Specialty Plans

Big Sigh. Dear Husband is staying home from the Specialty because of concerns that Mrs. Maize could have a crash again -- she is fine now but we just worry about both of us being so far away should anything happen.

This is very, very disappointing -- Dear Husband and I always go to the Specialty together, and he will miss seeing all of our friends. Plus, he is the Safety Committee Chair -- well, he was -- I guess I am now. Luckily I have a lot of people I can volunteer to help me...

So not exactly the Specialty I planned but just another life lesson, I am sure...

So, three girls got baths this afternoon and are fluffed and ready to go -- here is the list of who is doing what and when....

Halo


Halo deVil is going to have a fun Specialty. On Wednesday she will do obedience and rally. On Thursday she will do agility. On Friday she will do brace draft with Asia, and be in the Brood Bitch class with Zoey and Purna. On Saturday she will be in the Veterans Versatility Showcase.

Moving on to Asia...


Asia is ready to go! On Wednesday she will do obedience and rally. On Friday she will do brace draft with Halo, and on Saturday she will be in the Versatility Showcase.

This could be a very special Specialty for Zoey!


On Tuesday she will do the draft test. On Wednesday she will do rally in spite of not having any rally training at all -- should be fun (!). On Thursday is her real and official agility debut -- super excited about that :) Friday is Brood Bitch with her mom and sister, and on Saturday she will be in Best of Breed for the first time ever.

Several other Kaibab dogs will be competing -- I will keep everyone posted and share pictures if the fickle camera works; I am also taking a video camera! You can also follow Specialty results at this site: http://bmdca2011.blogspot.com

So I leave tomorrow late afternoon, drive to Twin Falls for the night, and then to Davis, CA for a family visit on Saturday. Early Sunday I will head south, stopping in Santa Barbara to visit my Perfect Sister and her practically perfect family :) I hope to be at the Specialty on Sunday evening in time for a meeting of the show committee.

It will be great to see everyone -- but sad not to have Dear Husband with me... However, I am sure there is a life lesson in THAT as well -- sigh....

If Not for Bad Luck -- No Luck at All...

To continue with the string of unfortunate events, I made the difficult but realistic decision not to track with Asia at the Specialty -- the reason: car accident.

I teach until 5 pm on Friday and would need to be in Southern California by Saturday evening. Due to my back, I have literally not driven more than 45 minutes at a time since January 25 when the accident happened. So it just seems foolish to try and do a marathon drive, risking making myself more hurty for the Specialty week in the process.

Plus, I was not able to train as much as I like -- also because of the car accident.

Do you sense that I might be unhappy about the stupid, awful, unfortunate, not-fair car accident?! You would be right...

The Specialist does not think the chemo is what bounced Maize back -- he thinks it is just another one of her strange episodes where she seems to be on death's door -- and then is fine again for a while. We are still debating about what to do regarding the Specialty -- obviously a decision will be made soon :)

The thing about strings of bad luck is that it ends at some point, and we appreciate our good fortune so much more having experienced rough patches. It is like hitting a bad storm -- you just have to keep your little boat afloat and hang on, trusting that storms end and then the still, clear water will be so wonderful and special -- and appreciated. I look forward to being able to just look back and say, "WHEW -- that was a tough stretch!"

In the meantime, please send good thoughts, life preservers -- and chocolate ;)

Unfortunate News

I am sad to share that on repeat ultrasound late yesterday, we have no viable fetuses left. It appears that Cadi resorbed the litter -- it is like a miscarriage and unfortunately not uncommon.

There is no reason to think that she cannot have a litter next time, and we will also explore breeding one of our younger girls -- but right now we are just absorbing this unfortunate news.

The hardest part was telling the wonderful, patient homes that have been waiting.

Well, that and seeing the little sac that no longer has a puppy growing -- like a silent, dark tomb.

I guess the Kaibab H Litter is now the Kaibab Have to Wait Litter...

Tuesday Morning Update

Maize has totally bounced back from the brink -- we have no idea what to think (except YEA!) and are meeting with the Specialist today to chat about things. This chat will help us decide what to do about the Specialty -- we are seriously considering having Dear Husband stay home with Maize.

Galen (aka The Puppy Nanny) is booked to stay here with the dogs during the Specialty but if Maize were to crash again -- well, that would not be pretty for many reasons and Galen would no doubt need therapy for the rest of his life should Maize die under his watch -- he LOVES Mrs. Maize.

