Getting Through Challenges

SUMMARY: Like The Pattern in the Amber series, sometimes things are easy, and then you hit a veil...

From Facebook: First paragraph is a comment I posted Oct 27, 2019.

Lord of the Rings: My dad loved the books, my younger sisters loved the books, but every time I tried to read the first in the trilogy, it bogged me down in, I think, extreme detail, scene setting, and expository text. But in my junior year of college (or possibly a few years later) I picked it up again, and loved every word. At that point I wasn’t entirely sure which part I had had trouble with initially.

It's not that I didn't read: I read voraciously, and much of it was fantasy or science fiction. I'm sure that, by then, I had read the first 3 or 4 Amber books, and the Pattern intrigued me; but for a long time, LotR presented a veil that I couldn't get through.

[Corwin begins walking the pattern--] Then the thing began to curve, abruptly, back upon itself. I took ten more paces, and a certain resistance seemed to arise. It was as if a black barrier had grown up before me, of some substance which pushed back upon me with each effort that I made to pass forward. I fought it. It was the First Veil, I suddenly knew. To get beyond it would be an achievement, a good sign, showing that I was indeed part of the Pattern. Each raising and lowering of my foot suddenly required a terrible effort, and sparks shot forth from my hair. I concentrated on the fiery line. I walked it breathing heavily. Suddenly the pressure was eased. The Veil had parted before me, as abruptly as it had occurred. I had passed beyond it. [Read more of this excerpt.] - from Nine Princes in Amber, by Roger Zelazny

I also hit a veil when learning subtraction (though addition was simple) and division (though multiplication was simple). Eventually I earned a degree in Math, so apparently I made it through that particular Pattern.

I hit many veils in dog agility, things that I had at one time or another believed that I would never achieve: Getting a gamble. Earning a title.  Earning a more advanced title.  Understanding Snooker rules. Doing a smooth front cross. Earning a championship. Having a dog in the USDAA Top Ten.  Earning many championships with 4 different dogs. Still, I often felt that I had never truly completed that Pattern.

Once upon a time, I cared enough about it that I worked at it. But, true to my life's story, I seldom worked at it to the best of my potential. That felt to me like an overwhelming veil that enveloped all others. Sure, there were days or weeks where I concentrated on some particular skill. But then I'd slack off. Over and over.

Still, I'd say that I had a reasonably successful agility career. And I try hard not to think, "If only I had worked harder at _________."  That way madness lies.

But, whenever I hit a veil in any aspect of my life, I try to remind myself that working hard at getting through could help me to achieve the power of the Pattern, and gain satisfaction, joy, and energy to boot.

References:

• Wikipedia: The_Pattern_(The_Chronicles_of_Amber)#Amber_Pattern
• Sample agility Pattern (a Masters Snooker course):

Taking Tika From a Wild Young Thing to A Champion

SUMMARY: A bright memory, updated.

Posted on Facebook August 10, 2019.

As a younger dog, Tika was, at times, frustrating beyond belief. Independent and too dang smart, knowing what she could get away with when I didn't know how to fix it. For those who might be tempted to give up hope with their own crazy, challenging, overwhelming dog:

7 years after Tika retired from agility, in the 22" Performance category, she's still #13 over all in Gamblers, #11 in Jumpers, #11 in Snooker, and #13 in Standard. For "all-breed" (mixed breed), she's still #2 in Standard, #1 in Snooker, #1 in Jumpers, and #1 in Gamblers.

And I was able to hike off- and on-leash with her in so many places (well--not always perfect--but mostly).  (And so many other things, too: Tricks, visiting, being around any other dogs at any time...)

I'm proud of what we accomplished, and it paid off in spades in the immense joy I earned on and off the agility field with her.

Successes and Santa Teresa Park

SUMMARY: Went up a hill today with the dogs.

Really, it has been 2 months since I last posted here? Jeez. Hard to find good bloggers these days.

