A Long, Long Day

I’m basically recovering from yesterday’s incredibly full and long day. And by “recovering” I mean, “desperately trying to wake up enough to function.” Uschi’s not even bothering and hasn’t stepped one paw out of her crate even.

Anyway, I’m sure once I’m able to string together more than one coherent thought I’ll have far more to say about The Hunger Games and I might actually poke through the photos I took while at Crossings and can give a proper update on the laundry list of owies me and Uschi have. As well as several other related stories. For now, you can have this cute photo of the two of us.

Broken

Uschi's skinned feet

One thing about Uschi that is both pathetic and hilarious is that she is absolutely a menace to herself. She consistently overdoes it when she plays and has wore herself out to the extreme on a couple of occasions. Yesterday at the park was no exception as you might be able to see in the above photo: she skinned pads on both her front feet.

We’ve got tons to do today including another trip to Crossings for work and a midnight showing of The Hunger Games, so unfortunately she isn’t going to be lounging around recovering. Instead she’s clomping around the house in her boots, which she’ll be wearing to protect her sore feet until she’s healed up a bit.

Happy Snow Dog

I know I promised a proper postยน, but I’m still in pain and anyway this seemed more fun to share with you:

A happy Uschi sitting in the snow

There’s a few more cute shots on my Flickr stream. (This one is my favorite even though it’s random and blurry.)


1. I will make good on the posting thing, but aside from the actual difficulty of typing out a post because of the pain I’m also waiting to be out of the limbo state I’m in before I detail it out. Thanks much to everyone for the comment love on my last post. Sorry I didn’t respond to everyone. (I’ll get to it at some point along with the other bazillion things I’m behind on.)

One Year!

Time is an odd and bewildering thing. In equal parts I find myself astounded by the length of time that has passed and disbelieving that it is truly a year to the day that Uschi and I became a team.

In thinking over our time together I find myself at somewhat of a loss; the events that truly stand out seem so far removed from the present. Perhaps that’s a blessing because it seems to have eased some of the less pleasant recollections I have of our past events, such as training during the most horrendous weather while I was incredibly sick and the fiasco at a local bookstore. Though, I don’t I find there’s any less distance between other memories and can hardly fathom that it was so recently we went to the Tulip Festival and the Great Escape!

Me and Uschi sitting by a rose bushStanding in sharp relief within my memory is a resounding feeling of trepidation. I didn’t know what to expect of this partnership. I was optimistic that it would prove equal to my previous experiences, but realistically knowing it could be a failure. And while I was quickly smitten with this adorable shepherd and her childlike personality, I found that truly bonding as a team did not come as easily or quickly as with the dogs before her. I’m not positive of exactly when I felt us gel into a team, but I do remember that I had a bit of an epiphany around Easter and realized I had been distancing myself. Maybe I was subconsciously trying to protect myself from the possibility of the partnership failing, however remote. But I think mostly I was preoccupied with concerns over Yara’s well being and it was seeing in person that she was thriving and that both dogs got along so well that seemed to clear out the emotional clutter I wasn’t even aware of.

Reflecting on this last year the most intriguing thing to me is that in many ways Uschi and I have surpassed my previous guide dog teams. Whereas I would generally build up to certain experiences and expectations, I never had much of a need — and more often no opportunity — to ease Uschi into certain tasks. Honestly, upon realizing this I was mildly horrified that I had been so lax about this, but Uschi’s risen to every challenge without fail, including several instances I would consider far more stressful than necessary and would have liked to avoid completely. Much like Yara, she’s had no need for settling into her role as my guide dog. A fact I still find astonishing given her antics when out of harness!

If anything, she certainly keeps me young with her limitless energy and exuberant personality! Every morning she practically throws herself at me for a bit of cuddling and then speeds around the house, bounding over large stretches of floor and flinging herself onto a piece of furniture or one of her numerous beds. Sometimes she will loudly toss her toys about or prance through the house proudly showcasing her dressage mimicry and it’s all I can do to keep from rolling with laughter. She’s nothing if not unique.

Truly, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Favorite Photos of 2011

For a number of reasons I’m rather fanatical about checking stats here, but other than noting new comments I don’t pay much attention to the activity on my Flickr stream. I’m hardly anything above a pure amateur so I guess I never really have cared, but I was poking around the other day and was pleasantly surprised to see that there’s been quite a lot of interest.

I don’t normally do posts recapping the year because (a.) it’s tedious and boring for me and (b.) I usually note the yearly partnership anniversary of me and my current guide dog so it seems redundant at best. But after digging through the 750+ photos from last year I thought I’d share some of my favorites. These aren’t all photos I took personally, though the majority are, just a smattering of the ones I’m particularly fond of.

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