On the other hand, Dear Husband is cool as a cucumber in a crisis and could handle things if they went south (and fall apart later as he also LOVES Mrs. Maize -- but who doesn't?!).

So still trying to decide what to do... but at least some of us will be heading to southern California very soon -- ready or not (more not than we would like -- sigh)...

Dear Husband took this excellent picture of our Deer Friends, Heidi Marie and George -- enlarge/look closely to see that this is a smooch...


I feel like I am living in a wildlife refuge, peacefully co-existing with all the animals and birds -- a dream come true :)

I hope you are realizing dreams -- but of course you can't unless you dream so don't forget to dream! And dream big :)

Mushroom Alert & Video

Zoey is extremely disgusted and suspicious! She is disgusted because she thinks that mushrooms are going to start growing on her from the daily soaking she gets, and she is suspicious that all this spraying and combing and being wet half the day means that she is going to be in a beauty pageant soon...


And she is right -- not about the mushrooms, of course (I hope!) -- but about the beauty pageant. Zoey is entered in the Best of Breed class at the Specialty and this means daily grooming -- line combing with dilute conditioner -- it takes about an hour and I do it 5 - 6 days a week. On one of the off days, I give her a bath -- in just conditioner!

Her new BFF, Carlos/Ute, says he is willing to take one for the team...

...but I suspect he would be disqualified as he doesn't meet the Breed Standard in several ways...

But in exchange for enduring all that grooming, Zoey has been having some serious fun and surely will be the most fit dog in the Best of Breed class -- she has been practicing draft and agility almost daily as she will be doing both at the Specialty, in addition to that beauty queen crap (her words). Here is a video of both Zoey and Halo getting ready for the Specialty...

Goodness All Around!

The second person who has two dogs in the Specialty VST just wrote -- she has been out of town and is just catching up on things -- and she is also willing to give up a track! Yikes -- so much kindness :) Thanks to Denise for her willingness to spread the tracking wealth around :) :) And so much good karma coming towards those two women!!!

Dear Husband just got back from almost a week in Utah (after a grueling drive that involved a missed turn and a flat tire and a suicidal coyote). He is obviously relieved that Mrs. Maize is better. The anti-inflammatory I gave her this morning made a BIG difference!!!! Here is a very happy Maize and her happy dad...


Hope you are having a happy day, filled with goodness!

Heart Like Mine

First of all, Maize is about the same -- getting around with some difficulty but cheerful and happy. I gave her an anti-inflammatory this morning to see if that will help her mobility.

As I mentioned, I am first alternate for the VST test at the Specialty -- not the worst thing that could happen to a person but still disappointing, as you know. Since my car accident, I have been grounded and that Specialty means a lot to me, and has been a source of hope -- something to look forward to...

I also mentioned that I would never run two dogs at the expense of someone else -- that just wouldn't feel right to me. Well, it didn't feel right to one of the two dog trackers either -- and yesterday she wrote to me and offered to give up a track, using words just as I would have to explain why she wanted to do that. Her email made me cry.

Sometimes it is a little lonely on this piece of High Ground -- just me and my overdone sense of integrity. But sometimes -- like yesterday -- I am reminded that I am not alone -- not at all.

Of course I had to mull it over -- would that be fair of me to accept her offer? Would it be wrong to decline it? I thought about it all day.

In the end, I decided that a gift that reflects such integrity is not to be rejected, and that it would be wrong to say no to such a reflection of kindness and generosity.

And so Asia will run a VST track at the Specialty -- because actually there are many of us -- probably including you -- on that piece of High Ground -- and thank heavens for that.

So thanks to Laura for her gift, and for allowing me to feel what it is like to be the recipient of kindness -- it is an excellent reminder of the need to spread it around because all of us deserve to feel like this -- humbled, grateful, and in the company of good people...

Update Again

Maize is a little better -- not where she was by any means but she seems less tired.

Yesterday was her scheduled day for chemo and she got it last night (it is a pill once every three weeks), even though she was so sick (I figured there was nothing to lose since I thought she was dying). I noticed that the shoulder mass was much bigger yesterday and I am wondering if perhaps getting to the end of the chemo cycle results in the cancer getting an edge/growing and making her feel crappy -- and now that the chemo is back on board she is bouncing back a bit?

