with posts on “Build It Green” in Phoenix,  Habitat for Humanity Green Builds, Earthdogs,Billie Rosen, State of Biz in our Quad-Cities area, a local Real Estate update and Prescott restaurant reviews
as well updates on No AZ dog trials and Bark in the Park…..all
pending…..I have some sort of “hand and arm” issue”, hopefully not diagnosis initially rendered but in any case way too much time on puters…sigh!

Whatever it finally is “called”..typing and mousing are being kept to a serious minimum and the blog, so long overdue for updates will remain with updates pending.
Keep watching! Working to find a way to get this moving forward again!   Perhaps the Belgian Sheepdogs can “Paw” the posts !

Remember to come and out support the runners at Prescott’s annual, “Whisky Row Marathon” May 2nd, starting on the Square!

Once again, I find myself in the car heading down the mountains in the dark to Scottsdale, Drogo in his kennel and more “stuff” in the back with him than I want to think about.  Why am I doing this yet again?  Well, the Fiesta Cluster is a great series of shows….with Conformation, Rally, Obedience and Agility…four days plus of dogs and more dogs.  Still, with my insane corporate work schedule and training other dogs at 3 places….mine get way less time than I want to give them.  Life on the Farm is a lot less the bucolic paradise promised and more like “A Stranger in a Strange Land” than imaginable.  Yet, here we go….another trip to “town”!

This time a different purpose, training at the trial.  Drogo has become so used to working on his own equipment or the kennels/facilities we train at that the noise and frenetic action of people and dogs at trials has become foreign to him.  So on my one weekend off in months, I gladly “donate this to the cause”, the greater good….my dog!  How did we do…about what expected, I trained in the ring and gladly paid the price for it.  One of the local trainers asked “What was I doing”???? ………….so I explained. 

Hard for someone to understand unless they live in the very quiet atmosphere of the Quad Cities…..and quiet it is.  You can hear the occasional plane or helicopter loudly roaring through the skies and hear the sounds of a familiar owl or cow clearly in the still night air and protected dark skies.

Shot dozens of photos and tossing just a few into this post for “flavor”.  Next year…make this show a “GO” decision…you will enjoy it as much as our guests the next day.  Loved the fun, food, friendly people and hundreds of smiling dogs! Just click on any of the thumbnails below to see the happy dogs and their people in detail!

A great weekend away from the stress of jobs, back-stabbing local business owners, over-commitment, visitors, deadlines, and yes, the joy of life on the farm.  Now heading back up the hill to all that we escaped…..it seems welcoming once more with sunset around a warm fire just a short 1.5 hours away………..and it does seem so much faster going home these days.

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

 Happy V-Day Belg-L!

A 16th birthday “Thank You!”, from your favorite Belg-L rehome, Bay aka Bay Bay. Thanks to my first Mom Terri and Grandma Elaine for finding me a “retirement home” (LOL!) through Belg-L.  Too many singles and no majors..sigh, what’s a 27″ big old fashioned Groen boy to do? Well, agility, herding, obedience, and raising two impossible puppies for my second Mom for starters! When I was 6, Grandma Elaine posted on Belg-L that they were looking for a new home for me, son of her Charlie. My “Mom to be” was on a business trip and getting her Belg-L fix in a hotel room, so the story goes, and she read the post.  Emails flew around the world for several weeks and then I found myself in a new jumbo crate on a plane from St. Louis to Los Angeles! Hollywood !!!!!!!
There on the tarmac I caught a glimpse of my new Mom, the crate opened and
I slowly oozed out in all my black fluffy huge glory. Love at first lick!..I reached up, not too far ’cause she isn’t very big and licked her face. Then pulled her madly to some nearby bushes………it had been a long flight! We bonded for life then-now 10 years later; nothing has changed except that we are both a bit more frosted!

Mom:
It’s true, he helped control my first Belgian and reluctantly raised my
Drogo puppy and now is harassed by my Char puppy, who Bay also helped raise.

Bay is the love of my life, with a CD,TT,HT,HS after his name, as we were not a “retirement” home, by any means.  He has done everything I asked and so much more.  The “Perfect Belgian”, he has been an amazing ambassador for the breed charming all wherever we traveled.  He’s let kids ride him and hang off his neck, he’s educated entire vacation towns on the breed, been photographed and featured on store websites and has never had a bad day or done anything “imperfect”  This “lapdog wannabe” has been my best friend for 10 years. 

