Very Early in the Morning.

Most mornings, when Sandia demands to be let out at 6AM, I get really cranky, and ignore the barking as best I can. But there are advantages to getting up so early in the morning... for instance, we would have missed this amazing rainbow over the Floridas had we slept in just another 30 minutes!

Watching the weather radar, the rain causing the rainbow made an S-curve through the gap to the left and went behind the Little Floridas, missing us. Again. The annual "monsoonal flow" has begun, but you couldn't prove it by us. We can sit on the porch and watch it rain on Deming, but so far, with the exception of an hour-long splash the other night, it keeps missing us. At least it keeps the weeds down.

By the way, this was taken with my new phone! It's got an amazing camera. It's an LG enV Touch, with a 3.2MP camera with a Schneider Kreuznach lens, and tons of editing software. I'm using it a lot!

Why?

That's right.  Why be content to get stuck where a mere little Kubota tractor can help you effect your escape from the muddy clutches, when there's a really deep boggy situation just waiting down the road, and woe unto you if you venture a little too right or left of the hard pack.

And that's the situation we found ourselves in last Thursday.  First we tried the tractor again.  Not this time, sport.  The more it pulled the further right the Express wanted to slide until it was tipping precariously in the really soft stuff, and leaning on the chain link!  This also blocked the normal exit we call a "door".  Out the window, take the ladder off the back so Margaret could exit gracefully and head to Hugo to upload the II pictures.

Meanwhile, I called our road service provider, because we were going to need something bigger; much bigger.. than the neighbor's Massey-Ferguson.  We were going to need the big boy, because how do you extract a 20,000 pound behemoth that's heeled over against a fence, a foot and a half in the soggy earth... without damaging the awning, and the coach finish?  Watch and learn, kids... watch and learn:

These ol' boys were really good!

Vertigo

Don't let the perspective of this shot mess with your mind.  This is a 4-shot "stitched" panorama of the parking area at Windyglen after all of the vehicles had left.  At the left is the front of our motor home, and at the right is the real of the motor home, as taken from the middle of the roof, so it's a 180 degree view with West to the left and East to the right.  Looks like the vestiges of trench warfare.  Sorry the image is so small.

Why Not?

That's right.  Why should we be any different from everybody else.  Just in time, too, as the skies opened up yet again right after we got it back on terra firma.

Nobody Got Hurt. (OK, one turned ankle)

Many readers will get it, but for some people, this is considered "fun". I'll try and have Margaret stitch together a panoramic shot of the aftermath. I'll go up on the roof and shoot the "aerial" version, now that everyone but us is gone.

This, friends, was the 2009 ASFA International Invitational Swimming and Diving Meet.

Infernal Road Trip

We are into week two of a 7 week road trip I really didn't want to make.  For starters, despite the fact we left Deming, and are now sitting in Bos.. Bogwell, OK we've already logged over 1700 miles. (Look at a map!).  That's because we first had to go all the way to Gray Summit, MO's Purina Farms for an event that featured rain, along with running dogs.  We then backtracked over 500 miles for a big national event here, which featured more rain.  Way more rain.  6 inches or more last Wednesday, followed by 1-2 more inches while I was trying to work (accompanied by wind, of course), then to add insult to injury, another couple of inches before midnight to make the field really fun on Sunday.

I'll have photos soon of the tractors extracting the cars and RV's at the conclusion of the festivities.

Later this week, we'll depart this garden spot and return the 500+ miles to Purina Farms for the Scottish Deerhound national specialty.  The 10 day forecast is for: rain.

At the end of the month, we'll be in Michigan for the Rhodesian Ridgeback specialty.  We'll also be able to load up more stuff from the storage unit, and have a chance to visit my brother, (my much younger brother) who, I found out, spent much of last week in the hospital replicating an episode of House.  If he gets his wish, he'll have a shiny new pacemaker by then so he can continue to ride and run, which is what he was doing last week when he suddenly found himself face down on the sidewalk.  The implications for me in this medical mystery, is that what he has is possibly genetic.  Oh joy.

By the way, it will probably rain while we're working in Michigan.

Then we will head to the Saluki specialty in Lexington where, experience tells us, it will definitely rain.  Usually with spectacular lightning and high winds.

Meanwhile, back home in Deming...

Now why would any sane person want to give up our lifestyle for that? (Yes, that's being facetious).

Dew Drop In.

If you're planning on coming to our open house, you should recall that I've mentioned time and time again, it gets dry here.  Really, really dry.

Nope.  That dew point isn't a misprint.

Thus, the Name.