This has not happened before but given the sudden increase in the size of the shoulder mass, I have to think that other places also had some increased growth/activity, since nobody believes her shoulder mass is the only place she has a tumor.

I don't know what is happening -- and it doesn't really matter I guess -- but I am grateful that she is still with us, however gently she is living right now.

It is a lovely, sunny day here in Montana -- Maize and granddaughter Syd on the deck.


Three generations -- Maize, Cadi, Sydney


Thank you so much for all your good thoughts -- I appreciate them so much and Maize wishes all of you could visit and pet her...

Update

Maize was ready for breakfast -- since I did not expect her to survive the night, this was an unexpected gift this morning. Here she is before breakfast...


But she is weak, and it took all her energy to enjoy her breakfast and after that she headed back to bed but couldn't make it all the way so just decided to take a nap in the spot where she ran out of steam -- and there she is...



I am not sure what is going on, but I am sure she is not in any significant pain. I can understand why people would rush off to the vet under these circumstances -- but there is nothing that can or needs to be done right now. Yes, it is hard to see her like this -- but this is not about me -- it is about Maize.

My goal is to keep her comfortable and in her normal life/surroundings, so that she can go away on her journey -- when it is her time -- with all the love and support with which she arrived and has lived for 10.5+ years.

My hope is that she will bounce back to what she was two days ago -- my worry is that she is nearing the end of her earthly life...

Mrs. Maize Update

Unfortunately, Mrs. Maize appears to have taken a bad turn. I noticed that she was tired this morning, and Galen came over earlier to take care of the dogs because I had to work late and he also noticed she seemed tired.

I took her out to potty about an hour ago, and I could see she wasn't herself. We came in and she laid on her bed, and there she has stayed. I covered her with the blanket Lisa made for us, even though it is not a dog blanket, and she is resting comfortably. Although she is aware of us, she is not especially responsive -- although she just opened her eyes when everyone else barked at something. However, you know when the Chief of the Fun Police doesn't join a barkfest -- when, it isn't good :(

Maize seems to be in no discomfort and so I see no need to do anything except keep her comfortable and let her be here with us, as she always has been. Maybe this is just a little setback -- but I don't think so...

@#$% Specialty Tracking AGAIN

This has been a less than thrilling week, capped off yesterday by a voice mail two seconds before I had to go teach my research class that Asia is first alternate in the Specialty VST (tracking) test. I will not repeat what my reaction to this news was...

There are five tracks available -- there are four of us who entered, but two people entered two dogs each so six dogs for five tracks. So two people got two dogs in, and one person got one dog in -- and I got the alternate spot -- what are the chances of that?! Well, I can tell you -- 100%.

Personally, I would not run two dogs and leave someone out but that is me, and since there are two people in the two dog position -- well, that complicates it, doesn't it? Who should drop a track, ensuring all of us get at least one track? There is no fair way to handle this now :(

And so I am pulling my entry and not maintaining alternate status. The test is on Sunday, and so it means getting to the Specialty early. As an alternate, I would just sit there like a vulture waiting for something bad to happen so a track became available -- or worse -- my presence would cause the two dog entrants to feel awkward and uncomfortable, knowing they were taking two slots while I got none.

I know and like the other trackers and they have done nothing wrong by getting lucky in a draw -- and they deserve to enjoy their tracks -- so I will skip tracking AGAIN this year. Disappointing but just another test of trust -- things happen as they should, and Asia's VST track is clearly another time and another place.

Cadi had an ultrasound and it did show she is pregnant but it was early and so we did not see much -- could be a small litter or too early to see all the puppies so we will repeat next week. I was hoping the vet would say she was filled with puppies so that was also not a highlight of the week...

However, it has been warm and there is no snow and so far Zoey is not in season!! I am concerned that she will come in just in time to make sure she cannot compete in working events at the Specialty but so far, so good -- paws crossed.

I hope your week has been better than mine!!! And that all your draws are lucky ones :)

Peaches' Peachy News

Terri (Peaches' mom, not Zed's mom -- confusing, I know :) has previously shared about the new dog sport called Nosework -- well, she and Peaches (F Litter) were in their first official trial on Sunday and here is a summary from Terri:

"Yea! Peaches got her NW1 Title! (She was one of 23 out of 39 competitors to get their titles.)

