Fencing Bear at Prayer

After three-and-a-half years' constant practice, the Dragon Baby caught her first squirrel this week.  There we were, almost home from our lunchtime walk, and one minute she was next to me on the sidewalk, while the next she was emerging from the other side of a tree with a young squirrel in her mouth.  It all happened so fast, I wasn't quite sure what to think, never mind do, so I stood there, entranced, as the squirrel squeaked and the Dragon Baby tried to shake it just as she has her toys so many times.  But squirrels, unlike stuffed hedgehogs, have teeth and claws and muscles with which they can fight and move.  Just as quickly as she had caught the squirrel, suddenly it was away back up the tree, barking and looking down at us as the Dragon Baby, undaunted, settled back down on the sidewalk so as to keep an eye on her prey. And I thought it was bad when she ate the baby mouse !  When she caught the squirrel, my first thought was that she was surely goi...

Corgis on deck "Aw, Mom, I had a bath yesterday!" Down time "I'm ready, I'm ready!" The ring "My, what big teeth you have!" Corgi speed Three pretty maids, all in a row "How did I do? How did I do?"

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The f*cking cat did it again. A few years ago, I can't remember quite when, but it was sometime in the autumn, probably October, I had the clever idea that it might be possible to keep the dog from eating the cat poop by buying one of those top entry cat boxes that keep dogs out and yet let cats in to do their business. Almost immediately, the cat stopped pooping.  Then peeing.  Or so it seemed. What really had happened was that the cat started peeing in the corner of the back room in our apartment, well away from the traffic, so it was days before I could figure out what was going on.  The cat seemed fine, even though (to judge from her litter box) she wasn't peeing, so I didn't take her to the vet.  I just kept waiting to see whether she would a) seem sick, or b) start using her litter box again. She never did.  When I finally found where she had been peeing, the rug in the back room was soaked.  I tried cleaning it with all of the various pet odo...

Giving her new elephant a good seeing to.

Land's end Surf's up! The camera loves you, baby! (Photo by Rebecca Schneider, fellow Vet Jet) Huntington Dog Beach, Surf City, CA. Posted with Blogsy

According to R.T. Kendall, Jealousy: The Sin No One Talks About (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2010), in thirteen steps. Step One: Admit it to yourself . This is easy.  I know that I'm envious, jealous even.  It more or less defines my relationship with my siblings, and I have struggled for years with feeling envious of my colleagues and fellow fencers.  I am envious of my sister for being so beautiful , of my brother for his travels and his training in so many languages .  I am envious of my colleagues for the books that they have published and for their promotions to full professor, particularly those who have been promoted (unlike me) before publishing their second book .  You know, if you have been following me all these years on the blog, that I am envious of my fellow fencers , particularly those who have placed higher in tournaments than I have with fewer years of experience on the strip.   So, we're done with this step, right?  Wrong....

Okay, folks, here it is.  The Sermon.  I am taking a huge risk putting it out here before I give it at our university chapel on Sunday, but Prof. Boice also says that writers need to practice asking for feedback.  Please be gentle, I'm really scared about this.  NB I don't intend to read the footnote.  That is for your benefit.   And the opening sentence will be slightly different.  I should probably say a prayer--suggestions welcome. This is the psalm assigned by the lectionary for the Sunday that I have been asked to preach.  I've always had difficulties with this psalm.†  Perhaps because it is the one psalm that everyone seems to quote whenever they want to make a point about how loving and undemanding God is: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters.  He restores my soul.”  It all seems so saccharine and, well, fake. After all, who wants to ...

The Dragon Baby just caught and ate a baby mouse.  After wresting it from its nest out under a yucca plant on the Midway.*  While it was still wriggling.** I'm not sure how I feel about this.  But I bet you can guess how she feels! "Yum, mice!  When can we go hunting again?!" *At least, I think it was a yucca plant. It had long spiky leaves. **The baby mouse, not the plant.

  (click to enlarge)

Just taking a break .

Photo by Momma Bear

Photo by Momma Bear

The Dragon Baby with her Birthday Pig, minus ears

Joy, age 2  b. November 8, 2009

My dog has exactly the right idea.  Whatever she's doing, she does with her full attention, whether it's lying on the floor in the hallway or going outside to chase squirrels.  You never see her halfway: kinda relaxed or kinda watching the squirrels.  Her attention is fully on, and in, the moment.  Which means, true to her name*, she is never without joy, whether she has a hour to play in the back garden while I sit and read, or only a few minutes as I take her downstairs to pee.  An hour, a minute, it's all the same to her--because it's all the same to her.  She takes full advantage of every moment to sniff, to look, to be.  And then, she's coming back inside, as satisfied (nearly) with the momentary break from indoors as she is with a more extended walk.  Okay, so she tugs at the bottom of the stairs, just to make sure I'm serious, but then she is bounding back up, as cheerful and engaged in the moment as she was when we went down.  She d...

Can you see what she sees?

The Dragon Baby, on the lookout for squirrels