Image, New Mexico Garden Club

Apparently, there's a side to the Florida (pronounced Flor-ee-dah) Mountains we haven't seen yet.  Not sure when we'll see it, but the mountains have been known to occasionally sprout vast quantities of Mexican Poppies.

The person we talked to today thinks this has happened maybe 3 times in the last 15 years.  Since there was a lot of rain in last Summer's monsoon, we may have a chance to see it this Spring.  Here's hoping.  I'd like to get my own pictures of this event.

By the way, "Florida" is Spanish for "flower".

Capitol Dome - Redux

It snowed yesterday.  First time since we arrived this Winter.  Put a dusting on the car and the Express, which was gone two hours later.  The sun came out, and the wind, strong to begin with really picked up.

I looked at the Florida Mountains, still resplendent in their white coat, and channeling Tina Fey said, "I want to go to there".  The clouds were spectacular, the sky was deep blue, and every detail of the mountains, and their most noticeable feature- "Capitol Dome"- stood out in deep relief.  In other words, paradise for a landscape photographer!

So after that buildup, I'm going to show you a Photoshopped "black and white graphic pen" image...

The spectacular color images can be found in the sidebar slide show.  Don't miss the new portrait of our new home!

Peaks In A Blanket.

Did you get the pun?  Awful isn't it?

By the way... just out of the picture to the left is Mountain House.

Pack Practice

A shot from this morning.  Bad weather was forecast for overnight, but when I put Sandia and Fanny in the car and headed north, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. 

This is our "Pack" for next week's Pack Hunt.  Haven't decided yet whether we'll include Buffy just for fun. (Although she's pretty good at finding rabbits, so there's that to consider.)  Fanny, going on 9 years old, can still contribute in a big way.. it just takes her a week to recover.

We got up 4 rabbits in about an hour.  It was a good workout, which ended as the winds picked up, the rain started, and the temperatures dropped.

Other packs beware!

17 Miles of Bad Road.

This past weekend, Sandia took part in the TCC* Derby in an area near Socorro, New Mexico. The event consisted of breed hunts on Saturday, with the winners and other placers moving on to run for the Conejo Cup on Sunday.

To get to the hunt area, it was required to navigate the above pictured county "road"; dust, washboard ripples, and soft powder ruled the day. We had to do this twice a day.

By virtue of winning the "Sprint Stake" on Saturday, defeating several of his litter mates, and his mother, along with a shag-coat longdog and a whippet, Sandia got to join the Cup hunters on Sunday.

When the dust cleared, and the scores were tabulated, Sandia wound up in 3rd Place... along with three other hounds.

He's pictured here with Margaret, and judge, Paul Sagar from Great Britain. I thought he might end up 2nd or 3rd... I just didn't expect all the company.
And we'd like to congratulate the winner, Frank Cassano's nice Saluki, Haba.

It was a beautiful weekend of spectacular coursing, with lots of sunshine, cool temps, (mostly) good sportsmanship,
and most importantly of all....

...nobody blew up!

*The Coursing Conservancy. Sorry, no link- website not available to the public.

On the Road Again.

That's us. And just in time, too. With all the rain of the past couple of days we were turning mildewy. We've been parked too long in high humidity and precipitation, and are longing for the land of single-digit dew points.

So today, we bid farewell to 2008 and hit the road for the first time in '09, and are heading for Texas, and then (oh yeah) New Mexico.

But first! We needed to stop off in Acworth, GA and get the new rear window graphic installed. It was past time to get the old one off..

...The dark parts were turning white, and the whole thing was dried out and brittle. Besides, few people knew what the hell they were looking at. When they finally figured out the jackrabbit, they missed the dog completely, which gave Buffy an inferiority complex.

With Margaret's new design, the ambiguity is right out the window, (no pun intended). It's right in your face..

Almost like a Greyound Bus, huh?

Thanks to a quick install by Les and his employees, we were on the road (again) in no time, beat the Atlanta rush hour, and got 2/3 of the way across Alabama before stopping for the evening.

Timing Is Everything

If you were at the G.A.N.G. year-end trials last week, you remember the "pond", or you looked at the pond pictures in the previous post.

If those same trials were scheduled to begin today... they'd be cancelled. We now have not only a pond, but tributaries as well. This picture was taken from the driveway after 2-3 inches of rain fell overnight and this morning. More is on the way...

Keep your powder dry.

Waterboarding Is F-U-N!

My preference for shooting lure coursing on fields with a little bit of character is pretty well known. So when we arrived at the hilariously named G.A.N.G. Park, (which is, in reality, the home and property of our friends Les and Shirri), we were thrilled to see the result of weeks of rain in North Georgia; a pond, which Les thought he had filled for good, was back.

