep and has a natural love of working them. This video shows her in the arena with Anna and the school sheep. She and Calli coped well with the high heat -- temps were in the 90's.

Pups at 15 weeks

2008-08-06T09:04:00.000-07:00

At 15 weeks, Juno and Calli saw sheep again. They are growing amazingly quickly. Juno and Daisy get along pretty well.

Juno's ears may be one-up and one-down!

Puppy Sisters May 2008

2008-08-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

Juno's littermate Calli spent the summer in San Diego County, with Anna and Danielle. Here are the two pups at age 12 weeks, out at Anna's ranch. They certainly act like sisters!Juno has a more mischevious aspect!
But Calli gets a lick in too.

JUNO IS GROWING!

2008-05-20T18:35:00.001-07:00

Juno and Daisy --

Welcome, Juno!

2008-04-19T22:04:00.001-07:00

Just pictures for now. Having a puppy is too tiring to leave any energy for writing! Little border collie Juno is just 9 weeks old, but she is quite the little dog!

Goodbye, Molly!

2008-02-18T18:03:00.000-08:00

Molly was adopted by the nicest family! They are dog people, and they are going to be such good owners for her. But we'll miss her!
Duncan, especially.
And Daisy too, of course.
On her last weekend with us, Molly enjoyed meeting Stu and Lori's dog Basil. There's a resemblance -- perhaps she has some English setter in her?

Miss Congeniality

2008-02-08T21:35:00.000-08:00

Molly enjoyed all the people and dogs at Anna's ranch today. She would happily have stayed all day! From left to right (humans), we have Mark, Bart and Anna.
Lots of good sniffing going on!
Molly's enjoying playing with Daisy, too. Daisy goes around with a ruff Damp with Molly-spit!

On the Beach

2008-02-06T20:55:00.000-08:00

Low tide, good afternoon for beach walking. Molly is still fascinated by shore birds, but has accepted that they are for looking only. She met two little girls, who gave her lots of petting and cuddles, so she considered the walk a success.
Molly met Duncan for the first time last night when he returned from a Japan trip. She was quite pleased to get to know him.
She is walking very well on lead. Well, except when she and Daisy are walked together. Then they start thinking they are sled dogs and need to pull the load!

Molly Meets Erin

2008-02-05T23:11:00.000-08:00

And yes, she loves little girls! Erin came over after ballet to do her homework while waiting for Mom to finish teaching and pick her up. When Molly saw her, she just came right over and started cuddling up.
Erin was happy to give her some nice snuggles.
And she taught her to shake on the command of "Paw." I think Erin has a future as a dog trainer, or Molly has a future as a star dog!

Molly Meets Sheep

2008-02-02T19:15:00.000-08:00

Yup, sheep!
Molly came with Daisy to Anna's Stock Dog Ranch today. She had to wait patiently, since there were quite a few dogs there.
But when it was her chance, she was very happy!

She knew it was her job to keep them near Jan.
Jan told her "good job" when she was done.
She would love to come again!

Molly Meets the Beeyatch

2008-01-31T21:56:00.000-08:00

Is it OK if I ask her to play with me?
Are you sure? She seems to be very attached to this frisbee of hers....
She won't share!
Aw, come on! Play with me!
She just wouldn't play.
I sure wish she would have played with me.
Well, maybe I'll try to play with this bug down here...

Molly Meets the Beach

2008-01-30T21:49:00.000-08:00

Molly immediately loved the feel of the sand on her paws. She did a little happy dance, as if to ask, "What is this really cool stuff? Let's play in it!"
She really seemed to enjoy meeting people.
Doesn't she have a pretty little blaze on her forehead!

Welcome aboard, Molly!

2008-01-29T21:28:00.000-08:00

Through one of those odd chains of email, I heard from Anna that there was a border collie in the San Diego Central Shelter who needed to be sprung. Pam, a shelter volunteer, sent the following description of her:

"She is not doing well at the shelter and is very frightened in her kennel - this isn't good at all - it means some of them think Molly isn't good enough for adoption. However, the truth is she is just afraid and comes around more and more each day with various volunteers who are working with her. Unfortunately though, Molly needs to get out of the shelter quickly because they wont keep her there if she feels so afraid.

