Updating History

SUMMARY: Recreating photos of yesteryear.

Do you love the photos that people take while trying to recreate photos from their youth? Like this site(43 people who flawlessly recreated their childhood photos)--which has ads galore and you have to click to see each next one rather than them being on the same page, but wonderful photos!

Seems to me that I've attempted these things at random times in the past, but remember only a couple of recent ones, and they're not complete attempts to match clothing and location, just positions.

Fair warning, there is melancholy in these posts, as well as fun.

(1) Even 2 years ago we knew that we wouldn't be able to get my mom up to the top of this dome. Even less likely now.  Dad really wanted it to happen (he took the photo), but now he'll never see it even if we do successfully recreate the whole thing.  Above Olmsted Point in Yosemite.

1962-----

2013--

We had to convince dad 2 years ago that it was not the stroll in the park that he remembered from when he was in his 30s, and that he'd have a rough time of it and mom just wouldn't be able to do it unless someone carried her.  You ever think, in retrospect, that Dad wanted this photo so much that we should've found a way to get them  up there?  Well, I had a wonderful time the day that we found this spot and took this photo and I'll at least cherish that.  I wonder--any chance that we could get all 3 of the oldest of us up there AND find someone(s) to carry mom up?


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(2)  When I learned that Boost would not be around much longer, I wanted to redo some of the old photos. This one, not in the same location, not with the same clothing, but the main characters are here.

2005

2015

And, of course, these (which I already posted back in January):

2002: Tika, Jake, Remington

2015: Tika, Boost, Chip, taken as I knew that Tika couldn't be around much longer. Already having trouble sitting comfortably--but she managed it for me, briefly. All three of them were such good dogs on this day.

So Many Things To Compare

SUMMARY: Comparing and contrasting. In a general sort of way.

I seem to spent a lot of mental energy--not at the forefront of my mind, but right behind it--comparing my various dogs and their behaviors before or after this that or the other thing.

Greeting me at the door:

• Tika, excited shrieking at the garage door
• Boost, barking and wagging like crazy at the garage door
• Chip, happy and wagging but no noise at the garage door as far as I can tell
• Chip after the other two are gone, wagging gently  at the garage door
• Chip after Luke arrived and is kept in his crate, standing at the top of the stairs near Luke's crate and watching me come in from the garage.

Stuff like that.

I sat on the glider in my yard briefly today. Poor thing, the wood is wearing out and probably should be replaced, but I'm not likely to do it. I used to sit on it all the time back at the previous house with a nice view of my garden and things going by in the street.  

Way back then, the late great Remington liked it, too, for sitting next to me or hunting—feet on the seat, paws on the back, scouting for squirrels (or barking at them if they were in the tree overhead). He remained oblivious to the rocking and shaking of the glider—scared the heck out of me, though, every time he'd see a squirrel in the distance and explode off of the glider, sending it reeling and crashing from side to side.

Chip--doesn't like things moving under him. Took weeks for him to finally get all 4 feet onto a wobble board (wouldn't stay there long or move much), and months for him to walk across a very low teeter.

But today, while I sat on the glider, he came on up next to me, one careful foot and one careful rebalance at a time. Stood there, legs shaking to try to stay balanced, then leaped off again. For a moment I had a flashback!

More Finchester Yellow Photos

SUMMARY: Such cuties.

Previous Finchester Yellow comparisons:

• Introducing the Finchester Yellow

Amber	Remington	Chip

The ears really tell the story.

Harder to tell in this photo: Amber is all yellow (no black on face), while Rem and Chip both have black muzzles.

Past and Present

SUMMARY: Dogs in front of the hot tub.

Update Feb 6: Additional photos

2002: Tika, Jake, Remington

Check out Tika's tipped-over ear tips! That pretty much went away very quickly and they went upright, with one tending to tip backwards.  Look how comfortably they're all sitting--these are dogs who are extremely accustomed to sit-stay!

2015: Tika, Boost, Chip (better arrangement of dogs and better poses than the one I originally posted)

2015 again: Love Chip's expression!

2015: Tika, Boost, Chip (the original photo I posted)

Tika now can't sit very comfortably and not surprisingly kept standing up (this is her in the process of getting up already, even though she was the last to be seated, and hence put her ears back as she did so).   Boost looks like she's accustomed to sit-stays although she's nearly doing the border collie vulturing thing.  Chip--was very concerned about why I wanted him to come over and why I wanted him to sit, and it shows a bit. But I did get his tail on the same side as Remington's!

I took a bunch of shots and this was the best. Might try again with chip closer to the camera and to Boost.  Never satisfied--

Sigh--the follow-up

SUMMARY: Comparisons

See, Boost was going to be my premier agility dog. No more rescues, no more dogs starting off in agility as an adult already. Bought her from a breeder with great parents (all of whom I knew already), got her as a puppy, did everything right from the beginning. Right?

Anyway, it's hard not to compare.

In the 6 trials after Tika's 6th birthday, she Qed in 28 of 63 runs, for a 44% Q rate. That was fairly well balanced--

Gamblers: 4
Jumpers: 5
Relay: 4
Snooker: 3 Super-Qs, 2 regular Qs
Standard: 5

Team Gamblers: 2**
Team Snooker: 1**
Team: 2

Steeplechase: 1
Grand Prix: 2

In the 6 trials after Boost's 6th birthday, she Qed 15 out of 72 runs, for a 21% Q rate. And not quite so balanced:

Gamblers: 2
Jumpers: 0
Snooker: 0 Super-Qs, 3 regular Qs
Relay: 4
Standard: 2

Team Gamblers: 1
Team Jumpers: 1
Team: 2

Steeplechase: 0
Grand Prix: 0

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**NOTE: This was before individual team events were Qable. But given that she was 2nd or 3rd out of 20 to 40 dogs, I'd say those would safely have been Qs.

Sigh

SUMMARY: Why I'm sometimes discouraged.

Tika's awards from the last two weekends:

Boost's awards from the last two weekends:

Comparing Dogs

SUMMARY: When did who get what?

Well, it's true that Boost is somewhat better at some things than Tika was at her age. In fact--well, Boost is better at almost everything than Tika. Except, no surprise, Grand Prix (kinda), Snooker (a bit), and Jumpers (a bunch). It's good to remind myself, though, that she does in fact have strengths.

I'm going to be offline for 3 days most likely, so I'm setting this up to post this weekend.

Title or achievement	Tika age	Boost age	notes
MAD	4.5	5.5	Tika wins (requires 3 Standard and 1 each of Gamblers, Jumpers, Snooker, and Relay)
Standard Master (5 Qs)	5	4.5	boost wins
Standard Champ (10 Qs)	6	5.5	boost wins
Relay Master (5Qs)	4.5	3.5	boost wins
Relay Champ (10 Qs	5.5	4.5	boost wins
Relay bronze (15 Qs)	6	5	boost wins
Gamblers Master (5 Qs)	5.5	4.5	boost wins
Gamblers Champ (10 Qs)	6	5.5	Boost wins
Tournament Master (10 Qs, at least 2 each)	5.5	4.5	boost wins
Title or achievement	Tika qty	Boost qty	notes
Steeplechase Qs at age 5.5	5	9	boost wins
Clean Grand Prixs at age 5.5	2	2	tie--but note, until recently, dogs could Q with 5 faults. Tika had 12 more 5-fault Qs at this age; boost has only five 5-fault GPs. So really Tika wins.
Snooker SuperQs at age 5.5	2	0	tika wins
Jumpers Qs at age 5.5	5	1	tika really wins