This morning was filled with successes.  I woke up not too late or too early... 7:30ish. That's good.  I didn't have a dizzy spell first thing. That's very good.  Got up, loaded up the car (put the crates back in that have been out since my trip to Wyoming... OMG almost a month ago!).

Chip hopped up into the crate with no fuss or bother! Huge success!  I've been trying to give him of opportunities to just get into and out of the car while I'm doing other stuff in the car or garage, sometimes feeding  him in the car, too.  Not huge numbers of opportunities, but some--and, yay, if he's back to his original willing-to-go self, that is a huge huge huge success.

Just taking the dogs somewhere for a hike is a success: Haven't been physically able, or mentally prepared, or too busy, or all three.  And this was a particular challenge--haven't been hiking up Coyote Peak since the Merle Girls died, and for the first time felt eager to do it with the new dogs, not overwhelmed with grief.

We went to Santa Teresa County Park.  Like a comfortable, familiar old rec room that I'd not visited much in the past 3 years. Morning was overcast and a bit foggy as we arrived at the entrance.

The road curves up through the park. My turkey feather came from here.

Parked in the main parking area, the Pueblo Day Use Area.  Lots and lots of parking. And I don't have to pay in county parks because last year I bought my lifetime senior pass.

As we drove in, we passed a flock of wild turkeys in the meadow below the road (those black spots, you know?). Sun still wasn't out, so it looked like a perfect morning for a hike.

No matter the season, day of the week, time of day, or weather, one nice thing about the park is that the parking lots are almost never even close to full, which means the trails won't be crowded, which means a nice, relaxing, peaceful hike.

Waiting patiently for danged Human Mom to stop taking photos and get us out of our crates.

Reminders of my old dogs pop up all the time. The bag of treats I grabbed for the hike still has the winning raffle tag with Boost's name on it. Success: I remember that fondly and wistfully and did not sit down on the pavement and start bawling.

Yay! On the trail! Sun is coming out, but still hazy enough and cool enough to be a pleasant walk.

Plus, many fascinating poops.  (Deer?)

Zorro seemed stunned that the seasonal pond was bone dry. He's never been here before, so maybe Chip said something to him.

Come ON cool it with the photos already! Another success was with passing dogs on the trail. Fortunately it's a wide trail; I'd get them both on a short leash hold off to one side of the trail (avoiding foxtails and poison oak) and give them treats as long as they weren't barking and making a fuss. They were both perfect except just once, last dog on our way down, when Zorro tried to jump Chip. I don't know what triggers that, but I was prepared and managed to keep Z away from C and then they were both calm again. This is wonderful, means  it won't be so terrible walking them when other dogs are around.

Aha! Can already see the radio tower at the top of Coyote Peak, rising from the remaining morning fog. Means that we're maybe halfway up already.  Feeling good--between knees, hip, back, and so on, I just wasn't sure whether I'd be able to get up the peak. I'm a wee bit tired but nothing I can't manage. Hooray!

Gate to keep cattle where they belong. This is new since I last hiked here--the park allows them to graze on the nonnative grass with the expectation that native plants and wildflowers will do better without that competition.

As we near the top, the first cattle that we've seen (those black specks, you know?).  Dogs were interested but not overly so. Other than cattle, mostly we saw people on bikes in tree-climbing gear coming up the hill, and a few people with their dogs.

At the top of Coyote Peak!  Revealing on the trail the downside of cattle grazing...

Wonderful view from up here, but the air quality was not good, so it's mostly haze.

"Haze." Or whatever. Over the city of San Jose. However, I can see MUTT MVR in the parking lot below! You probably can't... but maybe, if you look full screen. A bit above and left of the center of the picture.  It's only a mile hike, winding around the hillside, but over 500 feet up.