"She is a 10 month old female Border Collie. Shy at first but warms up to people quickly and bonds very quickly with people she gets to know. Knows "sit", "come", knows her name, housebroken, loves to play and run around. Good with other dogs although if a dog barks at her she will bark back."

Well, by today (Tuesday) Molly was here as our first foster dog.   She is just as affectionate as can be, and she's quite a pretty dog!   Pam's description turned out to be accurate.  She could be a mix of border collie and something else.  She is going to be adopted out through Southern California Aussie Rescue, and she might even get a chance to be on television.   Becky, who runs the San Diego Chapter, is on tv once a week with a rescue dog who needs a home.

Whew!

2008-01-04T20:18:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over and we are tired!

New Year's Day, afternoon chill time

2008-01-01T12:07:00.000-08:00

We did our Christmas Day stuff on New Year's Day this year, because that's when Lil and Jon were with us. It's all here. The tree, the sunset and palms, the unwrapped gifts and wine strewn about, and the football game on the tube. Gotta love it!

And yet another....

2007-12-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

The magic hour of four o'clock has arrived. At 4:00 PM dogs are allowed on the beach! C'mon, let's go! The tide's low, and everything!
We even have Lillian and Jon to help with frisbee throwing!
Hey, let's not dawdle to look at birds!I mean, there's not much frisbee time left!
Sure those birre pretty, but there isn't much light left after four this time of year. Better not waste it!
Because soon it will be dark!
And the Christmas Tree on the end of the Scripps Pier will glow.

Christmas Dinner -- oh, the strangeness!

2007-12-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

Dinner was at our house this year.
What a strange conjunction of Germanic kitsch -- the Yule Tree -- and SoCal ambience!!
It just seems strange....
Daisy had her friends here too. It was the very first dinner party that Rocky had been invited to! He provided percussion with that thumping good tail of his. He was happy to be here and just as good as gold.
Sunny was also a very good boy, unless you take points off for each octopus leg amputated...

Another walk on the beach

2007-12-23T18:47:00.000-08:00

The tide is low...C'mon already, let's get with the frisbee!
The tidepools make it that much better, especially with friends along.

Kylie the Australian Cattle Dog.
And Bailey, the Kelpie.
Sunset came all too quickly!

Why we love really really low tides...

2007-12-06T20:42:00.000-08:00

Last week we had a series of what we call "minus tides." A minus tide is a low tide that reads as a negative number on the tide charts because the water level is below the reference point, the "Mean Lower Low Water." MLLW is defined as the average of the lower low water height of each tidal day observed over the National Tidal Datum Epoch. The previous Epochs were 1960-1978 and 1983-2001, pretty large aggregates of data. Hmm, maybe my "number of Scripps Pier pilings whose bases are exposed" is a simpler measure! At any rate, we were having 14 pairs out of the water, so the tide was about as low as it ever gets here. And the point is ... the frisbee playing is superb!

And best of all, we can look forward to these evening low tides again over the Christmas week!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

2007-11-25T22:27:00.000-08:00

How could we be happier? This weekend we discovered how much we like playing with the Chuck-It squirrel in our microscopic back yard! It soars, it jiggles, and the hang time is delicious!

Makes us think about getting out onto the big wide beach ... where the serious frisbee is played. And big and wide it was today!

At about 4:15 we headed down to the beach. The light was already failing.

We're having several afternoons in a row with "minus tides," and today's was a -1.7 feet! This is about as low as it goes here. I just paged through the 2007 tide calendar, and I could find maybe 3 days with tides this low or lower. Our tides range from a high of about +7 feet down to the lowest of -1.9 feet. My own personal measurement system is the pier. The number of pairs of pilings whose bases are out of the water tells me how low the tide is. This afternoon the number was between 14 and 15, as many as I've ever counted.

Of course, Daisy says, "Throw the g.d. frisbee!"

It's pretty amazing how much space there is when there's a good low tide, no sun, and a touch of chilliness!

It's getting dark so darn early these approaching- solstice days. We started with a cloudy and fairly gray sky, and by 5:15 PM, we were playing chuck-it in the dark!