The G.A.N.G. folks, being an entertaining bunch, made sure that for most of the five days of lure coursing trials scheduled for the end of the year, the pond would be in play... at least for the more enterprising of the hounds.

So many hounds spent so much time in the water that one of the exhibitors donated a prize for the most entertaining of the swimmer/diver/skier/SCUB.. well, you get the idea. A judge was selected from those on hand to peruse and select a "winner" from our many images. When all was said and done, this Afghan Hound was picked as the best water crosser....

I decided to include a few favorites of my own, which include not just the comic antics of a few goofy dogs, but also this graceful, and picturesque Saluki...

...and for pure comic relief, this sequence featuring an Ibizan Hound who was sure... absolutely sure that...

"I can clear this thing!...

...I think I can clear this thing...

...ummm.... uh-oh...

...nope. Can't clear it after all."

For me, that was the jump of the week. Check out all the water shots at the above link, and all of the images from five full days of lure coursing here.

Nice Trip.

For no other reason than I like my free screen capture software...

While Margaret was in Michigan battling snow, cold, sleet, rain, and what-all, this was the trip I made the last week-plus. The dogs and I battled nothing but sun, wind, jackrabbits.... and abject poverty. You can help, and it won't cost you anything. Just click... you know.. up there at the top? Those things I can't mention? Do it. It will make you feel like.... Christmas!

East to West on the top, and West to East on the bottom. If you care.

Portraits: Dogs at Play.

Man, I've missed this place. It might be snowing and blowing elsewhere in New Mexico, but down here in Deming, it's been mostly sunny and in the mid-60s the last couple of days.

That's weather to take the dogs out in, and out we went. On Tuesday, I took Randir and Buffy to the other side of the Floridas. We jumped one jack that Buffy chased for a while, till it went through a fence. Randir didn't see it, so I didn't get the annual picture of the old dog and the rabbit. There'll be more opportunities next month when we return. Today, Sandia and Fanny got to chase 3 hares with Dutch's and Beth Ann's dogs. One was neatly dispatched after a 2 minute course.

So.. without further adieu...

Randir. AKA "freak of nature". To paraphrase David Allan Coe*, if he looks 12 and a third, I'll kiss your ass.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Still the prettiest dog on the planet. Don't you even try to disagree with me.

Buffy's sister, Fanny. Getting in touch with her "inner Lion".

And Sandia. Now over a year and a half, and looking debonair. (And showing off the evidence that he now knows how to go through barbed wire, although the secret is to go under it.)

*Be advised, if you follow this link, it ain't work safe.

No Cigar.

As hunts go, this one was about as strange as they come. Yesterday, we had 10 dogs start, and after the first run (TCC runs two complete runs in a hunt, as opposed to a seeded final), the roster was pared by one following a tail injury on one of the dogs, which was operated on in conditions that could only be compared to Civil War field surgery. Let's just say it was uncomfortable to watch. Man, those suckers can bleed.

As reported yesterday, Sandia finished second to his sister, Maya. The Holiday Cup, (which, in fact, is not a cup at all, but a massive wooden chest with a bronze casting of what looks suspiciously like an Italian Greyhound), is awarded to the hound with the highest combined score for the two days. So we returned today minus most of the competitors. In fact, today's hunt consisted of yesterday's 1st place hound, Maya, the 5th placer, Camille, and one of the 2nd place hounds, Sandia. For the mathematically challenged, that's an entry of three. All Galgos.

But somebody had to win the cup, and there was no lack of suspense because there was only 3 points separating the hounds, so off we went to the field.

Very high winds were predicted, along with the possibility of snow or rain, so we were hoping to get this finished quick. The wind was already blowing pretty briskly as we started walking, and questioned our sanity as we had to stop every couple yards to remove "Jumping Cholla" spines from the dogs' pads.

Mercifully, we jumped the jackrabbit after only about a half hour of tramping through the mesquite, yucca, and cholla. Sandia saw it first, off to our right, and I called the "Tally Ho". The course was unexciting, as courses go, and the dogs were soon out of our sight. The judge, standing on the tailgate of her truck, saw a little more than we did, but not enough to satisfy her. She wanted a re-run, but Steve and I had had enough. We said just score it, and agreed to end the hunt on this prelim run.

Sandia won the course over Maya by one point, but he went into the day trailing by two. The "cup" went to Maya.... L-R Chris Mason (breeder), Holiday "Cup", Maya, Steve Garth.

Congratulations Maya and Steve! The torch has been passed to the next generation of Galgos!

Traveling Light.

