Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day Weekend 2010

Growing up, Memorial Day was always observed properly. We cut peonies out of the garden, arranged them in containers and took them to the different cemeteries and decorated graves of the relatives. We went to parades and of course put up our flag. Our parents called the occasion "Decoration Day" as often as they called it Memorial Day. Now, I just put out my flag and think about the day. This weekend has been more about recuperation and resting, but also remembrance. A friend is writing a book (and soon will have a blog) about souls lost at sea and artistic memorials to them. It will be interesting to see the book unfold. Maybe the book will be ready for next year's Memorial Day. When the blog is up and running, I will post the link.

Meanwhile, we went to Zamora for lessons on Saturday. The famous gale-force Zamora Wind was in full effect, however, so we opted not to work Coal. Whistling at a distance would have been nearly impossible and working out in the open, miserable for all. But Rime had a good session since he is working more closely at hand. Rime is making progress in his work. We're doing baby outruns, developing his lift, and starting little baby drives. His stops are improving (but not quite there yet!). Rime is very keen and there is a lot there to work with, including some really nice natural flanks. He is different from Coal, however, so I am very thankful to have input on how to proceed.

Yesterday, we trimmed feet on some of our sheep. Rime did most of the sorting job to separate our 25 or so head from the other 55 they are running with. He's doing well but got hot near the end and started to lose his cool...so someone else was nice enough to finish the job for him. After we were finished, as it happened, there was a pen full of lambs who had never been worked separately before (with one adult ewe). Coal got to play with these just a little bit...which made him stand up and take notice! We only worked them a couple of minutes before returning them to their respective moms.

At home, Chief and Coal have been playing endlessly (especially Coal) in the big 300 gallon water tank. Rime is not sure about going in, although he loves water. I am planning to go out today and look for a kiddie pool for him. It's really nice to have an extra day off.

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