I went to the first of 3 practices at the Hoogland Center for Civil War dance with the Springfield International Folk Dancers. A bit rusty after a long break. I am not a paying member of their group that does dances other than Civil War. I belong to the Central Illinois Civil War dancers out of Peoria. It looks like we will be getting together again to dance at the summer evenings in the park.
Sophie and I made our first post pandemic in person hands on visit. Sophie's hospice visits are not resumed yet. The activity director took lots of pictures for their FB. She knows which residents have photo releases. She took one of me and Sophie w permission. TDI protects privacy with a photo release form. I wonder if I can share from their page so that they know it's not me behind that camera. She also told me they have 8 new residents incoming within the next week and they will be at full capacity. I guess many had to hold off during covid.
In the evening I took Sophie to the Springfield Visitor Center near the capitol building for our club's "walk about" practice. There was a simple nose work search set up but Amber didn't indicate the odor detection. Then she shut down on me and pulled me to the car after hearing firecrackers in the neighborhood. I then went to the Lincoln Tomb at 7PM to watch the 114th practice for our upcoming flag lowering. One of the others from our Soldiers Aid Society, Lisa, showed up and I didn't recognize her after over a year. She didn't color her hair and lost a lot of weight on Nutrisystem.
Wednesday morning I skipped exercise class at 8AM to attend agility practice in Mechanicsburg at 9AM. That was moved up because of the heat. I know that my dog shuts down as it gets hotter and hides in the shade. Upon arrival, I learned we were going to have a virtual trial ~ one that is recorded and sent to the judge. This run was called "jumpers". So now I wait.
In the evening I went to the Interveterans Council meeting. Poor turnout.
Thursday I went to our weekly dog practice. It's a good laid back group. Amber was distracted sniffing again. Kim had mentioned that terriers are hard to train. I heard that again from Shelly at the club followed by "I'm glad you didn't know that earlier". Well hell....that explains my mental stress with this dog. We usually have lunch afterward at the Sangamo Brewing pub but there was a wait for tables and I was expecting an estimate on the tree removal so I didn't stay. Well, he didn't show so I called and he had trouble with his lift. Then he said he'd come Friday and again a no show for the estimate.
I've been trying to declutter and wanted to let go of my walker that I had gotten 4 years ago via Facebook marketplace. Facebook disapproved my ad for it and even its appeal.
Friday evening I went to the club for dog practice. It's getting close to our obedience trial. That's the trial we failed in January and I got very mad about.
Saturday and Sunday Amber Ann and I went to Bloomington for Fast Coursing Ability Tests (Fast CAT) racing sponsored by the Greater Chicago Whippet Club and open to all breeds. The weather was excellent. I didn't have to leave right away since my kick off time is in the afternoon. This means I got to do Saturday morning yoga which was much needed for my shoulder blades. When I got to the McClean County fairgrounds, they were about an hour behind schedule. All dogs needed go walk a short distance before the run to be checked for lameness. Females needed a swipe with a tissue for season. My first two runs were good but they had difficulty with the timer so I had to re-run for a qualifying score. I was concerned about Amber getting tired.
On Sunday she had another re-run for the same reason. I saw a dog poop on the runway, a greyhound get loose and a pitbull get loose. Mary B released Amber and she took off after the lure with her leash in drag and that was the better of those 2 times. I held release a couple times for dalmatians.
Her time is on the back of these ribbons.
Amber was running about 16 MPH. Now I hope chasing that lure did not set a precedent of chasing critters off leash. Most of all, this was less stressful than rally and agility because it required little activity on my part outside of being a cheer leader at the end of the yardage. I didn't have to run with her and get winded. Well the fresh air can still be tiring. I brought a book for the long wait for our turn but didn't need it because I was so entertained watching all the other dogs. TALLY HO!
There were many things I could have done on Memorial Day but the first to grab that spot was the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum. Our briefing was more about the State of Sound exhibit and the fact that we didn't have to wear masks. My station this time was at "The Journey Part 1- The Pre-Presidential Years". A I liked that and met some interesting people.
I asked a more experienced voluneter for cliff notes on my station. He told me about the trees that were cast from originals but now hollow. Also for the little kids, there's a shape of an alligator in the tree. I tried to point that out to some of the kiddos and they thought it was cute but one just didn't seem to get it. I told his parents to work on his imagination. LOL
I was a bit hungry after my shift but wanted something small. I got a banana smoothie at Culvers with real stuff in it. Then I stopped by Camp Butler and it was just as busy as the museum. In the evening I went to dance practice.
RANT TIME
This week's rant. I have my TDI credentials and resumed visiting but new applicants must be vaccinated. I will have to face this when renewing in December. See screen shot of upcoming evaluations for Therapy Dogs.
Stay tuned for next week's rant.
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