:Camelot! Camelot!

I know it sounds a bit bizarre! Pieces of that song have been floating around in my mind since reading email late last night, after arriving home from a training session with Animal Evac Volunteers. The rain may never fall till after sundown – which is just what Roadie would prefer. In short, there’s simply not a more congenial spot for happily-ever-aftering than here in Camelot. I would prefer the blog not get spammed.

Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That’s how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

That album – Camelot – still sits in a box in my basement. Rick and I sometimes discuss getting a turntable for our old music. His collection, before we met, was what you’d expect from a child (rather, adolescent) of the sixties. Mine varied from…well, Camelot to Neil Young’s Harvest to Frank Zappa. After all, what else would one expect from someone whose first three music purchases – 45s, none-the-less – were Downtown, Green Berets and Summer in the City.

Richard Harris was King Author in the version I had. I was a huge fan of Richard Harris. A Man Called Horse came out several years after he starred in the film Camelot. And then, how could I forget him singing MacAurthur’s Park, from the album A Tramp Shining?! Which, is also still in my basement. In high school one of our teachers had a lesson designed about MacAuthur’sPark. I remember – possibly incorrectly – being the kid in class that knew the song. Discussion ensued around the meaning. I said it was about dying love, dead love.

Just now I googled it. Ain’t cyberspace grand! Here’s something I found:

According to Shiloh Noone, author of Seekers Guide To The Rhythm Of Yesteryear, Webb’s original lyrics mention that the cake was laced with hashish, but this was left out due to legalities. Shiloh adds: “I approached Richard Harris in 1978 in Stellenbosch Lanzerac Hotel South Africa where he was relaxing with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on the porch after a shoot for the soundtrack The Wild Geese. I approached him directly and said what was the cake that melted in the park, Richard Burton looked at Harris pissed out of his mind and said, ‘Oh it’s for you Richard he’s not interested in us darling’… while Elizabeth almost missed her mouth when she brought the cigarette to her lips. They were all heavily under the whisky, Richard Harris looked at me and said… ‘the death of a hippy my boy, the death of a hippy just look at us.'”

Sorry. The above is a small glimpse at what it’s like inside my mind. I start with one idea that sorta ties in two things on my mind…and then I’m off on a tangent about some small irrelevant piece.

Roadie. Alma’s Roadie doesn’t like to get his feet wet, which presents a problem when it’s raining. Here’s what she wrote: He will not wet outside when it is raining, he prefers my wooden floor.  I have washed with   the Miracle solution, but he will still wet. When I let him out he will sniff awhile and then come and sit  by the door and look at me as if to say I already wet,  and I will go and look and sure enough he has wet on the floor.   I think he knows when it is damp outside or is raining outside. 

My solution would be to put him in a crate if he doesn’t potty outside and give him another chance in an hour or so. Repeat until he goes potty, then he can come out of the crate. Any other ideas? Vickie, you’ve mentioned Ali doesn’t like getting her feet wet. How have you dealt with it?

The second thing in my head is the blog, the content of the blog and, comments – especially SPAM comments – that appear on the blog that I don’t like. There was one yesterday some of you may have seen. I have removed it. Not only was it sent once, it was sent twice. It may have been sent more than that, but the blog’s spam blocker caught it. The technology behind that particular piece of spam intrigues me because it was an editorial about the current Rabies research, which somehow made it to this blog. How? Most likely, the author is very blog savvy and able to ‘comment’ without actually posting on each and every blog where the topic of Rabies legislation and research have been discussed.

Another thing I removed several months ago had to do with ‘permission’. This is another bizarre topic, greatly clouded by the internet. We all share stuff that could/should/would be considered copyrighted. Those fun jokes. Funny photos. Remember the photos of the mountain lions I shared a few months back? As I wrote, those photos were taken near my shop in downtown Evergreen. I received them from a friend. She got them in an email from a friend of a friend of a friend of a. You know how that goes. You probably get one or two a day the very same way. There was no information on the photographer. I had no way to contact that person, so I threw caution to the wind and posted them. Lo and behold, months later an irritated mother commented on the blog about those photos being used without permission. Of course, I immediately sent her a private email, explaining what happened and letting her know the post using those photos had been removed. She thanked me for responding promptly and said, of course, I could use the photos as long as I gave her 15 year old son photographer-wanna-be son credit. That’s fair enough, but what she didn’t realize is she tapped a huge parenting nerve!! 15 years old? Were his fingers broken? Never do for your kid what s/he can do for himself. That post, those photos remain in my draft file, not posted on the blog.

