Debby on..the weekend..sisters..and ghost country

Early Sunday morning…ahhh. The candles continue to flicker in the library window, adding warmth, a certain coziness, as I sit here sipping coffee, reading email, writing.

Toshimi sent me a note. Yesterday, the 19th was the anniversary of Koyuki becoming part of Toshimi and Tet’s family. She posted about it on her blog, including several photos of a very young Koyuki. Her blog is in Japanese. The characters, the letters that comprise the language are beautiful. There’s a link to Toshimi’s blog in the left hand column. Visit her FFT composite/collage page.

There’s something I’ve just become aware of called RSS feed. My web site skills, my blog skills are basically self-taught, so it could take some time for me to figure RSS feed out. When I do, this blog will alert viewers when Toshimi or Katy or whoever/whatever updates their page. Nate has a facebook page, which is one reason I decided to learn how to blog. I remember the day he and Rick brought Queen Mary III home. Within 10 minutes, he’d taken photos of her perched cattywompus (that’s one benefit to vehicles designed to crawl over rocks in the back country) and uploaded them onto his facebook page. That’s all it took for him to share Queen Mary III with his friends. Wait a minute! Show me how you did that! Just last week I asked him for another tour of facebook, noting the many features, how he and his friends used them.

Jason Steinle, a gifted healer, is my young, bright, handsome chiropractor. That, in and of itself, has been a welcome addition to my life, giving these sometimes-weary bones a new lease on life. Gotta keep brushin’ those dogs! The icing on that cake is Jason’s technical knowledge. He maintains a couple of websites, a blog or two, has done radio and television interviews and is now venturing into interviews for the internet. Additionally, he’s a self-published writer. A great resource, he originally gave me the information on this blog’s host WordPress, explained the many benefits – search capabilities, categorizing, archiving – of blogs. If I can’t figure out RSS feed and how to incorporate it into the blog, maybe I’ll book an extra chiropractic session, to be spent in front of the computer.

That slight diversion, that siding in rail speak, was simply to say one day, the blog – without my input – will let you know when Toshimi updates her blog. Maybe by Koyuki’s next anniversary??

Like a year ago when I met Julie to pick up Koyuki and Edie, along with Josh and Crystal for the Tomu handoff, yesterday I drove to Nebraska. This time is to meet my sisters for lunch. 🙂 Oh. And to return Ranpa.

About equal distance between my hometown, Norfolk, where my sisters remain, and my home in Colorado, we met in North Platte, Nebraska…which is where I met Rick 31 years ago, come to think of it. Arriving 20 minutes before me, Lori and Kelly scouted out downtown and found a Japanese restaurant named Tempura. We settled in for a couple hours of tea, food and laughter. It was really, really, really fun – just the three of us having lunch. I think we should do it more often!

Sleek Sue and I took back roads back to Colorado, eventually joining I-76 in Brush. I love road trips and  back roads. As the years pass, I feel melancholy, driving through town after town, rural, dying. Family farms have been swallowed up by corporate farming. Footprints, if you know what to look for, are there. A shelter belt in two rows, forming an L. The skeletal remains of a last barn. I love barns, small quaint towns, church steeples rising above the hills and prairie, beautiful farms. the country. Now I sense ghost country, the Death Of An Era.

Photo by Eugene Richards

In the January 2008 issue of National Geographic, The Emptied Prairie gave me a better understanding of the brief, really, history of farming the prairie. If you’re so inclined, be sure to check out the Photogallery link on the upper left hand side of that page. The hauntingly beautiful images are by Eugene Richards.

Hey! Note RSS feed at the bottom of that site!

Musings, reflections upon entering this New Year

This first week of the New Year, as things settle back down to a dull roar, I’ve taken a bit of time to reflect upon the past year, plan the upcoming year which includes some goal setting, fill in that great organization tool Vickie introduced – and prepared … The Daytimer! Given this, even more thoughts than usual are bouncing around the cerebral circus that is my brain. And now, as the weekend winds down, sitting here with my drink on my favorite coaster.. 

 I’m left feeling like I’ve let people down. I so appreciate the updates, the photos, the feedback. I want to respond individually to each and every one of you. And as the sun sinks down over the mountain, I haven’t even managed a blog entry!

Over the holiday season, some of you sent updates and photos. It’s delightful to know that, with one exception, all dogs and puppies have settled into their new families.

Seth (Samson) continues to lounge around, helping Caroline with bed making…

 Seth’s son, Roadie, and Alma are doing good (except a little glitch from Alma’s arthritis). Hey, Alma! Next time Roadie is groomed, can you get a photo of you and Roadie together? I’d love to see how long his hair is now.

Rose sent this photo of Willis, another Seth son..

Hey Rose! Ginny and I would love for you to come to Colorado and spend ‘a little more time’! 🙂

Today, someone came up to Julie while she was grooming at the dog show and told her our website was one of the best ones out there. This boosted my spirits. I always have things I want to add…like getting the Galleries completed…building out an online database for our dogs…revamping the intro page…updating/rewriting the chapter pages…making information on available puppies and dogs readily accessible… Wanting to do all this, I’m rarely focused on what’s already there.

Katy…she’s done a beautiful painting of Sadie, taken from the blog header. You can see it: http://katywidger.blogspot.com I look forward to more of Katy’s paintings in, this, her Year of the Dog on her painting blog. Please do let us know Katy, whenever you add something to your critter advocacy site. 

Toshimi send this wonderful photo…

Roman, Taz and Mary sent this…

Faye, how are Dizzy and Sonam’s puppies?

I know I’m missing something other than my mind. Please forgive me!

Ah ha! Here right in front of me…the other things I wanted to share!