A highlight of the weekend was Erin's Sunday afternoon piano recital at Greene Music recital room. She played three pieces with great verve and musicality.

A Story with a Happy Ending

2007-11-17T20:53:00.001-08:00

A terrified young dog in a pound in Missouri, scheduled to be euthanized Monday morning. No good reason. It's just that the pound doesn't do adoptions, doesn't keep strays for more than five days, doesn't make exceptions. Wendy and Connie decide they want to save his life. The first thing they do is give him a name. From now on, he's not a number, he's Jasper, and Wendy posts his plight on the Border Collie Boards.

There's something about his face that speaks to me. Though he's clearly tense and frightened, his face looks too familiar to be passed by. He looks like Daisy.

I contact Wendy and offer to sponsor Jasper. Debbie offers to foster him in the Ruff Mutt Border Collie Rescue, where she can evaluate him and find him a permanent home. Now Jasper is a dog with a future. Connie and Wendy set the wheels into motion. Connie, who is the driving force behind an authorized rescue organization called Southwest Missouri Canines -- SW MO K9s -- tags Jasper as a dog she'll pull from the pound before he can be killed.

Jasper is in Springfield, Missouri, and Debbie and her Ruff Mutts are in Garland, Texas. Wendy creates a chain of connection. Connie will pull Jasper from the pound and take him to the Angel Animal Clinic to be bathed, vetted, vaccinated, and neutered. After this is done, Connie will bring Jasper to Carthage, Missouri, 65 miles away. Wendy will drive the 90 miles from West Fork, Arkansas, to meet her there. Jasper will spend the night with Wendy, and early the next morning he'll be sent with Wendy's friend Mike, who's heading down to a motorcycle swap meet in Sherman, Texas. Debbie will drive 60 miles up from Garland, Texas, to gather Jasper there, and bring him to his new foster home with the Ruff Mutts.

Jasper doesn't know about all these people working on his behalf. He does know that when he's at Wendy's, he is brought out to a sunny lawn, where he is spoken to kindly and stroked gently, and he likes it. (Thanks to Wendy for the next three pictures.)
He's gentle and submissive, and he just can't get enough loving. He meets a neighbor's dog, and his good manners with other dogs start to become evident.
Jasper's just so sweet and friendly, Wendy cries a bit that early morning after Mike picks him up to take him to Texas. Jasper spends the morning at Mike's booth at the swap meet, where he charms everyone who comes by. Mike's comment: "I think I want to keep him!"
Soon, Debbie brings Jasper to his temporary home with the Ruff Mutts. This is an important transition for Jasper -- will he be able to integrate into the pack? A dozen or so dogs is a lot of new dogs for one young pup to meet all at once. But Jasper LOVES all the other dogs. He takes to them all almost instantly. He's playful and well-socialized. The future is looking bright for this sweet little dog, thanks to some amazing people who were willing to put in the hours to save his life. I stand in awe of their work and feel lucky to have had a chance to play a small part in it. Rescuers, you are truly amazing!

Fancy-schmancy board in action

2007-11-06T00:22:00.001-08:00

Using my birthday present Scrabble Board at Scrabble Club tonight. Didn't help me win, though. Could I get my money back?
Lost in thought, deep in the subterranean bowels of the Scripps Green Hospital, downwind from the luscious aromas of hospital cafeteria steamtable food, ripened and aged through a three-hour dinner service. Mmmm! Kinda like hotdogs at a baseball game.Thinking just too hard!

Oh yeah, here's the "before" picture!

2007-11-01T21:47:00.001-07:00

The car Vivian lived out of this summer up in Montana where she was a river rafting guide. Notice the squashed top!

Cleaned Up! (the car version)

2007-10-31T22:11:00.001-07:00

Back from the paint shop, looking foxy!165,000 miles, new paint, new tires, and looking just as cute as a big ol' robin's egg!

Cleaned Up!

2007-10-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today, for the first time since the fires, I looked out over the ocean and there was no orangy-brown haze over the horizon. We're back to our usual misty marine layer mornings, and the air is breathable. Hooray! In honor, I cleaned the fallen ash off the decks and Daisy and I had breakfast on the front porch.
Each of us has one of our favorite things on the table. Guess whose is whose!