I have rarely removed anything posted on the blog. I do feel like it’s my front porch. I love that people participate on the blog. It’s not my intention to edit comments and remove the ‘flavor’ of the blog. But, it’s grand being Queen of the Blog. I don’t like something? Zap! It’s gone. If only real life were that easy! Ah! Camelot!

Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre,
But in Camelot, Camelot
That’s how conditions are.
The rain may never fall till after sundown.
By eight, the morning fog must disappear.
In short, there’s simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot.

:East Hill Motel

Where on earth, how on earth, Vickie finds this stuff out there in cyberspace is beyond me. During our powwow, as we were exploring ideas for unique trophies, I sat beside her as she shopped online. She’s so efficient!

Here’s a postcard from the 50s of our favorite Seward motel.

These motels are a dying breed, mostly dead actually. Rick and I would rather stay in unique motels and hotels when traveling. I speak from experience. Sure, if you’re lucky (and some might not use that word) enough to find one that’s still open, modern conveniences might be lacking. What may be lacking is usually compensated by character, history and…well…a bit of adventure.

My all-time favorite was the Wish You Were Here Inn in Fort Lauderdale. The first night, arriving very late, Anthony (Nate’s swim coach) wanted to leave. But it was late. Which was part of the problem. There was no one at the front desk. The keys to our room were left ‘out’ for us. All a little too creepy for Anthony! And he’s not exactly a wimp! The motel was art deco in style and backed up to the Inland Waterway, complete with a motel dock. Each night, after a long HOT day at the swim meet, we would sit at one of the picnic tables in the back, drink a cold beer and enjoy the stars. If Anthony were here, he’d tell you The Rothmans were right. It was a good thing we stayed.

The East Hill Motel was purchased about 5 years ago by a young couple. They’ve updated the rooms, the whole place actually. They welcome dogs. They’re friendly. The lower rooms on the left hand side of the postcard open to a small grassy area where we’re allowed to place our ex-pens. Our Lady Of Reservations saw to it that we got those rooms. Each room is equipped with a frig and microwave. I noticed a sign about wireless internet, but have never bothered to take the laptop. What more could we want in Seward?!

Here’s the back of that postcard, dated 1954.

Here’s a (poor) photo I took of a painting that now hangs in the lobby of the East Hill Motel.

:Moving with synchronicity

Andrea sent the photo below which is followed by her note in which she uses ‘in sync’. The word synchronicity popped into my head, so I looked up the definition. According to Wikipedia, the philosophical concept of synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which occur in a meaningful manner, but which are causally un-related. In order to be ‘syncrhonistic’, the events must be related to one another temporally, and the chance that they would occur together by random chance must be very small.

It could be debated whether moving a dog in the ring would apply to the above definition. However, it certainly brings a point home to me…just as did the slides Thursday night, quietly repeating in the background as we conversed. Dogs are masters at body language. It is how they communicate. The slightest movement in our facial expression may mean nothing to us, but dogs pick that up with great skill. If I’m having a problem communicating something to a dog, obviously sending the wrong message, I step back and ask myself two things. What am I reinforcing. And what am I inadvertently communicating.  

To move correctly in the show ring, dogs must first have the proper structure for their breed. Lhasa Apos move like a normal dog, unlike the Pekingese which roll when gaiting. Tigger, a Tibetan Terrier, in the photo below, shows balanced movement front and rear, efficient reach and drive and effortless movement. He looks like he could do that all day long…which some of his ancestors did alongside Yak trains in Tibet.

Assuming a show dog is built to move, other factors can influence that dog’s gait in the show ring.. The handler’s body language. Presentation. Attitude. And…perhaps…synchronicity?? 

Hi Debby – Just perusing your blog this a.m. and saw we had 
simultaneous insights!  This is about the 3rd pic I’ve now seen of me 
and my dog moving together with our legs in sync.  I also started 
wondering about the cause of this (it’s lovely I think, but quite 
unintentional on my part).  My best guess at this point is maybe it 
relates to something primal in mammals??  Anyway, what a great topic 
for a photo study (people moving w/ animals, animals moving w/ 
animals, birds flying together, etc.) -Andrea