We moved to semi-rural No. AZ a couple of years ago, my first Belgian going “to the Bridge” at almost 13 during that time; leaving Bay (and me) more than a bit despondent as they had been together every day.  Our acreage in AZ cheered him up and he’s been roaming the fields with glee ever since, gazing at the passing cows and horses and watching incredible sunsets.  Now, that he’s slowed down a lot and isn’t always feeling well. His favorite pastime is a short roam and then curling up in the near field for a long nap where he soaks up the
sun.or snow, for hours at a time.  He is so peaceful. Bay sleeps with me every night creating a “bit” of jealousy in the pack.

Life without him is unthinkable, yet we know to savor each moment now and makes every day as perfect for Bay as possible. For today, his 16^th Birthday, after work, if weather allows the two of us will take a short walk and look at somesheep……how he used to love to herd! Then this vegetarian mom is cooking him the annual huge heart shaped steak! Bay will get lots and lots of hugs and a gigantic stuffed toy to bring to bed at night and eventually, and later when the moment is right, shred into tiny unrecognizable pieces, the best part of any toy!
——————————————————————–
And now…thinking back on that holiday weekend, when Bay had to be helped to the Bridge………….and what led up to that moment….. a series of email between the 3 significant women in his life……….his “breeder”, his first “Mom” and me, “A”.

My friend,
Well, Bay is old and declining in health.  I know how hard it must be
for you to see this as Bay has always been such a strong dog in robust health.  It does sound like bad news right now.  I guess you have to prepareyourself mentally for the day Bay is no longer with you.
    E

Dear E,
Hard to deal with Bay…he had such a bad day yesterday he didn’t eat more than a few “cookies” no breakfast or dinner…apparently slept most of the day….in the windy field.  Got up to potty and drink a few times and wentback to sleep.
This morning, when we got up, he was very unsteady on his paws and bumping into the hallway walls on the way outside. Have a feeling that from now on, we will have good days and bad.  Right now
more good than bad….but who knows. It is very very sad.
A

E & T……………….The long Goodbye-
I have been blessed to have had Bay Bay for a very long time and to haveknown for the past 18 months that he was failing.  Watching him fade awayhas been painful and yet glimpses of the “young” Bay show all the time andwhat memories they bring back.

For the past few months, it’s been clear that although he seemed fine, eating a lot, as usual…. more mobile than a while back, he wasn’t “Bay” very often. Lately he’s been very unsteady on him paws and loosing mobility in his rearand is quite thin.

The past week he’s had some not so great days and sometimes needed assistance getting up.  I was up all night with him as he fell a few times and needed help.  This morning, I was able to get him up and out to his field where he spent the day in the shade of a large tree wind through his coat, smiling at the cows in the field below. Having room service, me, bring him cookies and water regularly. But Bay Bay couldn’t get up at all today.
I promised him and me that when he couldn’t get up and move around, I wouldn’t frustrate and upset him by allowing him to have no quality of life.  Now today, I look at him and don’t want to make this choice.  I’ll see if he gets stronger tonight and how he is tomorrow.  He isn’t in any pain at all…just can’t get around.  I however am beside myself in tears. If he can’t get up again…I think I have to make the choice. 
A

My friend-
It must be very difficult for you to let Bay Bay go, but it might be time.  We all wish Bay could live on forever, but this is not the cycle of life.
For a long time we took our Rafer on his last vacations.   Then, finally, when he could no longer get up by himself, I had put him to sleep. It was so hard to let him go, but I finally did at age 17.  His body just wore out and it was time.
 It almost sounds like it’s Bay’s time now.
The good news is Bay Bay lived a long wonderful life with you and was much loved.  Bay deserved a home like yours and he got it half way through his life.  Actually, Bay lived longer with you than a lot of Belgians live in their entire lifetime and he was a senior when you got him. I can never thank you enough for providing Bay such a wonderful
Tears here too…he has had such a wonderful life with you and I know you will miss him greatly when and if the time has come now.   It is always a such a hard and difficult decision to make,  he will always be with
you…even if you can’t see him, hear him or touch him.  A spirit such as his goes on forever.
Take care, my thoughts are with you.
E