October 2007 Fires

2007-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

Almost four years to the day after the infamous Cedar Fire, it happened again. Exceedingly dry weather, Santa Ana winds, and all it takes is a spark. The local NPR station, KPBS, created an interactive Google map of the fires that took on a life of its own, becoming the authoritative fire status map. Google sent a team of developers down to work with the local station and it really took on a life as a Google pilot project. Many other news sites linked to it.

The Witch Creek Fire was the largest and scariest, though Stock Dog Ranch (where Daisy and I go to work sheep) was threatened more by the Poomacha Fire that was burning down Palomar Mountain, threatening the Palomar Observatory as well. Fortunately, between the weather and the help from aerial firefighters, the hazard seem to be dialing down.

While we aren't in the line of fire, we get a lot of ash and horrible air quality. The moon was orange and the daylight sky was too. This picture was taken at sunset looking out from our front porch.
Which was covered with a fine, choking ash.
This enhanced satellite photo was taken on Wednesday. I added the little red X to show where we are -- in the plume of smoke from the Witch Creek Fire.
We're in our second day of offshore winds, and today we even had a little bit of rain, so our air is greatly improved!

Vivian comes to town

2007-10-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

Vivian came down over her fall break week. The weather was great, and she got some surfing in. A special treat was meeting boyfriend Tyler, who is very, very nice.And good-looking too!
And he likes Tundra. Of course he would never have risen to the level of "boyfriend" if he didn't!
And Daisy learns again to live under the heavy paw of Tundra, and loves it.

Landslide!

2007-10-04T15:51:00.000-07:00

Living in California is exciting! On October 3rd, part of Mount Soledad slumped down the hill, taking with it a goodly chunk of Mount Soledad Road, the main street over the mountain, as well as nine houses. These pictures are from the San Diego Union Tribune Picture Gallery, "Mt Soledad Hillside Collapses:"This isn't the first time. Though it wasn't ever talked about, the same hill collapsed when the houses were originally being built in 1961.
Not too far from mom's and sister's houses, either, crudely marked by me with green and purple stars on the Yahoo map. The landslide occurred at the red star.
What next??!!

Soldier Hollow 2007

2007-09-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Soldier Hollow! A fantastic four-day sheepdog trial. This year, even after culling, I've got about 200 photographs! Everything about this trial is top flight. The sheep, The location in the Heber Valley, the venue which was used in the 2002 Winter Olympics, the sheep, and most of all, the dogs and handlers.
Bill Berhow and his dog Pete were the winners in the double-lift final.
Bill even took a "victory lap" through the judges' tent when he'd completed his run. What a cool dog!
Other highlights were Bev Lambert and Pippa, seen here cooling off and then eating her ice cream cone, which she'd truly earned with the best run of the day.
One really fun aspect was meeting other BC Boards members there. Everyone was taking great pictures, especially Melanie.

Trip East

2007-08-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

We traveled east for a multipurpose trip, visiting Bill and Lily in New Jersey, Wellesley for Jody Peltason's wedding, and North Carolina to spend a bit of time with Lillian. A slideshow can be seen, but here are some pictorial highlights of the Wellesley leg:

It was great fun to see old Wellesley friends and the extended Peltason and Harris families.

Furry Friendship

2007-08-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Daisy really does love Carlos...
And he has begun to enjoy her more too..
But Duncan loves her best!

Seattle

2007-07-29T12:10:00.000-07:00

Lillian spent three weeks in Seattle this summer taking a course at the University of Washington School of Public Health. I flew up for a weekend to visit her and fell in love. Seattle is a wonderful city! And Lillian was the perfect guide to it. When I tentatively suggested, "Well, I kinda hoped to see the Seattle Central Library..." she enthusiastically responded, "Oh super! I've been really wanting to see it too!" The apple doesn't fall far from the tree! It's a fantastic glass building designed by Rem Koolhaas.
In addition to being drop-dead gorgeous, it's a very functional building and a lot of fun to be inside. Attention, I.M. Pei! It matters what goes on INSIDE the building too!!
We also got out of town and drove out to Snohomish Falls. In Seattle, it's water, water everywhere!
The Asian food in Seattle is absolutely wonderful. There are so many inexpensive Thai and Indian restaurants to choose from, especially in the area around the University.
A slideshow of photos from this weekend shows more pictures of the library, a trip to the anthropology museum on campus, and the Pike's Market.