Last Friday morning I packed up my cameras, a laptop, a suitcase, and one male Galgo Español into the Escape. Leaving the Express, (not to mention Margaret, four dogs and a cat), in Boswell, Oklahoma, I headed West. My destination: The ASFA Region 3 Invitational in Stanley, NM.

It's been a long, long time since I've made a 650 mile road trip in a car. I've forgotten how hard it is, which is to say I re-learned to respect those of you who travel great distances to events every week, or even every other month.

I had to get used to using public restrooms! And filling the tank at the auto pumps at the Flying J's instead of the RV lanes. (There was good news at the pumps, however. Flying J in Wichita Falls, TX: $1.93/gal for unleaded- $1.85 with my frequent fueler discount!). Not traveling with all of our possessions meant I had to constantly worry that I hadn't left anything important behind. In fact, I did. We didn't load our dwindling inventory of "I'd Rather Be Coursing" bumper stickers. A minor inconvenience, I guess, in the grand scheme of things. Would have been worse to forget the camera, or memory cards.

I arrived exhausted, about 10 hours later. The last 250 miles, or so, being much faster than the first 400, as I finally got on the Interstate in Amarillo. I hate slowing down for all the little burghs in Texas. Other states have found a cure for this: they're called bypasses.

My hosts, Steve and Joan Garth, (whom you may remember from our Summer trip to California), were waiting with wine, and a comfort-food dinner. I tried to keep up with the conversation and be sociable, while I attempted to shake off the sensation 2 hours after I parked in their driveway, that I was still sitting in a speeding vehicle. At 7:30 I said I needed to put my head on a pillow for a minute. My minute ended when I got up the next morning to go to the trials.

What a great location for a lure coursing trial. I'll have pictures in a coming post. Not big trial... most of them in the West are smaller than what we normally see in the East, but the people are friendly, the dogs run as well as they do everywhere, and the lunches were good. Not to spoil the suspense, but a trial here leaves one hard pressed to separate reality from fantasy. As you'll see.

Saturday night, a large group had dinner at The Buford Steak House in Moriarty, NM. My filet was good, but I think many in attendance would have been more impressed had they not been out of many of the things they would have wanted: Merlot, Cobblers of any kind, certain side dishes, etc. Kind of inexcusable for early on a Saturday night. But like I said.. the meat was as advertised.

Sunday was the Regional Invitational trial. A little different from what we're used to, as Saturdays are the normal day in other ASFA regions. But their reasoning goes back to the small trial thing. Having a regular all-breed trial on Saturday gives dogs who don't get out much a chance to get the point they need to run in the Regional.

I should mention the weather. Fabulous. Saturday was sunny and 70's, and very, very dry. Sunday started the same, with some clouds coming in around lunchtime, followed by an increase in wind, and finally, as the trial was ending, a precipitous drop in temperature. We got out of there just in time. Many of the Coloradans left in somewhat of a panic as there was bad weather threatening the Raton Pass between New Mexico and Colorado.

It was raining Sunday night as I went to bed, but rain was forecast for Monday. "light showers... 30%" is what the Weather Channel said. No problem. I'd brought my rain gear. Sandia and I were going to chase some Jackrabbits today, along with a couple of his litter mates, so it was rather disappointing to look out the window this morning and see.... white. Blowing... white. Whiskey.. Tango... Foxtrot? As the locals are fond of saying to visitors in times like this: "Welcome to the East Mountains".

Snow on South Mountain

The snow wasn't going to stay on the ground for very long, but the wind wasn't going to let up either, and that effectively scotched our planned hunt. Dogs can get disoriented and lost when running in the desert in high winds. The forecast for tomorrow looks much improved, so we're going to hit the desert before I head back East to Oklahoma. I owe Sandia that much for being cooped up in the car, and in a house full of strange dogs and people all weekend.

Besides, we need to get back and keep Margaret in line. When I called her this morning, she was in Paris!!!

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...

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Texas. ;)

Wet.

Notice our schedule to the right, I've called the Raisin River River Raisin Rhodesian Ridgeback Club, (Yeah, I know what they call it, but my way is correct), trial "rained out". Actually, I don't know if the trial itself is rained out. I just know that I'm not going to stand out in a steady rain all day. And I'm not going to chance getting stuck in their very iffy parking area. It began raining here yesterday afternoon. We had a couple hours respite last night, but it began again in earnest around 1AM. It's been raining ever since. It's supposed to rain all day, and all night, too. And this isn't even "Ike", yet, the remnants of which are scheduled to roll in here on Sunday (My Official Geezer Birthday!), dropping up to 4" of rain! At least there's no wind, no lightning. Just rain.

Good day to watch some football, and maybe... finally... finish up the toilet project!