My Friend-
Yes, Bay’s body is shutting down and it is probably time for him to go. I know how hard this will be for you, but Bay deserves a dignified end to his life. I am so glad that you found a vet that will come to your home rather
than taking Bay to the vet. I will be thinking of you and Bay.  I am so sorry, yet very happy that Bay had this wonderful life with you.  Thank you so much.
 E

E & T
Thank you both …..
here is, I discovered from the Vet’s office and my Mal friend , “Visiting Vet” in the No. AZ area…with lots of farms and retired people she does all her work in the field.  She was very helpful on the phone…confirmeour worst fears.  Bays body is failing him and he is shutting down.She will be out to the house early in the morning and Bay will be in his
favorite field under his favorite tree watching the horses and cows at the neighbors’ ranch. Where he is right now. ……. I’m leaving work now and going home and will stay there all day with him.

Thank you both for entrusting me with this amazing dog. Viewing that emaillate one night in a hotel room on business trip changed the course of my life, enriching it beyond my imagination.It may be a long time before I post this to Belg-L….Thank you for Bay…..
A

And so on Valentines Day, his Birthday, letters, photos and thoughts still travel between all those who had Bay in their lives………….bound together foreverr by this gentle loving soul who gave so much to so many…………………

 “A total eclipse of the heart………………………Turn around bright eyes, Turn Around ” ……………..Bay

“Wags”..one of my favorite annual events. 

 Where can you find a well produced dog show with the proceeds going to a great non-profit and friendly smiling faces everywhere!  “Wags for Wishes“…..benefiting the Arizona Chapter of the Make A Wish foundation.

I actually arranged to have the day free of Agility classes, giving 5 classes in two locations the day before and finished all my “homework” from my job early, very early in the morning. Friend and I packed Drogo and all his “stuff” into the car , leaving the younger dog to a day of rest “at home alone”. Yikes!  Somewhat trepidacious, giving him a great new toy and knowing it would be destroyed by the time we returned home….wondered if a “puppy cam” might be a good investment soon.

Had friends entered in Agility but not knowing until the last minute if I could go, had decided just to let Drogo try a few new sports….Lure Coursing, “Lure for the Cure” (which he tried for the first time recently at a trial and LOVED!) and thought we’d take a “freestyle” lesson having recently gotten hooked on the concept after seeing some amazing videos of this art form taken to a new level in Europe. 

Beautiful weather in the Phoenix Metro and we were shedding clothes all the way down….it was 25 degrees at home! Off came the down, the mufflers, the sweaters and down to a little Tee and a car full of clothes! Drogo, as usual, settled into his car crate for a nap..a far cry from his carsick miserable puppy days.  Nothing worked to cure that…even the “Ginger” fix…he just thankfully, finally outgrew this malaise.

We arrived early in the day, greeted by free parking !!!!!! Finding smiling volunteers, a gorgeous facility that was well laid out and a light crowd which got much heavier as the day wore on. 

Lure coursing was dynamic, unfortunately as we watched all the large dogs missing a tight turn and going over the far fence, left to their own devices to return to their people,  we had to decide to pull Drogo.  Didn’t want to lose  my Champion and “Demo” dog to a bad fence. Darn!  What to do?

  Well our favorite, Herding was nearby, facilitated by the Arizona Herding Association, and I had actually scribed for this judge at a local trial a few years back.  It was just an Instinct Test and Drogo had a couple of years of training with an amazing trainer and judge, Judy Vanderford, aka “Aunt Judy”.  He was amazing, but cunning and fast and as much as we loved this sport, for many reasons the move to AZ put an end to this part of our lives. There was just no “Aunt Judy” for us in the Quad-Cities. Darn!  So I talked to the folks and said, “he was a really tough dog but had some training could we still run?”  “Of Course”, they said…driving revenue for the cause, gladly given.  Our turn came fast.  Drogo didn’t hesitate, they took him in and I followed.  Wisely thought they could run him instead of me as I had a feeling he’d be a “bit” difficult.  LOL!  After the “trainer” couldn’t slow him down the Judge, master trainer, got in  the arena with them and the two of them got the Drogo off the sheep.  Poor Drogo, he could have gone on forever!  He looked at me “Mom, I want to go again”! Sigh! Once was enough for the trial folks to say nothing of those poor, now tired, sheep. I still feel bad that he hasn’t had sheep so will be calling on another member of the Prescott Arizona Kennel Club soon to see if perhaps we can work out a “deal” for some sheep time!  I must be a really bad dog Mom…depriving him this way. 