On the Clark Fork River

2007-07-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Vivian's spending the summer as a river rafting guide on the Clark Fork River in Montana. Tundra is the best sport ever and loves the water!

Vivian is such an amazing outdoorswoman! That's her friend Tyler in the raft with them.

Dogs and Eggs

2007-07-08T16:07:00.000-07:00

Daisy and I spent a long Saturday morning up in Valley Center at Anna's. A special treat was a flat of eggs brought over by Robin. Each color of eggs was laid by a different variety of hen.
It was sunny and 89 degrees up there, so we all enjoyed the cold water and beers chilling in the cooler below those eggs!

Returning to La Jolla Shores, the marine layer was still in place and it couldn't have been warmer than 72 degrees or so. So, as you might expect, neither Daisy nor I are well-acclimated to the heat, and both of us sacked out when we got home!

Despite the heat, Alli was as perky as ever. I'm going to miss that little dog when she goes out to all the cattle dog trials in Wyoming soon.

Riddle's already proven herself well in the cattle dog trials. In this picture, Tikkle is almost saying, "Hey, I'm good to go too!" She's only a bit over a year old, but she is quite an independent ranch hand. She's always on the alert, and if something needs doing, she'll just do it. If a student is moving sheep through a gate, she'll position herself wide, just to make sure nobody gets any wise ideas. There's not much escaping that girl!

The Pack at Wags

2007-07-06T15:47:00.000-07:00

"Wags for Wishes" is a fundraiser for the Make A Wish Foundation, and as the title suggests, it's all about dogs. It's basically a dog fair, with just about every dog event you can think of. Herding, agility, dock jumping, fly ball, conformation, disc dogs, lure coursing, and canine good citizen testing. Daisy and I spent Friday afternoon with the Stock Dog Ranch group at the herding venue.
Dave, Patty, Danielle, Anna and I were the humans, and Dojo, Sophie, Chesney, Riddle, Tikkle, Alli, and Daisy were the dogs. A great pack! Anna is a happy Mizz Natural surrounded by her dogs and friends. As you can see, Daisy is enjoying being a member of the group.

The herding was divided into three classes. Not surprisingly, in the highest class, Anna and Riddle took first place and Anna and Tikkle took second place! Alli, who is the white dog with the black face on Anna's left, is Tikkle's littermate. She was raised elsewhere, but her owner recently died and Anna brought her home. She hasn't had nearly as much training as Tikkle, but she did marvelously as well. This video shows her run. All three dogs are cattle dogs, so when they work on sheep, they tend to work closer in and be a bit faster and more aggressive. Cows don't push quite as easily as sheep! Nonetheless, all three know their commands and handle the sheep well too.

Danielle and Chesney did well, and so did Patty and Sophie. The youngest competitor, by far, was a second grader, who worked her dog with some assistance from her mom.
Next year, I'm planning to do dock jumping with Daisy. We'll practice in Verda's pool beforehand.

July 4th

2007-07-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

Last year July 4th fell on a Tuesday, which was kind of a perfect storm for our neighborhood, since virtually everyone had a four-day weekend. And everyone and their friend came to the beach! This year, the police and parks & rec folk really staffed up and were ready. Fewer people came to the beach, but those who did come came early, and there were way plenty of people. At 6:00AM the park was full.
Rumor was that people had started setting out tents and barbecues at 5:30AM, before the sprinklers came on. Daisy and Duncan completed the morning walk early, and we hunkered down for the rest of the day. No fireworks for Miss Daisy!
Fortunately, the news was that the amounts of trash and drunken behavior at the local beaches seems to be declining -- "Beaches take a beating, keep on gleaming!"

Scottish Highland Games

2007-06-25T11:40:00.000-07:00

This Saturday and Sunday the annual San Diego Scottish Highland Games were held in Vista, about a half hour north of here. The weather was fantastic, sunny and 75 degrees. The games were in Brengle Terrace Park, which is hilly, grassy and very large, which was important because there were a lot of people there! I've never seen so many kilt-clad men in one place, ever. I approve! There were vendors for all things Scottish -- tartans, kilts and kilt pins, shortbread, and Celtic jewelry, artwork and music. Of course there were lots of food booths and a beer garden.

