Oh my, I overslept this morning, a rare event for me, and my plans of writing a substantial blog this morning are buried under the mess of blankets and covers that I threw aside when I finally woke up and looked at the clock. Holy moly. But I’ll write from the road and keep you up on the first 2 days of APDT. (I am leaving Friday morning, so I won’t be able to report on the rest.) I am looking forward to so much of the first two days: I can’t wait to meet Vickie Stillwell and Kyra Sundance, and will attempt to forgive them for both being young, thin and drop-dead gorgeous. The symposium on canine cognition will be a highlight for me, and as soon as my part is over (my laptop is randomly choosing not to play my videos–if you see me licking my paws and stress yawning before my talk that’s why) I will love being there.
Meanwhile, here’s what I’ll miss at home. The grass is gone in the big hill pasture, and the only really good grass in on the front lawn. Just to the right of the photo is a county road, and I only can let the sheep graze on the lawn because I can count, 100 %, on Willie to keep them in the yard and off the road. Of course I’m out there too, and my favorite part of every day in fall is spending about 20 minutes beside the sheep, listening to them rip grass and move around the yard. There is something so primal and deeply relaxing about being beside a grazing animal. My sister is a brilliant writer, and when she came out to visit we sat with the sheep and she said “Oh my, now I get it. ‘So sheep may safely graze.'” Be safe Willie and woolies, I’ll miss you.
Taryn says
Your comment about listening to the sheep rip grass really brought up some memories for me. Growing up, I always had a horse. And like your home, the best grass was often found in the yard and not the pasture, so I would let my horse free to graze and I would lie in the grass near him/her. I would watch those silly horse lips grab and rip, grab and rip, while enjoying the smells of the grass and the horse. Ah, such good days, appreciated all the more now, as I spend way too much time indoors with a PC.
Heidi says
Oh, how I miss the Wisconsin countryside in the fall! Having moved from Madison to Denver two years ago, these pictures give me pangs of homesickness. (Of course, come winter, I’ll be smiling about my decision to move…)
Roberta Beach says
When I had my horses, I, too, loved to just sit outside the barn listening to them munch their feed and hay. Have a great two days; look forward to what you bring back. Boy, the dog yards/field could use a couple sheep instead of mowers; what a much nicer sound.
Alexandra says
When I was in 4H as a kid and hung around horses all the time, I used to really enjoy hanging out in the pasture and watching/listening to them eat. It was always a nice, cozy sound in the winter time to hear all the horses eating their grain and hay in the barn. To this day, that smell of horses & hay is very soothing to me.
Janet says
Welcome to Atlanta! I love reading your blog and staying in touch with Wisconsin, where my husband and I lived for 20 years. We are now in Atlanta, and love it here too. I am learning a lot from your books. Thank you so much! Hope you enjoy being in Atlanta!
Denise says
One of these years I’ll get to an APDT conference; they sound wonderful. Your photos are wonderful. This one in particular is so relaxing somehow! Looking at it got me wondering though. Will’s ears are back and if I were looking at my non-BC in that position, I might think he was stressed. I know BCs tend to be obsessive workers but what’s their state of mind when they are engaged in something like holding sheep? Are they so intent that it becomes stressful despite the obsession? Are they so focused they are oblivous to stress? How long can they focus like that without it taking a toll? Just curious. Lovely dogs but I’d rather live with my crazy Eskie any day of the week! 😉 Good thing there are so many types of dogs out there. There are good matches for everyone, if only people would do the research and think hard about their own personalities.
trisha says
To Denise: Dogs can indeed be stressed when working, but in this case I’d venture that Willie’s ears are back because he is attending to me (wondering what the heck I’m doing?).
I’m in Atlanta, just heard Alexandra Horowitz’s Keynote address on the umwelt of the dog. EXCELLENT talk, very articulate and interesting. I’ll write more about this when I write a post from here, but ‘umwelt’ refers to the dog’s world; both his or her sensory perception (oh so different than ours) and what he or she makes of what is being perceived. Many great reminders to us that our dog’s world is not our own. (Ex: Your dog knows your knees far better than you do. Ex: When you speak loudly to your dog, or laugh, or scold, you send out a blizzard of new scents through your mouth! Great perspective, hey?)
Gotta go work on my own talk!
Rusty says
The comment about the sheep tearing the grass reminds me of a long weekend I spent at my sister’s wilderness cabin north of Ely, MN. Listening to the wolves howling at night was so relaxing and stress relieving. I can’t wait to go back up there again.
I love the picture of Willie watching the sheep. It speaks volumes.
Melanie S says
Ah, the deep contentment of being near grazing animals. I love being either bareback on my horse as he grazes, leaning against his shoulder as he grazes, or lying nearby in the grass as he grazes. Sigh…
And hanging out with my three sheep as they meditate (chew their cud) is another version of grazing animal soothing-ness.
And over here, south of Sydney in mid-Spring, having had Plenty of rain in the last couple of months, there is much grass and much grazing being done. Lovely!