We met some people who had come to an “Agility Fun Day on the Farm” I had produced a few weeks back with their talented Terrier and a vendor with gorgeous Malinois that we had met recently at an agility trial.  
Ran into a woman who mistook my Drogo for a friend from New Mexico’s Belgian, Pogo and had a bizarre little conversation about this which then traveled through several dog lists…go figure!  Drogo exercised his “shopping gene” and spent some of my hard earned, very hard earned $, on some tug toys to share with his little brother. He was also treated, petted, kissed and flirted with by humans and some gorgeous dogs throughout the day.  One happy Belgian Sheepdog!

Made some new friends too.  Drogo makes friends everywhere we go, taking a page from his late big brother Bay, he is a wonderful ambassador for the Belgian Sheepdog breed.  We had a blast, watching dock diving and shooting some photos.  Thought long and hard about trying this, but after watching so many serious ball driven dogs balk at chasing the toy down into the water and knowing our ball drive was minimal, I decided watching would be just fine.  Besides,what would I do with that big wet dog on the long way home?   

The time to leave came much too soon and the trip home seemed both endless and too short.  Half a day away from the work that never seems to end…the job that always follows me home and everywhere else!  Clothes hastily shed in the car were gathered up and added  back on quickly with a 40+ degree temperature difference between the trial in Phoenix and the Quad-Cities farm. Always nice to go down to the “Valley” to thaw out! A business meeting and then a lunch meeting with a business friend pending this week will allow for another “thaw” day.

Passing through the mountains on the way up the hill is always a marker….of beginnings and endings or time and temperature, of quiet contemplative time without cell connectivity and anticipation of whatever will be waiting for our return to “The Farm”.

Laissez les bon temps rouler! 

This is a town where “success” is measured in foot traffic not dollars and local businesses sold on “opportunity” which they receive.  In which case this event a raging success, for a group of small towns.   But given the economic temperature of the world these days…well more than a few unwhispered comments were circulating even during the event.  So why, oh why is another town nearby deciding to do their own based on another holiday?  Well a local business, heavily invested in the “doggie world” is pushing it…………Ah, life in small towns!  Marketing pros cringe at the “Chamber-centric” incestuous churning of business, but it is the heart and soul of these places and truly what charms the newbies the most.  “Everyone is so Friendly”,  we all say when we arrive……………until the reality check takes place.  By then….well we either become part of it, embracing the culture to the fullest or run like the wind!

That said, the locals who brought “Muffy & Fluffy” to town for the event, dressed them up in costumes and even doggy tattoo’s..well they had a great time! During the day long event several dogs were adopted and even a few of the kitties….for them and their foster parents,  Nirvana!  The dogs, for the most part, did as well…at least they had a long desired outing!

As for the 2008 Cynosport World Games held again at Westworld in Scottsdale.…amazing as always!
While discussed in detail in a previous post, the photos never made it to the blog. Sigh!  It was such a crazy crazy time!

Laisez les bon temps rouler!

When it came time for Christmas, just a few short months later, I was ready to go all out again.  The biggest tree the house could hold and smaller ones to fill the space. Baking for weeks and parties non-stop.  Not to forget the endless search for “gift perfection” and amazing wrapping to follow.  It was such a magical amazing time and still there was the non-profit committments met each year, cooking and serving those with less and adopting families for the holidays……Where has all that magic gone?

Long before moving from California to Arizona, the holidays became the briefest of interuptions in work, sometimes just a day off, if that.  The Studios not doing holiday specials and my migration into a new field should have had me doing more and more at home, not less and less and then less.  Personal challenges, darn those relationships, did some damage…OK major damage.  Then there was the year I decided that no one cared about Christmas at home but me and that “dot-com job” had me on the road 3 or more weeks a month for  so many months and only 4 days at home-so why bother?

When I came home and brought the dogs back from the kennel the house looked so sad that I was miserable.  I suppose part of me thought “The Husband” would miss it too.  Not! He waxed on for years about that year and how great it was…empty, sad and loneywas a better descriptor. Not even the annual 3-4 movie marathon day after Christmas helped that year and I have not done that since…..and miss it!  

