Ezra says, "Just do it!"

"The real point of being alive is to evolve into the whole person you were intended to be."

Oprah Winfrey

Ezra and I hope you have a great day...that you will be all you were meant to be...and that you will take wing and fly!

You oughta be in pictures...wa wa wa...

Alli pictured with cast members of the Legends of Sleepy Hollow playing in Mount Vernon Ohio at the Memorial Theater October 26 and 27, 2012.

Alli and I are having a great time with all the wonderfully talented cast members of the Legends of Sleepy Hollow!  Michele Bayko, of Orange Barrel Production Company (www.ohiodrama.com) is directing this great group of people.  So much fun to watch Michele as she brings the words on paper to life through the cast and characters now on stage.  She is the perfect example of someone who is doing that which she loves and it shows in everything from the writing, scripting, choreography to the cast members all the way down to the costumes.  Alli and I feel blessed that Michele has chosen Alli for the part of Wolfe the dog and we too want to bring our very best.

Alli has a whole new group of admirers...especially the young members of the cast...as you can see pictured above.  Tonight went really well.  I think it was only our fourth time to actually practice on set with the cast.  The first practice Alli was just thoroughly enjoying this new place to visit. She goes with me to visit many different venues so I think she thought it was just a place where people wanted to meet her and pet her.  No problem...I got this Mom.  Then I started to ask her to wait, stay and come and treating her for a job well done.  She thought...this is cool. I don't treat or bring treats when we are doing our therapy dog visits.  That was a new twist...you could see the wheels in motion as she figured out what I wanted.  During the week at home, I started marking her "barking" and naming it.  Next practice, I asked her to "bark" and indoors no less.  Can you imagine?  This isn't done...but she was a good sport and did what I asked which brought lots of praise and more cookies.  Well...okay...I can do this.  By the 3rd practice we had more time working on the behaviors at home and by the time she arrived on set, Alli was completely "over acting".  She gave me every behavior we had been practicing and all at once.  She was loving her job and so enthusiastic I couldn't help but smile at her.  I can work with enthusiasm!  And tonight our 4th time on set, was great.  She was thoughtful...thinking everything through...no willy nilly barking here and there...she was trying to do it all just right.  Well done Alli!  I couldn't be more pleased with the small amount of time and practice time on set that we have had.  We have another month to hone our skills...and...by George...I think we'll get it!!

Break a leg!

A Dog's life...

Libby and Ezra

Libby and Ezra enjoying an evening at the beach with Matt and I.  It's been a wonderful vacation...full of happy times with family, sun, surf and sand. We are having such a nice time! Ezra and Libby have thoroughly enjoyed their two walks a day.  Our beach house is just far enough away from the beach entrance that it makes for the perfect walk.  Morning jaunts to the beach are as eagerly anticipated by the humans as they are the dogs!  Libby is much more at ease than she was her first time at the beach 8 years ago when she was barely a year old.  Ezra is really enjoying the sights and especially the smells on this his first beach experience. Neither dog has fully committed to dipping their toes in the surf at all whatsoever. They observe us carefully when we venture too close to the ocean water and are content to sit up on the sand and watch as we dip our toes in the surf.

We have met so many friendly dogs on our beach walks; a papillon/schipperke mix, lab, goldens galore, newfie, chihuahua and an akita mix who was the only one that didn't want to say a nice hello.  I was pleased with how many friendly and well socialized dogs are sharing their lives here with the people in our little beach  house community.  It does my heart good.  Dogs truly do love sharing our lives and if given half a chance can learn to be good travelers, friendly greeters to human and dog and just all around great companions to share our lives.  But, you have to give them a chance to learn and grow...it doesn't happen overnight.  I am especially pleased at how dog savvy my 9 month old granddaughter is becoming.  She is learning how to play nice with her doggy friends. We have to keep in mind that her body language is still very erratic and can be easily misunderstood by the dogs.  She is learning how to approach the dogs and where she should pet the dogs.  It's going really well...but again, it takes practice, time and lots of supervision...teaching moments!

Kitty Hawk Air field where Orville and Wilbur flew their plane, starting at the big monument in the forefront the plane started from this point and flew to the small monuments in the distance

We visited Kitty Hawk where Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first plane for 58 seconds, they made history here.  I love history and love standing on the very spot where it all took place.  What a privilege to see it all first hand. I am always amazed and inspired by the passion and perseverance of those who make history.  Imagine the odds against them, the naysayers who are always so willing to share their thoughts and ideas on how it can't be done.  To be a trailblazer...to do that which has never been done before...  One brother had not completed high school yet they not only built but flew the very first plane!  I was especially interested that during the short film shared about what took place here in 1903 they made mention that in attendance on that very historical day where a young boy and a dog. They even had a picture as Wilbur Wright enjoyed the budding art of photography and took a picture of those attending that day.  The young man had a hat on and the dog looked to me like an airedale terrier black lab mix - he had a white patch of hair on the front of his chest and he was quite tall. They didn't mention a name...but I was happy that they made mention that the dog was there on that day watching history take place.

It reminds me of all the many dogs who have had a front row seat to history in the making.  I think of Seaman the dog who traveled with Lewis and Clark, of Sallie the mascot of the 11th Pennsylvanian Infantry.  I think of the story I read in a diary of a Civil War officer who took note of a lovely "specimen" of a dog who had wondered onto enemy territory during a heavy days battle.  He recognized the dog to have been the breeding of a Northern officer he had known in "more happier times".  He made sure to return the dog with a note to his old friend with his "kind regards and appreciation" of the beautiful dog that wondered into his camp.  I think of President Roosevelt's dog Fala, who is described at the time as "the most famous dog in the world" and a "beloved witness to history."  Dogs have shared our lives for centuries and they seem to be the very best part of them. Dogs and their people have been written about, featured in paintings and movies.

Alli baby and I, Ezra, Libby and Matthew

 Ezra and Libby will probably never be famous...but I am writing about them and taking note of their presence in our family's life and history.  I am inspired again to continue to think of new and innovative ways to bring humans and dogs together...to teach new ways to expand our dogs "vocabulary" so that they can be a very meaningful part of family (as opposed to being tied in the back yard or stuck in a kennel hours on end).  I am thankful to be a student of dogs, to observe them and work with them daily AND to teach my students how to invite their dogs into their everyday lives in a happy and meaningful way! It really isn't about the destination...it's all about the journey!  And what a happy journey we are on this week...one for our family's history books that will be fondly remembered for years to come...