Two Months!

How can this be? The past two months have been very busy with Honor Flight (more on that later when I figure out how to post a slideshow), when our hub took 100 WWII vets to Washington DC to see their memorial. It was a great trip. We had 50 guardians---volunteers who each paid for the privilege of helping these American heroes. But, as I said, more on that later.

I am going to do a little catch up here, working back in time. Yesterday was the Teacup Dog Agility Association (TDAA) Tournament in Grants Pass. The last event I attended was back in September, shortly before I fell out of sight on these pages. There was a heat wave at the time (keep in mind that Grants Pass is not known for cool summer weather without a heat wave). It was over 100 degrees. We were in a horse barn that was fine for us and the dogs, but heaven for the millions of flies that were covering everything, including us and the dogs. The misters that were blowing cooling water into the barn were turning the sawdust/dirt into mud, so it all added up to a memorable experience. This time, the temperature was notable in that it never reached 50 degrees, and hovered around 40. Same open barn, only this time it was rain that was turning the sawdust/dirt into mud. We were freezing. Now, please know that I am not complaining, just noting that one of the advantages to running agility is that it puts you in situations in which you normally wouldn't find yourself after a certain age and there is something to be said for that.

There is also something to be said for small dogs, as you can use them as little body warmers, as shown in these photos. Okay, some of them are just wrapped in quilts or cute little outfits, but the chihuahuas are often inside someone's jacket with just their heads poking out. My corgis are not the kind of dogs that wear clothes or could fit inside my jacket so we just toughed it out. The cold had a less than positive effect on their performance however. They were invigorated, and inspired to design their own course so that they could run really fast and work up some body heat. But the upshot of it was that we didn't do very well. Emma did place and qualify twice, and Raleigh once, so it wasn't a total bust. And even though we left a day early, it was great to see all of those little dogs and their owners, and really appreciate all of the work that goes into making an event like that happen.