Since then, no matter where or what the circumstances, I decorate, in my own “Bauhaus” Christmas style, and bake while continuing the non-profit path.  This year our firm collected for “Toys for Tots”….and globally this was a terrible year for so many including the Marines, collections were way down.  Our office is a destination, not a “drop in” business and a small notice in the “Red Rock News” (Thank you Mr. Editor!) brought people to the office with bags of toys!  The Marines were overwhelmed when they picked up the overflowing barrel and extra bags!

At home on the farm…well I did the outside decorations on Thanksgiving-keeping with my family tradition.  Set up my non-profit days….15 sheet cakes for a start!  Did my crystal tree…got gifts for the dogs and was hating the whole thing.

Acker night? not this year and I haven’t missed it since I arrived in the Quad cities as well as all the Christmas parades. Not sure why I couldn’t push myself to go.  Worked very long days and had a longer drives back from Sedona than usual….beautiful, but slow. Had some great meetings in Phoenix and yet given the state of the Industry and some overarching work challenges…well just couldn’t lose myself in the events of the season.  The “Magic”, the essence, the spirituality…………nothing was working.

As it turned out, the holiday was a disaster.  Had an event I was “forced” to attend in Phoenix and was driven through fog, driving rain and cold down the mountains 2.5 hours there, hours at the house, seeming like days, and 3.5 hours back.  This house was small and literally bursting at the seams with “stuff” and Christmas overlaid on that.  I was totally claustrophobic. For one who never makes “New Years Resolutions”-note to self: “Next Year don’t do this!“

Home was cold and dark when I finally made it back through the mountains and up the hills.  The dogs having napped all day after a frenetic Christmas shredding of gifts and packing material. So out they go to play and I to push wood into the wood stove and pump up the heat at the same time….plug in the tree and start the dogs dinner.  The sun was setting and todays’ end was welcome. This nights sunset was a sliver of light between the dark grey sky, unrelenting all day and the dark of the mountainsnot the usual technicolor display,but the tree glowing through the living room and dots of light dancing on the ceiling from the crystals and fireplace beautiful. A good start to fading the day and unrealized holiday expectation and bring that warm glow to us all. 

The morning brought sun and 12 degrees and the Christmas walk with the dogs was a day late but gorgeous….all our breath visible in the frigid air our pack winding through the hills near the farm.  We never fail to appreciate the beauty and diversity of the area from the old “farms” of long time residents to the new “McMansions” and everything in between.  The dogs and I meeting up with our neighbors cows, dogs, chickens, horses, llamas and more all enjoying the bright sunny start of the day. (photos)

Soon, will come,the familiar wrap up of the year, paperwork and tax files, putting Christmas back in the boxes for next year and the annual introspection (not resolutions….) that will be painful this year….not just for me, but for us all.
So no white stuff from heaven and snow Belgians” and dogs chasing snowballs to brighten the dark wet cold day this year or the last or ever.  So sleep will come nightly still with dreams of  “Currier and Ives ” scenes, fences topped with snow..paw prints in clean snow with the Agility equipment buried in drifts.

Trouvez le chemin. Partagez le voyage.

OK so it sounds way better than reality as I have a lot of work to catch up on for my job, a few weeks worth of bills to pay, a bunch of cooking to do for ” NON-Turkey Day” (as a long-term vegetarian) and as is tradition at my house, Christmas decorations to put up on the holiday.  That said, a friend is coming in from Napa, bringing our favorite California wines, to “hang out on the farm and enjoy the bucolic life” and my Belgians expect four days of undivided attention and lots of agility time in their field.  Just thinking about all this is exhausting and makes going back to work Monday, start to feel like that is the vacation.

My traditional Thanksgiving started when I was in film…..or at least the “celebratory side” the rest stems from a childhood tradition.  My mother, very “charity” (now non-profit) oriented and very into letting us girls know how lucky we were to be growing up with “stuff” had us doing work at the Salvation Army on Thanksgiving and Christmas every year along with year-round “giving opportunities” woven into our lives.  Clearly this, the genesis for my lifelong commitment to non-profits. Guess those childhood lessons really do stick!