She got a perfect score of 25 in all four events, Vehicle, Interior, Container and Exterior

In three of those events she also got a "Pronounced" recognition which is at the judges discretion and reflects the teamwork exhibited between dog and
handler. She also got some great comments from the judges on her score sheets, my favorite being "Awesome to watch!".

Her highest placement was 2nd in the Interior Search, she was in the middle of the group for the other three. There was some really tough competition!"

Here is a picture from the inside part of the testing/trial:


In these outdoor shots, Peaches is finding what Terri describes this way: "It's a little 1" round metal container with 1 q-tip cut in half that has the scent of birch oil on it, and is hidden up and under the running board invisible to both of us visually."



Found it!


Yea for Terri and Peaches!!!! Congratulations :)

Lotsa Stuff!!!

1. BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Elizabethanne and Poodle Cousin, Chase, who won the Grand Prize at the Canis Film Festival yesterday at the Clicker Expo in Chicago -- the video is called "What is This?" (Teaching A Visual Match To Sample) and you can still see it at: http://www.canisfilmfestival.com/2011/finalists.php

YEA for Team Poodle!!!!!!!

2. Holy Lotsa Data!!!! 537 respondents so far!!!!!

3. Look who came calling!!! Heidi Marie and George -- and look at how grown up he is getting!!!


4. A lesson for world leaders courtesy of Zoey and Carlos/Ute:

Zoey: Listen -- this is MY grooming table -- you need to leave.
Carlos/Ute: You listen -- I was here first (this morning).
Zoey: You are an interloper -- a stranger -- a foreigner!! This is my house, my grooming table, and you need to leave before I call a meeting of the Girl Council and get some kind of Resolution to handle you FOREIGNER!!!!


The Joint Chiefs of Staff met...


And they created a Resolution: "Be it Resolved, everyone needs to share, to get along, and BE NICE!!!!!! NO EXCEPTIONS!!! All are welcome in our home!!!"

Zoey and Ute/Carlos -- in unison and in less than charitable voices: FINE.


You heard it here -- have a very nice day!

P.S. We have more weekend Kaibab news but are waiting for pictures and a full report -- stay tuned!

Can You Keep Up?

Apparently I have a lot to share lately -- and now more...

A painting based on a puppy picture I took will be one of the items available at the Specialty Health Auction -- here is the original picture and the painting:





So, who can guess which puppy that is?

And if you want me to bid on this picture for you (sorry -- you will have to pay for it :) -- let me know! I think it is beautiful!!!!

The Need for Heroes

Galen lives in a student housing village, and on Friday I dropped him off on my way home. Two little girls ran out in front of us, one crossing the street to get a ball.

Galen muttered something about where the girls' worthless parents were -- harsh, but he is young and doesn't yet know that being a parent is not as easy as it seems...

Two hours later Galen emailed with this: "yeah, so shitty night! Somebodies kid got hit by a car right by my trashcan. doesnt sound good."

It was the same place where the girl had crossed -- without looking -- to get the ball.

When I worked at the hospital in Utah, I worked with a young couple whose sweet little toddler had wandered away from them in a store. As they frantically searched for her, she had toddled through the store, went by the cash registers, out the front doors, through the parking lot, and into a busy street where some poor person driving home from work could not avoid hitting her.

Many people saw that small girl -- and nobody stopped her -- and she died from her injuries. Her anguished father wondered why nobody had been his hero and stopped his child -- he needed a hero and nobody had stepped up.

And now I wonder if I missed a chance to be a hero -- if I had stopped and made the girls take me to their parents and told the parents that their children were in the street -- well, I do not even know if it was the same girl but maybe it was...

I know it is not my fault that a girl was hit and is now in critical condition in another state (she was flown to a pediatric hospital), but I am reminded of the importance of heroes -- those people who do something extraordinary because something just doesn't seem right.

I won't ever again see a child in the street without doing something. I have seen the face of a parent who needed a hero, and I have felt a parent's soul shattering grief -- I am sorry that it took a five-year-old being hit outside Galen's window to remind me that it really does take a village to keep our children safe.

Keep your eyes and heart open for your opportunity to be a hero.

