Roxie in Duluth, Labor Day, 2005

Here is another photo of Roxie, my wicked redhead, last fall in Duluth, running her heart out. Photo by Kent Standerford, Big Paw Prints

Roxie gives her all, Always!

Roxie started lure coursing again in Spring, 2006, with a wonderful two days on the field, taking the Best of Breed both days and the maximum total points of 40 each day, putting her at 220 and more firsts than she needs for her Lure Courser of Merit title. She's always exciting to watch, barking and yelping her way around the field in her eagerness to catch the plastic bunny. Roxie won her Field Champion title and the Minnesota cup last year handily, and has only run 11 trials in her short life. Living practically up on the tundra, really northern northern Minnesota, I find the distance to go to trials a trial:) But with Rock saying, Let's go, Ma! I'll try to get her to more events this year. Photo by Kent Standerford, BigPawPrints.com.

Frisbee Fun

Spring has arrived and it's time to start conditioning Roxie and her friend Wings for lure coursing. Roxie is beginning to pick up speed and strength from the hard running after a winter of nothing but two mile walks nearly every day. 7 month old Wings follows Roxie on the field I use for excercise, and wrestles the frisbee from her - proudly carrying it back to me. Tonight he got an extra session in the yard and finally managed to catch two gentle lobs. Passersby must surely have wondered what I was jumping up and down and "yoo-hooing" about. Photo by a fellow artist up here on the Big Lake, Tim Young.

My human family...

Last weekend my father, his children, his grandchildren, his great grand children and his friends celebrated his 90th birthday. Lest it sound like a somber affair of old people and decrepitness, it was in the grand tradition of lots of drink, lots of stories, lots of great food, and many tributes to the Patriarch of our family, including a wonderful poster made up by my youngest sister, portraying my Dad in the position of Tony Soprano. We all had buttons with pictures of Dad from age 10 to 90 to choose from to wear, and a most amazing cake with an airbrushed portrait of Dad on the frosting. My Whippets were in attendance, and somehow we got a decent picture of Dad with his five children. A splendid party, good stories from old hunting and trap shooting buddies of times forgotten by the youngest party goers, or never known by some. Lorelei and Chuck Delaney were in attendance, owners of Armstrong Kennels, and the Annual Game Fair in Anoka. Lorelei one of the trap shooting buddies who went on to World Renown for her skill. Dad was the president of Minnesota Ducks Unlimited, made trips to the Artic Circle, supplied the snow geese for wildlife artist Francis Lee Jacques' dioramas at the Bell Museum at the University of Minnesota Campus, and one year as a good friend reminded us, he won the Grand National Trap Shoot.