The caber toss involves balancing a large pole and tossing it in an attempt to flip and land the opposite end at a 45-degree angle. The poles are pretty much the size of telephone poles -- 19 feet long and weighing about 125 pounds. This little video shows a successful caber toss.

We spent most of our time hanging out under the shade of the pop-up tent, watching the sheepdog trials with Anna (blue hat), Danielle (young), and Ross and his wife and a few friends. Danielle had her dog Chesney, Anna had brought Riddle, Tikkle, and Alli, and Ross had Cross and Finn. We left Daisy at home this time, since we are too much the newbies to enter the trial.

We enjoyed watching all the kilt-clad men walk by, young and old.

The Sheepdog Trials really were fascinating. It was the first trial for Danielle and her dog Chesney, who train with Anna in Valley Center where I go with Daisy. They did very well, as this slide show depicts.

The sheep knew that if they ran up the hill to the left in the pictures, they'd get to the exhaust pen and be able to rejoin the rest of their sheep friends. They were very motivated to do this, and more dogs lost their sheep than not.

Red Dog (aka Finn) is desperately trying not to lose this sheep. Meanwhile his other two sheep are free to make a break for it.

More pictures of the the games and the dogs are posted at the Border Collie Boards.

I love Celtic music, and there were always bands playing at two venues, as well as the bagpiping, drumming, and highland dancing contests. The band Molly's Revenge played in the beer garden while we ate lunch. They were wild! We all agreed that, in fact, a wild look goes well with a kilt. We saw several kilt-wearers who sported mohawk haircuts, and it was definitely a good look.

Beyond the Pier

2007-06-18T11:23:00.001-07:00

We can't get enough of the low tides! "Daisy, Dog of the Sea" and I spent almost two hours on the beach this morning. I love the grey skies and cool temperatures of early morning. The crowds choose the afternoon, but give me the morning, and the earlier the better.
We met many dog and human friends this morning. Kima, a nice young boxer girl, has gotten to know Daisy and her Border Collie obsessiveness. She tolerates Daisy's ball fetish very well. Check out her red toenail polish!

In fact, all the beach dogs get to know about Daisy. They'll run with her, but they know better than to touch her beloved Penn. Now what I would really like to know is how do you photograph a dog with black fur and brown eyes? I mean, so that it doesn't look like an eyeless dog?

Walkin' the Dog

2007-06-17T13:22:00.001-07:00

We follow our tide calendar avidly, never missing a good low tide morning at the Shores. Out the door at 6AM, with the very minimum amount of bush-sniffing, since we know we're heading directly to the beach. We know that because the human is carrying a ball-chucker and in her pocket are Floppy and Penn. The early summer mornings at Kellogg Park belong to the seagulls. It's their favorite, favorite time. Do they swoop gracefully through the sky, dropping to the sea to snatch up a silvery fish? Well, nooo....

The park is universally popular. With all people and animals, and even with a certain species, which will remain unnamed, that consumes only part of its food and leaves the rest to ripen overnight on concrete altars. Are these offerings to an unknown deity? The only other interpretation is that these food leavers are incredible slobs!
Daisy crosses the grass, her nose alert to the possibility that she may be able to find a throat-piercing chicken bone and get it into her mouth before her human can react. Her head darts out like a snake striking! But her human is alert. "Leave it!!" Finally the sand is reached. Off comes leash. Out comes Floppy. It's time to warm up.
Now, it's time for Penn. The serious running can begin.
The low tide not only creates a huge space for running, but leaves the nicest pools to cool off in. Sometimes you even share your pool with a star!
Penn has adventures in the tidepools. Sometimes we try to get the human to fetch. It's only fair, after all. But she is surprisingly unwilling to run into the ocean for Penn. Go figure!
We survey the scene. We would be happy to stay all day, if only the human would!

One Year Gone By

2007-06-17T12:53:00.000-07:00

On June 16th a year ago, we scattered Jack's ashes at sea. We are through a complete cycle of milestones that happened without him. First Thanksgiving, first Christmas, first dance performance. It won't be the same again.

