“I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center.” Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Lure Coursing in New Zealand


















We were invited to join a group of sighthound owners to come lure coursing on Sunday. The weather could not have been nicer, and the scenery was of cows ("beefies") and red deer grazing in the paddocks. Wendy, our host, is a Borzoi breeder we met at a dog show a few weeks ago, and has a lot of property south of Auckland. She is just getting started in lure coursing. She took this photo of Cerebus, shown on the right, and I took one of her Borzoi, on the left. Barb, Darin, and I brought Fargo and Cerebus out for fun with the other dogs: a young Norwegian Elkhound, several Whippets, and several Borzoi. Fargo, the Rottie, is not fast but demonstrated for all watching the enormous "drive" that motivates him to chase the lure. He had such a great time, as did Cerebus. Afterwards we had a BBQ at Wendy's house.
Barb and Eric got 3 new calves on Saturday. One of them will be for Darin and me. They are Angus x Fresian.
The turkeys had taken up residence across the road a ways, and on Saturday we went down to try to herd them back. A neighbor managed to catch one after it ran up his driveway, and Darin caught another, and they are now back on Barb and Eric's property. We hope they'll stay this time, but really have no way to keep them here. The third hen was not in sight when we caught the other two, but she's still around- probably sitting on eggs.
The cicadas hatched today in the Auckland Domain. I walk through there almost daily, between buildings for work, and yesterday it was quiet. Today, the trees were buzzing loudly. None out in Swanson, yet. Soon I'm sure.