Karmic Conversations

Zoey: I need to tell you a secret but you cannot tell anyone!
Karma: No worries -- you are my #1 very best BFF -- you can tell me anything!
Zoey: I think you say that to everyone....
Karma: Well, not everyone -- I did not say that to the mouse I killed a few days ago.
Zoey: Pssstttttt Psssssssttttttttt


Karma: I am very sorry :( That is dreadful -- what is he thinking?!!!!! Poor Zoey...


Carlos/Ute: I am thinking how much I like my new grooming table (evil thug-like laugh).


Karma: Don't you worry Zoey -- first the red ball and now your grooming table?! I will handle that little hoodlum for you...


Karma: Maize -- you are my most favorite BFF!!!!!
Maize: Sure I am... You should be a politician, minister or car salesperson -- you are an expert schmoozer...


Karma: I have a career -- I am an Exterminator, which I think is like all three of those combined -- only better. Lucky for you, I actually like all my bitches -- I mean, all of you girl dogs...


Brighton (D Litter: Maize and Zack) in Iowa says: I am in need of an Exterminator at the moment as SOMEONE has a very wicked sense of humor and my eyes are crossing...


Hope you are having an excellent weekend! Closing in on 500 survey responses!

Auntie Mary

This is a picture of my daughter and Auntie Mary -- my daughter is the human.


Auntie Mary was originally named something else -- I am pretty sure it was Zuzu as in Zuzu's petals from It's a Wonderful Life -- but somewhere along the way, she became Auntie Mary.

Auntie Mary has spent the past twenty or so years living the best life possible with my youngest sister, Julie. There is not a better cat guardian than Julie, who somehow managed to make homemade food for Auntie Mary in spite of the reality that Julie has been a vegetarian since she was a teenager and cannot abide meat. Most recently, Julie has tenderly and thoughtfully cared for Auntie Mary in her senior years, delaying adventures because Auntie Mary's comfort has been her priority.

An animal shares chapters of our lives, weaving their presence throughout and leaving little pawprints on the pages of our lives. Auntie Mary played with my children, posed for pictures, played with sparkle balls, and just was part of the fabric of the Sontag family.

Auntie Mary's time with our family ended recently -- she was very, very old and no longer able to maintain a body for her special little spirit.

Her passing reminds me of how animals are special place holders in the history of our lives. They pass a torch to each other, taking their turns companioning us through the mundane, the heartbreaks, the triumphs -- never wavering in their trusting and gentle presence.

Look around at those four-legged souls who share your lives -- let the passing of one remind us of their importance in our lives and our histories.

RIP Auntie Mary.

WOW!!!

404 responses! Wow!

Ring Nerves!

Holy Struck a Nerve! What started as a way to collect quick and real data for my undergrad research class and gather data for my upcoming Berner U presentation at the Specialty has turned into something bigger than I expected.

Working with my students, I designed a brief questionnaire about Ring Nerves and used Survey Monkey to put it on the internet. I then sent out this invitation:

If you compete with your dog in any/all events -- I need your help!

I am collecting data about "Ring Nerves" for a presentation and possible article -- would you please complete this BRIEF and ANONYMOUS questionnaire? The link to the questionnaire is:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/CCW6CMT

Thank you very much -- and please feel free to forward!

Questions? Please email me at: msontag@qwest.net

Mary-Ann Bowman Ph.D.
Stevensville, Montana

And Holy Lotsa Responses -- we are already at 260 and it has been only 22 hours since I posted it!

WOW!

So if you have not participated, please do -- and please forward/post to Facebook/whatever -- it would be most excellent to get to 500 responses.

Thanks :)

This and That and The Other

Having an injured back has been a very enlightening experience, reminding me that all experiences -- no matter how dreadful -- can have meaning if we are open to receiving it. Or maybe that is just a rationalization to try and cope?!

No matter -- I choose to find meaning (or make it up :), and the meaning I have found (made up) is a really interesting awareness of how pain/suffering creates kind of a vacuum, sucking all of one's energy/attention inward. It is just hard to feel available to anyone or anything else when one is trying hard just to cope with all the experiences of an injury/illness -- I had not really understood this before, and so it has been a valuable learning experience for me.

That said, I am happy to report *some* progress on my back (and my emotional availability). I have two related injuries. First, I have muscles that got torn -- this is the part that is better!!! Not 100% but definitely better :) :) Since those darn muscles were VERY hurty, this is great news.

