This Santa currently unmarred by dog attack. We’ll see how long he makes it.

Yesterday I had a dog lesson with Jim. Jim is Mr. Power Paws. He lives on 10 acres in the hills above San Jose with his wife Nancy and they are kind of like the head honchos of all things agility. They are like the agility equivalent of Posh Spice and David Beckham! Madonna and Guy Ritchie! I take lessons with Jim every time I get a chance. Not only does he help me get better, but he shares my love of tractors and llamas and ranches, and frequently we talk about ranch stuff to the point of I forget my course because of chattiness of us all. Usually I tell Jim what we need to practice. A lot of the time it’s distance stuff. Yesterday was basic tuneup day, Ruby bar knocking, Otterpop hard weave entries, stuff like that. Jim is my best teacher because he has helped me figure out a personal handling system that works for me. And yesterday he told me I have turned into a good handler. How long has that taken? A long time! The dogs were good, I didn’t screw up much, and I am a good handler now. Thanks Jim! That’s the best agility way to start a day.

Also it was a sunny day. And there was no traffic on the way home. Huge plusses any time.

And then, instead of plastering or painting (I will pay for this today and all other days after with my unfinished construction albatross stink birds hanging over my head) I bought like 2 Christmas presents, but also it was the antique fair downtown! This meant things I NEED! I needed yet another scarey santa doll (but this one has WHITE boots, I forgot I also collect these) and a book about ghost towns and also a new hat. I am one bad, bad, bad Christmas shopper. And new sunglasses so now people won’t stare at my messed up eye! And then my friend Janet was having a studio sale, and I also needed a slab of wood she had screenprinted with a horse head and also a thrift store polo shirt she screenprinted with snakes and a horse head and Johnny Cash. I had been thinking of polo shirts for a while now in my head and then Janet has one right there. So much for the Christmas shopping. So much for the plastering and painting. Hello all the new things I needed! Thank you the consumer gluttony of the holiday season getting to my brain! Welcome back to cultural consumption as opposed to production. Can a blog count as cultural production?

AND THEN it was still sunny and then it was low tide and 3 of the dogs got to run for an hour chasing balls and seaweeds and no one barked at any guys in flippers or stole any tennis balls and they were so tired by the time I got them back that no one complained if I took Timmy on his very own walk, just me and him. Sometimes it’s nice to have really one heckuva good day.