We spent some time remembering him, and talking a bit about the things we'd like to tell him. I know he'd love hearing about Jan and Erin's Scrabble game, especially Erin's play of JETE onto the triple word square, with J on the double letter square!

Baby Steps

2007-06-13T12:29:00.001-07:00

Daisy and I are making slow progress with the sheep. But we are making a little progress! Daisy's slowing down enough to get a bit of the sense of what she ought to do. Anna retired Smiley, the wether whose horns were the mortal enemies of my thighs, so I'm getting where I ought to be a bit better too.

Tribute to Canyonview

2007-06-13T11:56:00.000-07:00

When I think about why I live in San Diego, and I do all too often, always the first thing that pops into my mind is ... swimming. The weather is perfect, the best, but most of all it enables ... swimming. The beach is lovely and perfect for long walks and the daily Daisy+ frisbee action, the shore life is interesting every day, the ocean is beautiful and ever-changing. But that never-changing black line at the bottom of the pool is what I want to see when I'm ... swimming.And on deck, I want to see a coach! Sickie's been coaching the UCSD Masters swim program for over 25 years now. There are swimmers who've been with the program almost that long. I can't imagine life here in La Jolla without at least one conversation with Sickie per week. And in case I miss seeing him, I can refer to the Sickie bobble-head doll we all received as this year's annual tchotchke.

And I want to see a workout! Even if, as Sickie often says, "This is Masters. Take it as a suggestion."

It' s pretty amazing how much further we all swim with an assigned practice and friends swimming along side.

Seems to me that we all get a lot more sentimental -- well, let's admit it, cornball -- as we get older. I care more and more about seeing familiar faces in familiar places. Here in La Jolla, there's one place where I can count on seeing people I know and like ... swimming. Swimming at Canyonview!

Sheep Herding and Foxtails

2007-05-21T14:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, as Daisy and I made the 50-minute drive up to Valley Center for our sheep herding lesson, I meditated a bit on why we do this. Neither of us is greatly talented at this quite specialized activity. Truth be told, I am the less talented. The sheep usually get the better of me at least once, usually a walking-backward, stepping-in-a-hole fall or a good bump from the horned head of Smiley, the most experienced of the school sheep. While it's clear Daisy and I will never win a ribbon at a sheepdog trial, we don't need that kind of success to find a lot of pleasure in getting out into the country and spending a few hours with animals and each other.
This picture was taken in the small ring, where we worked the first few times. We've since moved up to the big arena -- woo hoo! I seem to have lots of pictures, but few of me, unsurprisingly since I'm the photographer. A video of us working in the small ring induces vertigo! The challenge this week was dealing with foxtails, those awful little cheatgrass seedpods that stick to fur and work their way unidirectionally into the skin, nose, ears or eyes of a dog.
Tikkle, the young dog of our teacher Anna, survived a horrible experience that began with foxtails up her nose. These little bits of vegetation look like poison darts to us. I brushed Daisy off before heading home, but when we sat on the kitchen floor and I combed her thoroughly, another fifty came out! And I can hardly wait to get back next week.

Mother's Day

2007-05-14T19:34:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day in San Diego is almost always a glorious day, and this year did not disappoint. Temperature about 70, full sunshine, nice off-shore breeze. Carry-out Chinese food by Verda's pool was much more appealing than a restaurant, especially since Daisy could join the party! First swim since last summer, but it didn't take her long to remember how much fun it was to retrieve tennis balls in the pool.Verda, Duncan, Barb and I watched the young-'uns swimming, acting all too much our age. Erin was happy to share the pool, and we all rationalized that Daisy is so sweet, so clean, so not-shedding, and hence so unlikely to leave sand or doghair in the pool. Ha. We hope!
Verda's lawn got a good watering after every fetch of the ball.
Every year I seem to take a picture of Erin near the rim of the pool. She and I have officially decided that it is our tradition. Here is the 2007 version of our little mermaid.