Melissa’s manuscript…Golden Girl. Melissa, along with her husband Kevin, are friends of Rick and mine. She is penning a book targeted for kids 9 -14, about Golden Retrievers. I’m honored she’s chosen me to read her manuscript, along with being able to mark it up.

Last, but far from least…Kathy. My friend Kathy. She delights me with the things she shares, from a yule log wrapped in a red bow to introducing me to Angela Cartwright’s altered art imagery. And poetry. The latest is titled Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine by Tom T. Hall. Kathy, the other day upon seeing something, I thought of brief descriptive poet words, rather than my usual too long sentences. 

Thank you all for sharing bits and pieces of you and your lives. The common element between all of us is a love for this ancient breed. To take the subject title from a recent post Vickie sent me…the canine…enriching our lives on all levels!

Happy New Year!

On New Year’s Eve I arranged to be done grooming by 2PM, planning to share some wine and cheese with Sarah. She was picking up Vivian (littersister to C’est La Vie, Camron, Ian and Tambo) after a two week stay with me. Shortly after Sarah arrived, Athena stopped by to pick up her freshly groomed Lhasa Apsos, Shanti and Joyti. A fellow wine drinker, Athena presented me with a bottle of Cabernet. An intimate, impromptu early New Year’s Eve celebration ensued, complete with dogs at our feet. Wine, women and song…more like wine, women and Apsos. 

Arriving home around dark, delighted to discover Rick preferred to spend New Years Eve at home, I settled into a long winter’s night starting with a long, hot soak in the tub. Rick prepared Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner. Yummy! Afterwards, we watched a great film titled Broadway: The Golden Age.  From a review: The Golden Age offers rare footage, and a powerful sense of nostalgia throughout the interviews…it’s a worthwhile, often passionate film that captures a priceless glimpse at a way of life as lived by so many memorable figures whose like will never be seen again.

Sunday night the winds gusting in the mountains made Yangsom uneasy, unable to settle in and go to sleep. I’d started  earlier that day. Between not being able to put the book down and soothing Yangsom with slow, massage-like strokes down her spine, I stayed up until after midnight reading! Does being up after midnight the night before New Year’s Eve count? A fascinating read, the book is about the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park. Click on the book for more information.

Before leaving you with a poem by Edgar A. Guest, I wish you all a Happy New Year, filled with family and great friends, great films, great books, great wine and an Apso or three underfoot.

A happy New Year! Grant that I
May bring no tear to any eye
When this New Year in time shall end
Let it be said I’ve played the friend,
Have lived and loved and labored here,
And made of it a happy year.

Blue Man Group

Last night Rick, Nate and I saw the Blue Man Group perform. An experimental musical theatre troup, they bill themselves as a creative organization dedicated to creating exciting and innovative work in a wide variety of media. Founded in 1987 by a trio of friends, identical in their blue-painted skin, skullcaps and black clothing, the trio soon became a fixture of the New York underground performance art scene thanks to their regular appearances in Central Park, followed by shows at noted East Village spaces including Dixon Place, Performance Space 122 and the Wooster Group’s Performing Garage. Equal parts play, concert, and sketch routine, the Blue Man Group combines sight gags, physical stunts and audience participation. They don’t talk. They don’t sing. We saw the How To Be a Megastar Tour 2.0.  It was great fun, appropriate for all ages. If you’ve seen them on TV -pbs, I think – then you have an idea of what they’re about, from percussion to social commentary.

This is photo of drumming, accented by water from the drum top and lights.

 This show was backed by an eight piece rock band, including 3 drummer with different sets playing simultaneously. Maybe that’s usual or maybe it’s because the show spoofed rock bands. The Blue Men play….interesting instruments, like PVC pipes.

And this bizarre instrument..

Thanksgiving day

Very early this morning, as I heard the clock chime 3AM, then 4AM, 5AM and finally 6AM, thoughts kept my mind entertained. Sleep came in bits and pieces, bizarre dreams. I finally gave up the sleep quest when I awoke with a start, awoke with little comprehension of where I actually was. Whew! Was I relieved to find myself in bed! In my dream, I was at a dog show, somewhere in eastern Nebraska, with lots of Lhasa Apso people. Not necessarily show exhibitors, although Melissa was there. I looked at my watch, in the midst of enjoying the dogs, the day, the company and the food to discover it was 4:30PM on Thanksgiving day. Two thoughts came to mind immediately. Rick wasn’t going to be very happy that I lost track of time. And, how was I going to eat Thanksgiving dinner after all the food I’d just eaten.

My most memorable Thanksgiving turkey was the one being roasted in the oven above. I have eaten many, many Thanksgiving dinners in that kitchen. My grandmother cooked in that kitchen. My mother cooked in that kitchen. Now the kitchen belonged to my sister Lori. Mom had been dead for 2 years, grandma much longer. The house, a farmhouse, sat empty for nearly 2 years after mom died. None of us willing to let go, none of us willing to move in.

In previous years Ron and Lori had actively looked for a farmhouse to renovate, even to the point of having contracts on two different places. For one reason or another, those deals fell through. One day, while visiting our farmhouse, Lori was overcome with sadness at how lonely it felt. It was then she realized the house was hers. I could have told her that right after mom died. But, being the oldest sister, I tread carefully with my words of advice. 🙂

After doing some very major work, including plumbing, electrical and an addition that looks like it was there since the house was built in 1880, the first room they renovated was the kitchen. Rick had been in Norfolk building new cabinets for Lori’s kitchen, using the workshop of a local cabinetmaker. On Thanksgiving day, work on the kitchen continued. Right in the midst of the construction dust and hubbub sat the stove, with a turkey cooking!

One day I’ll do a composite of the farmhouse, sharing with all of you it’s beauty. Ron and Lori kept true to the farmhouse spirit. It’s nice to go back to my hometown, back to a house I’ve known since I was a little girl, and see it being loved and lived in.