 So, yes, did that, but also the “Hollywood” tradition, the “Thanksgiving Bar-B-Q on the patio” has stuck around for years…..even post the move to AZ.  Of course, it is way too cold to eat outdoors on the farm most days in November, but the house holds a lot of friends and neighbors hovering in the kitchen and near the wood stove in the den and fireplace in the living room. The Arizona room (Florida room, 4 seasons room…whatever it’s called in your neighborhood” affords a panoramic view of the usually amazing sunsets as well as the Bar-B-Q and is a popular place for hanging-out. Feeding a crowd, entertaining, overwrought dogs, breaking out so much unused since arriving in AZ…a joy and brought back so many wonderful memories of the fabric of life woven over years and left behind.This year, the weather was not a Thanksgiving friend, but not a surprise.  Cold, alternately dark and sunny, a bit of rain (darn, no snow) and the high winds blowing through in the late afternoon…well a challenge for all.  However…great fun!

Took a short run in the morning (beginning to train for the Sedona Marathon and trying to recover from a two months old serious leg injury…but that’s another tale) and watched the full moon setting over the mountains…..amazing and then….Sunrise.  The clouds allowing just a few openings for the rays to peek through and seen from the ridges in the “hood” ..breathtaking and a wonderful start to the day. Funny, in California the universe was so much more removed from life, the life-cycle virtually invisible and here daily reminders of your place on the planet.

With the meal….a sort of  drop in and out event lasting most of the afternoon and evening  a success and the day full of fellowship, laughter and sharing the “traditional” afternoon walk and the sunset that followed memorable.  Giving thanks…..all day counting of blessings by so many with the world events intruding and bringing the universe that much closer to this far away farm.

And then ..finally quiet on the farm…guests all off in the darkness to their own nests, Napa houseguest and dogs settled in and napping by the fire…..and the hint of an early morning “full moonset” and sunrise to come……………………..a time of true “thanks Giving”

Laissez les bon temps rouler!

 Is it different here in AZ ?…….integrity, honesty fairness, attitude, family, business, “niceness” success, so many ways and yet is there a universal measure we can apply?

In California it was so easy, “You are what you drive”. “You are what you wear”, “You are where you live”.  You could judge a man, or a person, by those factors and be relatively accurate.  In AZ, not so much.   

The local land barons can be cowboys, they can look like the Marlboro Man, a hippie back “from the day” or a preppie type in pressed shorts sans tie or any combination of things.  Here there definitely is a different standard applied although I have yet to get my arms around what it is.

You can tell I’ve been doing a lot of driving in cell ‘connectivity- free” zones of late and been thinking way too much.  Winter is settling into the Prescott area, Agility training slowing down, but not stopping for us “addicts” even in  “the season” and the universe seems to be gearing down.  In LA, the holidays are gearing up and even in this week of post-election conversations and economic challenges friends from “home” say it just isn’t all that tense. Hollywood!

Yet, the other day when a friend was in town from the Valley, dinner and a long discussion of “do you run or not” for a local election which is being pushed in my direction by so many.  As I stretched my leg over the back of his Harley, 4″ heels barely clearing the dark soft leather, clarity on an issue, one that then dominated the dinner conversation, pushing the election results and my potential candidacy to the back burner.  To the forefront came a lengthy dialogue on “Boomer Bikers” in NoAz and Arizona in general.Seems that with every mid-lfe crisis and/or mid-life divorce “The Harley” comes as part of the decree.  This visible sign of manhood and freedom seems to be almost a uniform, even in this economy in Northern AZ.  Armies of these 50 plus year old men on Harleys roaring down the highways, each weekend and Holiday, into towns like Sedona and Prescott to the upscale restaurants, galleries and shops spending freely. What recession? Gotta love it!

So when I was handed a helmet the other night…the “guest helmet” by this friend, I was impressed !  It was an epithany!  California has helmet laws to protect people from themselves and people wear them The police and highway patrol strictly enforce the laws. People wear helmets on bicycles, roller blades and some in their cars….Hmmm!

In Arizona, not so much.  It is not mandatory and for many the wind blowing through their hair, mainly grey or shaved is more important than safety.  Or is it the envy of dogs with their heads out the windows or riding in the backs of pick-up trucks, untethered that they seek to emulate.  It isn’t safe for dogs who should be safely kenneled and it isn’t safe for people.

