The drive over the mountain at the end of the day for agility class can be grueling. Last night I was rushing, no time to walk dogs, no time for coffee, no time for food. Just enough time to quick scoop some broccoli and blueberries into Gustavo's dogfood bowl. Energy food for a crummy liver. Stuck a spoon in the jar of cold hot fudge in my frig before I ran out the door. Energy food for the agility gal on the go.
Nightime agility class at the end of the work day isn't always easy. It takes about an hour to drive there. Half way there all I can think about is coffee coffee coffee, but there isn't time to stop. Class starts at 7:30 and there's traffic and it's hot and did I mention there's no coffee? It's a journey to get over the mountain and across San Jose and back up the other mountain. Really I just want a nap. Not enough hours in the day.
Do you like that song "Pumped up Kicks" by Foster the People? So tired I couldn't even sing along in the car. And I can always sing along with that one.
There's mosquitoes up there on the mountain, and the full moon starts coming up over the cow hills. Somehow, no matter how tired I am on the way there, no matter how tired I am walking the first course, as soon as we get out to run, I don't fall asleep. Sometimes I might go brain dead, but the dogs are ready to run and I have to focus so I can run them good. I think this is useful for staving off future dementia.
Nancy's theme last night was shoulder rotation. Rotate and move feet and rotate while your dog's feet are still on the ground. Circle work in real life application. Boy were my dogs good. Makes it easier to stay awake. The run order goes like this. Border collie, border collie, border collie, border collie, border collie, Gustavo. Or Otterpop. My dogs take turns and trade off on the sequences. The weave poles go right up to the back of a tunnel and we have some tricky turns in there. I like that stuff. Bring it on.
Gustavo's mind stays sharp and he's running like a champ. I've been trying to have low expectations for him, and when he runs like this he blows my mind with his awesomeness. Why he can be like this one day, and cuckoo freakout the next, I don't think I'll ever know. But it's nights like this that keeps us keeping on at it.
Keeps us up there for almost 2 hours, until we drive back over the mountain and back to the beach. Sunroof open, all the windows down, bright lights on so as not to smash into deer or wayward cows, we fly back down the hill and back onto the freeway. The wrong way. Sometimes that happens. All the brain dead I held off to make it through class comes back at the freeway entrance when I can't remember if I live North or South. So much for the dementia prevention.
We always make it home, though. Sure wishing we had found a way to get that coffee in us on the way up. Next week, we'll remember.
Did you ever dream that you were a dog agility super champ except then it switched and you were at some germy, grungy, derelict seaside park in the dark and the carnies were actually drug addled zombies that were shambling after you with hammers and their big teeth? And then as you're trying to escape your way out from under their oily, horrible claws by clambering up a rat infested palm tree, you're all, this is about dog agility like, how?
6 comments:
We do like that "Pumped Up Kicks" song and it's totally appropriate for long agility drives.
Here at RRR we wonder where you can drive that far and not pass 100 Starbucks. In Portland, there's a 'Bucks on every damn block. No one ever goes without coffee... ever.
We are driving over the mountain! No Starbucks on the mountain. Then we're driving on the big busy freeway. When we're late, we can't pull off for all the hidden Starbucks! This is desperate times.
Most tragically, there's one Starbucks with no place to park on the wrong side of the expressway that we have to drive right by on the way up the other mountain. On a night when we're late, the horror to drive RIGHT BY this coffee.
I would probably like Portland a lot.
Portland would welcome small black dogs and people who like to wear short pants. We welcome them w/ lattes and mochas and microbrew festivals. :)
I was just whining yesterday about having that song stuck in my head. It sounds so breezy and upbeat, but the lyrics are the exact opposite. It's like bubble gum Pearl Jam. It's been stuck in my head for weeks... maybe months.
I had to chuckle at this post because my evening was so similar! Dash from work to home (45 minutes), snarf down half a bagel w/ PB and chug some milk, toss two dogs into the car, drive 30 min to field for TWO classes. HOT here - ugh! Mia did great - her 2nd class after her year off for liver. I couldn't believe she was so happy running in the heat. The devil-dog (aka Ditto) had a couple nice runs, then her over-the-top reactive charge. Know of a good behaviorist? We could really use one!Mia's class order was Terv, BC, BC, Lab, BC, Chihuahua!
Suggestion, if you can stomach it. Starbucks Via packs in the handy dandy armrest of the awesome agility car. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Sometimes lukewarm dog water from the gallon jug poured into the Starbucks cup on the floor from the last time we actually got there works in a pinch.
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