The highest peak in the background is Mount Umunhum. There's an old radar tower up there, the only thing left of the radar tracking city that used to be there, where military families lived and worked. Umunhum has been closed for something like 35 years, and today its remodeled mountaintop is open to the public for the first time, but only by reserved seats on shuttles for a tour. Which I have. So I'll be there later in the day.  Tomorrow, it'll be completely open.

Success! Made it to the top! Didn't have to stop and rest for long periods! Legs doing pretty good!  The first photo for my Coyote Peak Portraits in over 3 1/2 years.  There's Mount Hamilton with Lick Observatory in the background... if only it weren't so hazy, you could see the white domes there.

There's a wonderful sign at the top that points out things of interest so you can match them up with reality--but, as you can see over the top of the sign, TOO DARN HAZY to see much of anything. Still, nice view, nice place to sit and contemplate.

This represents the first time I've tried taking photos with the old smartphone that my sister gave me. Figured out how to use it (mostly) and figured out how to get them off the phone onto the computer. The final success for the morning!

Puppy on the bed all night!

SUMMARY: Luke succeeds at sleeping with the big dogs!

I have tried periodically to let Luke sleep on the king-sized bed with me and Chip, but every time I've lain down, he starts climbing all over me and biting at me and will not be deterred.  I usually give it 5 to 10 minutes, depending on my patience and fatigue level, but he has always ended up back in his crate.

Last night--success! Only about 2 minutes of trying to be an annoying puppy and then, voila, he slept on the bed quietly all night!

I kept thinking:

• On the down side, it would probably be nice long-term to have dogs who don't sleep on the bed.
• On the up side, getting him out of his crate every morning, when my back has is usually at its worst, has been a pain in the backside, literally. Often a very big pain. So, if this keeps up like last night, I'll no longer have to worry about that. (Just the small amount of bending required to release him. Tellin' ya, this back thing of mine is not playing by my rules.)

So, well, anything is possible, and we'll see how the champ does tonight!

USDAA Weekend Quickie

SUMMARY: Tika successful, Boost not--but yes--but no--

Rain rain rain, all day Saturday. Bleah. Sun came out Sunday afternoon but the weekend ended in a downpour, too.

Tika amazed me once again by Qing in all 12 Q-able classes this weekend. In USDAA! She's such a good girl, fixing things that I screwed up (but I think got lucky on one dogwalk contact call). The odds in my agility career of Qing that often in anything, let alone that many USDAA classes, are nigh impossible. Won Jumpers, Standard, Snooker, Grand Prix, and Steeplechase round 1 on Saturday; won Steeplechase round 2 ($8 winnings! woo hoo), Grand Prix, and Team Jumpers on Sunday. Admittedly, the 22" Performance crowd was very small this weekend--only 4 to 6 dogs entered per class--but I'll take the placements!

The DAM Team Q completed her Performance Tournament Gold (at least 35 tournament Qs, with at least 7 in each of the three tournaments). In just under 2 years!

Boost picked up a Pairs Q (which completed her Relay Silver--25 Qs), a Standard Q--in which she managed to place 5th of 28 dogs (not a super fast time, but others had faults)--and had me in tears at the score table in frustration with her, myself, and her agility career after our first team class of the day Sunday, Team Standard...what is frigging wrong with Just. Taking. Jumps. In front of you!?! And then finished the last individual Team class this afternoon, Team Jumpers, by OMG running a flawless run and WINNING! Out of 24 dogs her height (22" class), three were as much as half a second faster but had bars down. This is the way it should be!--and had me in tears at the score table in joy at finally FINALLY having a really nice run with no bobbles, hesitations, or screw-ups of any kind on either of our parts.

And that, kids, is it before I go crawl into bed.

51-Point Snooker Runs for All Of Us!

SUMMARY:  Boost, Tika, and friend/teammate Brenn finishing their runs yesterday!
(51 is the highest possible! Only 4 of 71 dogs made it--these 3 and Boost's sister Bette! (no photo))

Backfill: March 27, 2019

Thanks, Mary Phonenix, for these shots.

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