One trip on an interstate highway, sans helmet, left me not only with hair so knotted I had to cut two inches off but convinced that the CA laws are correct. Huge trucks roaring by, spewing exhaust and throwing rocks, wind burning your cheeks….but ah, the views, amazing!  That trip convinced me that it would be the last one I took without a helmet-blame it on a strange time in my life…lack of planning or blissful ignorance and perhaps a blend of all that and more, a lot more.

It seems that the offer of a helmet to all who ride with you…well that may be the “gold standard” here.  That just may be the measure of a man…a true test of intentions and integrity. Can it be that here in NoAZ…..”You are HOW you share a ride”? 

So tomorrow, while I’m finishing the painting on the house I’ll be thinking a bit more about this and measuring some friends and acquaintances, past and present against this new scale.. As Summer has turned to Fall, so briefly, and Winter rapidly settling in…it is getting too cold to think of all this….thinking more that a glass of wine, a warm fire, a few friends and a couple of Belgian Sheepdogs seem like a better way to spend the next few months….watching the snow fall on the mountains and hoping against hope that is will stay for a while and perhaps, just perhaps, a white Christmas? But dreaming of a warm February day for the Sedona Marathon!  One needs to dream…………………..

So for a few days I raced from my little corporate life (what passes for that in Northern AZ) to the farm and down the hour and a half or so to Scottsdale and Westworld and then spent some time hanging out in friends Motor Homes at the event.  It was 34 degrees in the mornings when I left and over 80 in the Phoenix area.  OMG!  My hairy black dog was quite toasty!

As for me, super comfy in Agility clothes, layers and layers of funky running wear, sweats and Tee’s. Fashionista?  Not!  Photo clearly not us…but so traditional “agility wear” and a great run!

Then Saturday night, as I flew up the hill toward the farm exhausted with a tired, but happy dog in crate and a hungry one waiting for us at home…I thought about the night to come.  The project that was ending, 6 months after it had been a stray thought relayed to the President of my firm in a late afternoon meeting. ” Let’s design a seriously modern totally cool dog house for the Habitat Gala!”, I throw on the table and with a bit of tossing around and discussion we move forward with this….how fun!

Habitat for Humanity has long been a passion and something I spent a lot of time and energy supporting in California. When the opportunity to get involved here presented itself a year or so ago, I jumped in. To give them a serious dog house for their live auction at the Toolbelt & Tuxedo’s Gala.…(click the link to see the event movie!) and hopefully generate lots of $ with spirited bidding for our 55^th house…would be amazing.

 It was fun to design, get built and an amazing task to get this 800 lb, more or less, doghouse moved from the Flagstaff  construction firm where it was built to our office in Sedona and then off to Prescott for the Gala.  This house really moved!

 All these thoughts are occupying my mind and I was home before I realized I’d driven through the gorgeous scenery in the pass and off the highway on the way home.  In fact, so distracted, I almost passed by the turn off the highway to the bridge and the farm. It was late and I fed the dogs and let them run around the yard while I played out the “Cinderella Story”.  Off came the funky “dog clothes” and hair got fluffed, make-up dug out and drawn on …diamond earrings not worn since leaving California had been located in a box  during the week as had the “Jimmy Choo’s” with those 4.5″ heels…OMG!  Do I own pantyhose??????

 I’d had fun “shopping in my closet” the week before trying to find which long ago purchase would work for this event.  The long, so designer, cut velvet and sheer skirt, the trendy Modernist short skirt and diagonal cut top or the little black dress, the trendy LA designer…so spendy as to be an insane extravagance and worn to formal events at trade shows throughout the world my last year on the job in California.

 The little black, way off-the-shoulder, but stark dress won the day.  Amazingly, it fit…although I wondered about all the shoulder skin in Northern AZ. Fall has rapidly come and is turning into Winter rapidly with 27 degrees predicted for tonight.

 So there I stood…….staring in the mirror with a stranger staring back…who is that woman? That Fashionista!  I haven’t seen that person in years and yet that is who I was for so very long.  There was no connection between that image I was staring at and my current life and no time to reconcile the differences. Dogs back from the fields watched me in disbelief “that’s Mom”? and not believing I didn’t want them to jump up on me to smother me in doggy kisses. Into the kennels they go, treats to keep them busy while I’m gone and camera in hand to take some shots of the event for corporate marketing and off I go driving into the kaleidoscopic sunset to the Prescott Resort for the event.

