Friday, September 11, 2009

a few random thoughts

In the midst today's tragic anniversary, I have to find a silver lining. And while it might be news to her, the attacks on the World Trade Center made me realise that just maybe I was falling in love with my wife. Like many people, I know where I was that day and I remember who told me to turn on the television. I was in Portland, OR; my wife-to-be was in Manhattan.

My darling brother has started a blog of his own, too. And his wish for peace, that today of all days, if we could somehow not kill anyone especially in a cosmic war, is one I wish for too.

A week ago, I became a published poet -- of sorts. And managed to sum up almost nine years of my life in seventeen syllables. Dissertationhaiku is an awesome site -- a really great idea, and a nice way to remember a lot of sweat and tears.

*******

We are about to head up to the Cape for a weekend of hunt testing. Our club, the Vizsla Club of Central New England, has split its weekend with the Mayflower GSP Club, and being the chairman for this fall's test, I can only run The Mominator tomorrow morning.

But here's a little canine foothealth for you. We don't have to deal with things like speargrass or thorns up here in the Bronx, just the usual broken glass, random bits of metal, and the like. (Having said that though, the worst unexpected offender we've encountered in the city is broken acorn cups. Those are wicked sharp.)

I do generally start treating the boys' feet with Tuf-Foot. It has iodine and pine-tar in it, so it cleans and kills nasty stuff and forms a nice protective coat. Bill Allen over at Strideaway wrote a piece about pad-care that seems to endorse both of these ingredients.

However, after Jozsi sustained a couple of either sprains or jars on his front feet, a friend suggested getting him a rigid boot that might provide him with some extra protection while we get him into race shape. And as goofy as they look, we went with these boots from Lewis.

They take a little time to get on and off, but if you do it right, your dogs' feet will get great protection. We've used them three or four times now and once he has them on, Jozsi is off to the races. You would never know that he currently has a 1" cut on one of the main pads on his right front foot. As much as I don't like to make too much fun of the boy, watching him get used to them was pretty amusing. He has a nice gait as is, but adding those boots to his front feet was like watching a Tenessee Walker during the Big Lick. Just that little extra weight has him picking up his front feet like a show pony... till he breaks into a run of course.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

My brother in law was racing to the WTC, late for a 9:00 am meeting. At 9:15 he was standing in the street less than a block away unable to believe what he had just seen.

It is still incomprehensible. I'm glad you found how much you were/are in love with your wife. I think these are the things that sustain us in the face of incomprehensibility. Sad day.
Jane

Rod Michaelson said...

I'll have to try the tuff foot on my boy. He is constantly cutting his front paws. Might have to try the boots also. Good blog.

Andrew M. Wayment said...

Andrew,

I know exactly what I was doing that day. I had just taken the Idaho bar and we were scheduled to learn the scores that day. I was nervous that evening and could not sleep so I turned on the TV and saw the flaming footage. I found out that I passed the bar later that day, but the thrill of success was tainted by the tremendous loss in NYC.

Andy

Anonymous said...

we use events to maker all sorts of things. that day was full of personal loss for me and my family, as we lived and worked there. we nearly lost my daughter's father. there were 28 funerals in the coming weeks. BUT it also marked a recovery of sorts from a dark period, so, like you, I found a beginning.

And, I"m checking out dissertational haiku! thanks for that.