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BCR Xmas Funday 2013

Another BCR Xmas!

BCRxmasfunday2013

The weather was perfect: light breezes, temps in the 60’s, clear skies. As opposed to those events where the temps were into the triple digits F (around 42C) or 40 mph gusty winds…or that year when the even ended with people scrambling to beat the snow storm heading that way. Those events always have me remembering to be grateful for mild weather.

There was the usual abundance of home-cooked food and dozens of hyper border collies. No altercations, though– which would surprise most border owners. There was much begging, though: even the dogs trained not to beg at home know this is a *special* place and time.

The interesting thing that happened was that I found a R0ndo doppelganger. She looks like she could be his sister– very similar markings, mannerisms. I think her name is Savannah. Very sweet dog! Speaking of doppelgangers, Tay’s doppel was here, too: Skeeter looked great!

Apache was somewhat low-key, as noticed by several people (usually they have bruised noses soon after she arrives…and she didn’t jump up this time). Probably the prednisone she was on. But that didn’t stop her from her usual mischief towards the other dogs. Instead of her usual "11", she was more like a "9" that day.

Best Xmas Present!!

I got a surprise present from an artist friend I work with: a pair of R0ndo and APache ornaments! ! She did a *fantastic* job of capturing their physical details *and* their personalities! Thanks, Laura!

She does great 2D and 3D art: check out her website! She also does toys and puppets!

Frozen

[No Spoilers]

I just saw Disney’s Frozen and came out with mixed feelings. This was a film I looked forward to: classic story, gorgeous art and Idina Menzel! Yet, the film feels like an early draft of any Pixar film – before they smooth out the characterizations and add those clever plot twists that are the hallmark of most Pixar films.

One friend (I forget who) pegged it when they described the film as feeling like it was designed like a Broadway musical first, with the story and characterizations coming second. The scripting has the feel of someone’s first time writing the book for a musical – so strong was the vibe of, “Okay, now we have to have -this- kind of song right here, now!”

Unlike recent Disney animated features, the songs stopped the pacing dead. Way too much time was spent establishing background for the meat of the story: what should have been accomplished in ten minutes took nearly an hour. I started looking at my watch wondering, “Uh…aren’t we getting kind of close to the end? When is the adventure going to begin?”

There comes a point where something happens that is so out of left field that it pretty much spoiled the experience for me. The set-up had -no- foreshadowing and was completely contrived. When you see the film, you’ll know -exactly- what I’m referring to.

Still, even Pixar’s worst day is better than most other’s best effort, so I generally enjoyed myself. I am baffled by the 4 and 5 star reviews, though. It’s like most reviewers rubber stamped this one. The exception that I found was, of course, Roger Ebert , who is ever the pro and, while he generally has good things to say about the film, did indeed notice the flaws.

Border Collie Birthday and Oakhurst Snow!

The dogs and I got a precious, rare invite: to celebrate King Dog Tay’s birthday up in Oakhurst!

There are more gorgeous images of the Ranch, dogs and snow here

The timing turned into the most perfect trip we’ve ever made up there: the day after we arrives it snowed. Just enough fell that the ranch and the mountain turned into a winter wonderland. This was *ideal*: the snow only lasted for about two days– then it melted and allowed us to drive safely back down the hill and home.

The night we arrived there was also a bit of excitement: on the night walk Carol and I discovered a brush-burn that had gotten out of control (these are supposed to be watched by the burner until the fire dies down). Between the windy gusts and all of the pine needles that hadn’t been cleared, the fire had spread well into the brush nearby. A fallen pine was in flames and embers were spreading under the pine needles. We went back to get Eric and shovels…Carol got all of the water jugs (they keep them for pump failures).

With a lot of work we got the flames down and the embers mostly doused. The owners of the lot finally arrived with a tractor and used that to completely bury the rest of the fire. They were grateful that it had been discovered, so it was all good. Plus, bonus activity points for me.

We awoke the next day to a winter wonderland: several inches of snow fell during the night and it was cold enough to stick. Check out the link above to see how beautiful the area became. The dogs (all four border collies) and I took a number of hikes in the silent, white world. I love walking in fresh snow (especially when it’s only a few inches deep) and watching four crazy border collies run around on Very Important Business.

There are few places that aren’t improved by a fall of snow. Since Casa Coyote starts out quite lovely, the snow transformed it into a fantasyland. R0ndo and Apache loved it: they had experienced a dusting of snow in Seattle a few years ago and had a lot of fun…but this was like doggy-disneyland for them. They bounded through the small drifts and still managed to dig ghost varmints. They loved that it was nice and chill out and if they get hot or thirsty they can just eat the refreshing “white dirt”.

Tay was showered with goodies and treats. He enjoyed the ribeye steak he got as a present. As any good tyrant, he tolerated the manic attention of all three of the other dogs. He’s well-deserving of his Kingdog title!