 It was amazing….so was the fact that a member of the PV Chamber who is on a committee with me ..stopped me and asked if it was me…I staring at her not recognizing her either, we laughed! Both of us looked entirely different than we’d ever seen each other.  Two “Closet Fashionistas”! Interesting night..amazing people with great music, a fantastic auction and amazing auctioneer with lots of dollars raised for Habitat and new friends made.  The local contractors association had built a playhouse for the auction and when I went to check it out, finding myself inside with the Mayor of PVand the Mayor of Prescott.  Now how many times in life can you find yourself in a playhouse at a black-tie event with two Mayors!

 Conversation with my table of strangers, and my “new friend”, the Mayor of Prescott, was stimulating and somehow, as always, ended up about dogs, but thankfully only briefly. There was so much more to discuss and the wine was flowing.  In fact the esteemed gentleman to my left spilled his quite flashily and it flowed all over him, the table and the “little black dress:.  Thankfully it was a “white”! 

With the doghouse bringing “big bucks” and the auction closing with the big ticket scooter we gathered our “stuff” and slowly found our way out to the parking lot for the long cold walk back to our cars.  A Cinderella moment…shoes coming off so fast, braving the cold concrete and gravel to get off “the stilts”! Sigh!  I’ve  been wearing those boots too long!  I felt like the carriage that brought me to the ball had turned back to a pumpkin and me back to that “City Slicker on the Farm” 

Off I drove leaving the town further and further behind as I got closer to home and knowing that the dogs would need some attention. Next morning, I was back to Scottsdale again at 6:00 AM with the dog, for the last day of the trial and the nearest Starbucks an hour down the highway.

 Their enthusiastic greeting sent that “little black dress” to the cleaners and brought me back from my little Fashionista fantasies to the reality of “Life on the Farm”.  I find myself wishing there were just a few more times to “play dress up” here….and as a friend in LA suggested….”maybe next time someone will take a picture of me like that to put in the blog instead of all those picture of the dogs”.

 Maybe there will be a next time, but for now….. well two agility classes to teach this weekend and a course to set and my own dogs to train. That unfamiliar reflection fading fast.  Perhaps I can just revel in the gorgeous sunsets we’ve been having and replay this “Gala” night……again and again and again………
          “Laissez les bon temps rouler”   

You’d think that after 4 years I’d have settled into this little bit of Paradise in AZ. 

Sigh! I know the tipping point came for me about two years post moving from Los Angeles to “The Farm”.  I fell back in love with the place and remembered the overarching reason I was here.  The challenges with busy unethical contractors, the job market, illegal activities, the small “faux Mayberry”  business mentality and the “lack of work ethic syndrome’ had driven me to extreme homesickness. Near impossible, you’d think especially for a “California Girl”..given what’s happened to the “Sunshine State” over the last 10 years.   The failure of a large, but oh so “Mom & Pop” business and elimination of many jobs, mine included, gave me time to breathe here in “Paradise”…while looking for another job. Finally time to explore local areas, hike, run and actually start and finish a few projects, even gasp, read a book or two and run Agility courses daily with the Belgians.

People move here for the “Mayberryesque” life style….the friendly people smiling and waving on the street…think it’s something in the water?  It is oh, so seductive. Then these same people start or buy a business.  No sooner is the ink dry on the contract, or more likely the handshake, than they decide the “locals” are all jerks and they should just take their bucks! After all they are helping their local economy and community by bringing their “Big City” ways to town to enlighten the locals. So they do them a favor and sell to them, fix their broken stuff, build them a house or a barn…and the list goes on. For some reason they think “Jr. High School” games, whispering campaigns and ripping off and then complaining about their employees and their customers is the right thing to do. No doubt it has a lot to do with the fact that they were employees in a firm in the “Big City” (or not so big) they came from and never had the experience of really running a business, just “knew” they could do it better than their “boss’.

Almost home, I think……… and then the sun begins to rapidly drop lower on the horizon and throw its colors over the mountains and meadows as far as I can see.  As I approach “The Farm” peace settling into my soul… after another week of meetings punctuated by small town drama-.my tiny place on the planet back in perspective.  I pull the car into the garage to the welcoming barks of the dogs, like the neighbor’s cow…happy to welcome me home and hungry for food, conversation and hugs. 
  L’aissez les bon temps rouler