Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Sports, a Lesson...and an Angel

OLYMPICS!  Yep - I'm an Olympic junky.  Especially for the equestrian events.  Thanks to the wonders of technology, we are able to record "all things equestrian." I watched every minute of the cross-country - what a thrill!  A beautifully challenging course, gorgeous horses, and brave riders. 

Super cool...

Did you notice that just about everyone in the audience at the Olympics has a camera?  What an amazing age we live in - we have the ability to document so much, and from every possible angle.  Stopping to to think about that.....wow.

Loved the stadium jumping, too...and looking forward to the advanced dressage classes - Grand Prix!

And of course I often veer off into the Land of Other Sports, too.  Wierd stuff, some of it.  All of it is exciting, though!  Archery, for instance.  I'd never watched it before.  Who knew?  I've always loved the PASSION of Olympic athletes. 

In the middle of all that, must admit I actually went to a "call-back" audition at a local theatre.  What ever possessed me to do that, I'm not sure.  :-P  Well - to be honest - I know exactly what it was.  It's my "year of saying yes," so when the director (an old friend) invited me to go, I said Um...Okay.    Suddenly there I was, at this audition...somewhat unprepared, regarding memorizing my lines...and totally unprepared, regarding the level of competition for the role.  Ah, well. It was one of those times when you have to figure out how to get up and dust yourself off, after getting your dignity kicked around.  The drive home was challenging, but by the time I reached my house I was okay again.  Over it!! 
NOTE:  It used to take me a lot longer to recover.  So aging, and gaining wisdom, is a GOOD thing. 
:-)
LIVE AND LEARN. 

Speaking of agility:   Last night Riff and I went to our first "real" agility lesson in eight weeks.  Oh, we've been to a lesson...but one of my arms was in a sling, so I didn't really DO anything.  Last night I decided to run. 

Yeah, yeah, that was kinda-sorta against medical advice...(on Monday my PT said "you can jog slowly for a short distance"  and "it's not healed yet, so Do Not Fall")....but I knew I could get through at least one or two runs.  We got through three.  Riff was WONDERFUL! 



I'm so proud of him.  His startline-stays were great, he didn't knock any bars during our runs, and he hit every weave-entry on tricky sends.  He was Really Moving, too....which is to say we got a lot of good distance-work done.  YAY!

After the first three sequences my arm started its silly throbbing thing, so I asked Annette to run with him.  She was thrilled, and she did a great job!  He ran very well for her, too...except for a late crash into the triple.  Y..ouch!  It was my fault, though...I forgot to warn her to be extra careful with him during a triple.  She had his toy up, ready to toss during his take off, which he noticed, and when she threw is he started churning his legs, eager to Get To That Toy.  Crrr-r-rash.  But he's a fit and tough young dog, and he's FINE.   (...whew...)


What a GREAT DOG!

....

When we showed up for class last night, we met a lady who was working an English Springer spaniel named Lacy.  She told us that Alicia, Lacy's previous handler, had died two weeks ago.  I was gobsmacked by that news. 

I knew Alicia had moved to Oregon to care for her sick mom...and that she had found a measure of peace and happiness there.  I kept up with her on FB.  But somehow, I missed the illness.  In Februrary, Alicia found out she had cancer.  And now she's gone.   

Alicia was a very kind person.  Gentle, and quiet.  She was lovely to me.  We had a class together at LeapDog.  We shared a canopy at a couple of trials, and she always went out of her way to "fluff my aura"....a genuinely giving and nice person.  She must be an angel, by now.   

RIP, Alicia.

Hey, you guys - hug your friends. 

1 comment:

vici whisner said...

First off, I am so sorry for the loss of Alicia and so happy that Lacy is able to stay with an agility person. Sucks. Really sucks.
Secondly I am so proud of you for getting out there and running your dog!!! Riff is such a great boy for you. I sincerely hope you are able to come to one of the events in Prunedale.
I think of you often and hope that arm heals quickly!

 
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