catch a wave

" Catch a wave and you'll be sittin' on top of the world " - Beach Boys

Since I grew up on the shore and swimming was a important part of summer activities as a child, I liken body surfing (no, never tried surfing with a board as I am much to spastic to know I could never stand erect on a surfboard long enough to even entertain riding a wave) ocean waves to competing in sheepdog trials.

As a child there was nothing grander than hitting that sand at a full run , feeling its warmth squishing though your toes as you gazed at the waves you soon would be swimming in. The ever quest to catch that "perfect" wave that picked you up and carried you all the way to the shoreline and gently slipped away from under you , leaving you full of exhilaration. Up you got and back out looking for the next best wave.
Over and over again you would see a wave and start swimming as hard as you could to the shoreline.
Hoped you timed it just right to catch that wave .
Many many times your timing was just slightly off, or the wave was not a good one to give it a go.
It either grabbed you and hurled you forward as you struggled to keep with it and stay on top,  If you stayed with it , you were thrown down on the shore and you quickly got up to your feet so it did not drag you back out and allow the next wave to crash on top of you and beat you up.
Or a wave that started out brilliant only to peter out half way and leave you bobbing or the worse case, it ferociously crashed on top of you, grinding you down to the ocean floor. There you would be rolled , spun, scraped , dragged across the bottom thinking you may drown. You were spit out on the shore, a bit disoriented. Maybe even a little embarrassed as the people standing at the shore line were certain to see you washed up .

After a moment of regrouping, heading out a little deeper into the water to discreetly remove the ten pounds of sand that were now located in the crotch of your bathing suit , you headed back out to deeper waters...because you knew in your heart of hearts that there would be another great wave to catch.

Even if you were there all day and there was not one good wave, you left feeling it was worth it and the next time the waves just may be better. Sometimes the waves may have been very rough and you were a fool to have gone out there swimming, leaving you just a bit tentative about getting out there again.

But again you did go. Once you got over the initial shock of the water and were again looking for that perfect wave, you had all but forgotten about a bad go out there.

When you catch that wave (or have a good run at a sheepdog trial) there in no better feeling. When things don't go as you had wished and the wave eludes you  or beats the crap out of you, you still need to keep heading out into deep water. For me at least quitting is not an option.
That is the only place you can take a chance on the "perfect" wave.
Standing on the shore with the water gently lapping your calves will only cheat you of the pure enjoyment of trying to master something that is not ever completely in your control.
Good waves , perfect timing and a little luck is where it's at.

When you hit the wave just right it will stay with you a lifetime , you will forever be on the quest for the next perfect wave .

blah blah blogging

Well I'm not one who is going to update if there is not much to say. Do you REALLY want to know about what I ate or what store I may have visited  or if I slept well or not? Yeah, I did not think so!

I went to another dog trial a few weeks ago. Ran Dream and Spirit in Open and Rush and Flint in Nursery. What can I say other than I bombed. Dream ran the best of my dogs and that is saying very little. Spirit was not worth commenting about. She has had intermittent lameness on her left and then right front. She did test positive last year for exposure to Lyme Disease so I have her on "Doxy". Still I am not using this as an excuse for her poor work.

 Again I did get several nice comments on my two young dogs from some seasoned Open handlers as well as Amanda Milliken ( Clive is their sire ) commenting on her liking both, Flint a bit more than Rush. The Nursery class started off the trial with un dogged sheep. Both pups worked with valiant effort and managed to get sheep down to me each time, but they were way out of their league. Running out of time without completing the drives or Rt's for loosing them to the exhaust due to running sheep and dogs too wide going around the post..Both dogs crossed over at my feet the first go. Since this has happened with Rush at both trials (granted her first trial she was insistant that the sheep were behind us after she saw them come out of the exhaust pen) and at the first run this last trial with Fint it is something I really need to address! Second go both had beautiful outwork.Their first trial was only one Nursery class and this last was two runs. I at least this time was able to get good outwork on the second runs and need to figure out why they were having issues with "setting up" to run out for the sheep.. There is hope just the same!

Still I was not unhappy with what they did, just wished they had done a bit better overall.

My wool sheep are just about finished with lambing (I have two left who were exposed to the Ram , but neither looks very big) have a nice assortment of lambs . Several colors. Seems I am 50/50 with break down of both hair and wool in sex but ewes are just one each more in both.

Here is a small sample of this years wool lambs

I have started tearing down a fence line that was four strand barb wire and wobbly posts. It took me several days to remove the wire and pull posts out but hopefully Paul and I will start setting posts and stringing the new woven wire this weekend.

The weather has been very temperamental this spring and once again we had some terrific winds blow through late last week and toppled that white Birch tree again. Paul and I topped the high branches while it was layed on it's side and we pulled it upright again. I think it should handle the winds better now that we made it's center of gravity just a little lower. It's blowin' to beat the band today so should be a good test to the theory!

So far this spring we have had late snows, below average temperatures, flooding rains strong winds and or tornado's and just a few days ago three days topping out at 90 F each day. Yesterday was 92 and today it is hovering about 70 with 20 to 30 mph winds. Tonight it is to go down to low 40's! Wonder what Mother Nature has planned for Summer ???

Lastly I'd like to share something I found while out on a walk with the dogs (well to be honest Bracken located it!) A clutch of wild Turkey eggs! I thought it was pretty cool to see them. Not much of a nest builder they seem to be. These eggs were on the ground in some tall brush just under a smallish Multi Floral Rose bush. Mama flew up into a tree when we stumbled on her. I hope she hatches them out and was not too upset with us.