Buffalo

2007-05-12T14:49:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness it stays light late into the evening in this wonderful old Great Lakes city! After three days of Scrabbling, Judy, Tom and I did some walking around the neighborhoods near Tom's old Victorian home in Buffalo. Our first stop was the Darwin Martin house, which is a Frank Lloyd Wright gem currently undergoing a $5M renovation.
The complex of two houses is beautiful in every detail, even the chimneys!

It's Wright's most extensive Prairie complex, comprising two houses on a large lot, connected by a long breezeway. It's going to be fantastic when the renovation is completed.
Through Buffalo sweep two parkway systems designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. The streetscapes are lovely, and it even looks like you could live there with a dog.

The tulips were in bloom. It's nice to see what they look like when they're not immediately eaten by deer and rabbits! Walking is quite the civilized pastime here.

It would be quite easy to forget how difficult the winters can be here, if it were not for the fact that most of the trees had lost many limbs during the severe October 13, 2006 snowstorm that hit Buffalo last fall, while the trees still had their leaves. That freak lake effect snowstorm brough 2 feet of snow, and consequently the weight of snow damaged most of the trees. Many have been drastically cut back by arborists, and it will be years before they look quite the same.

The city has a great feel. Next plan is to convince Barb and Erin that a vacation here and to Niagara Falls should happen!

Scrabbling in Buffalo

2007-05-12T09:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I set out on a new adventure -- tournament Scrabble! And, like my trips to the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournaments, it was Judy who was the instigator. Who'd ever think she'd be such a rabble-rouser! I flew out to Buffalo on Thursday and met up with Judy and Tom, in whose lovely old Victorian house we stayed. The weather couldn't have been more marvelous, that sunny spring coolness that is so refreshing. It was fun looking for Tom's house -- "It's the one with the turret." Who hasn't fantasized about having a house with a turret!

The Buffalo Hardscrabble Tournament was held in the aptly named Fountain Room of the Adam's Mark Hotel in downtown Buffalo near the waterfront. The heavy offshore breeze carried lots of mist which barely succeeded in dispersing the smoke clouds emitted by the many obsessive smoking Scrabble players. Meanwhile, inside the Fountain Room, the Scrabble games ran from Friday morning until Sunday afternoon. The games are timed: each player has 25 minutes in which to complete all of her moves. One's concentration is so focused during a game that unless something exploded nearby, it would hardly matter if you were in the Fountain Room or the basement! After a warm-up tournament on Friday, we commenced the main tournament on Saturday. There were three divisions in the main tournament, and of course as a newbie I started out at the bottom of the 30 entrants in Division 3. When all 86 Scrabblers were engaged at 43 Scrabble Boards, the room hummed and hissed. The hissing noise, which sounded like air escaping a leaking tire, was the shushing noise of the Scrabblers trying to quiet the chatters. Personally, I preferred the chatting sounds!

Scrabble tournaments and rankings are very computerized. Everyone has a ranking that is computed based on how highly ranked their victims and conquerors are. These are maintained in a very current state on the Crosstables site. The tournament nerve center was run by Tournament Director Ember and her Canadian computer guru.

Meeting people is a fun part. I played four games with Maggie, on the right in this picture. I'd met my best match, as Maggie won 2 games, I won 2 games. The most games I played with anyone else was 2. Second from the right is Olivia, another newbie who acquitted herself well, and next to her is Dianne, who cleaned my clock and won the Division. In my defense, I do have to say I beat Susan, who finished in second place.

In the end, I won 8 games and lost 6, to finish 13th of 30, which felt pretty respectable. Judy came in 5th, winning some cash. Sounds even better when you realize she barely nosed out the youngest contestant, 8-year-old Matthew! He was quite a little corker, shown here as he and Judy receive their awards.

Well, would I do it again? Should I launch yet another obsession, to join my dog, my crosswords, my Italian? Maybe... I'm planning to start out by playing some gamesat the local Scrabble Club here in La Jolla.

Welcome

2007-05-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog! I'll be posting stories and pictures of my adventures with family and friends, both human and animal. I'll post lots of pictures of our activities. I'll try not to let the animals take over, but you know how it is. They're the ones who don't complain about constantly having their pictures taken! Daisy and Carlos, my matching border collie and cat, will appear often, as will their friends. Good girl, Daisy, don't jump up and try to lick that cat!