The second injury is the three discs that are now bulging -- the symptoms from those are more related to activities, and so I can mostly manage that by paying attention to what I am doing. However, I will have to give those discs time to get back to where they should be, and that will take about 18 months.

Yes, 18 months of my life impacted because someone ran a stop sign -- she didn't mean to do it and I am not really mad at her because we all make mistakes but still -- 18 months of my life (at least) that I will have to be mindful of the need to not squish those discs like jelly do-nuts (that happy image is from my physical therapist :).

At this point I do not know what to think about all that -- except that it seems like a long time for a relatively low speed collusion -- and so I am focused on the happy reality that the muscles are no longer quite so pissed off (another excellent analogy from my excellent physical therapist)...

And so I have been doing what I call "adaptive agility" which is just designing sequences with limited running for me, and I have been tracking with Asia on very aged tracks so she won't pull so hard. Obedience is easy, and draft is as well as long as the dog is already trained. All that is to say that yes, we are doing some training in preparation for the Specialty.

Driving is one of the things that is hard -- sitting is not really a happy back activity, it turns out. So we are doing the drive to the Specialty in two days instead of one. We will leave on Friday, April 1, and so it is coming right up -- 15 days! Yikes!!!

Halo absolutely, positively LOVES to work -- she is happiest when we are training. At the Specialty Halo will be doing obedience, agility, brace draft (with Asia), rally, brood bitch class, and Veterans Versatility -- and that is a reduced schedule from what I originally planned for her! I took these pictures yesterday -- notice that the snow is gone and we can once again train in our arena!



Montana Mac is not going to the Specialty this year but he is going to be in his first ever agility trial in April so he is getting ready for that -- he is such a great athlete and SMART!!! Every time I train him, I tell Dear Husband yet again what a great working dog that Montana Mac is...


This is Montana Mac just running up the hill to the house -- he thinks the Montana lifestyle suits him quite well :)


I have re-discovered the need to be gentle with people -- we never know what they are dealing with in their lives. What seems to be distance or rudeness may only mean that all their little life soldiers are needed to cope with some unseen injury/illness/concern, and they do not have any left to tend to whatever needs we have.

I hope that you are having an excellent week but invite you to reach out and help someone else have an even better one...

In Her Own Words

"Zoey, Zoey, Zoey -- always about Zoey!!! She is perfect, she is pretty, she is good and comes when she is called -- why don't we just call her Christine?!

Well, this is about me -- Sydney.


I do not really have freckles -- I just had a wet nose from my job as Assistant to the Dishwasher. The Dishwasher is not a person -- it is a machine -- and I help by licking all the plates and etc. and it made my nose wet so it looks like I have freckles -- but I don't.

Anyway, back to Zoey, Zoey, Zoey -- she is not the only one who can do agility!!!!! Look at me coming out of the tunnel:


And in a race, I kick Zoey's butt every time -- I am fast!!!!


And does Zoey, Zoey, Zoey have a BFF named Chippy?! I think not...


Chippy invited me over for peanuts but I could not quite get there...


And who cares about that stupid red ball -- I retrieve dumbbells (that I secretly call Zoey)...


And I know this is a little blurry but only because I am so fast -- you can call me Air Sydney...


So There -- Zoey can bite me!!!!!

Love from Sydney"

Chippy says, "what a nut!"


Sigh -- girls....

Unlikely Friends

Good thing we got the couch up here for our animals! You cannot see in the pictures but both Carlos/Ute and Karma are sporting their usual scratched noses -- I guess we say that they are frienimies...



Sweet(!) sleeping Halo -- with the Specialty around the corner (and the snow gone -- for now) she has been brushing up on her obedience work and that makes her VERY VERY happy!!!! What a terrific working dog she is :)


I hope your day is a good one -- watch out for frienemies with sharp claws...

Scenes from Sunday Morning

Chippy appreciates Dear Husband's devotion -- we keep a supply of unsalted peanuts to put out on Chippy's stump/dining table....


Mrs. Maize thought Dear Husband could use an assistant so off she went....


...where she supervised the careful placement of peanuts....


...before running back towards the house....


....Air Zoey has nothing on her auntie!


But then she decided to go run back and help her dad up the hill :)


Chippy thinks he has the humans very well trained -- it took about three minutes for him to show up and start moving peanuts!


Look at our lovely view today -- note the absence of white and the presence of blue!


Hope your Sunday is PERFECT!!!!