Greetings from Corgi Ranch! For us, 2022 was much like 2021. You can say we finally got our rhythm back, the last remnant of pre-Covid times to return.
Over the last month or so, we celebrated both corgi birthdays and soon, both “gotcha days” – when we brought them home. They celebrate with elaborate frosted cookies shipped in from Toronto, cakes baked by local K9 chef Cheryl Laria and now Winnie’s vet says she needs to go on a diet. Winnie became a 2-year-old wigglebutt, and Loki an 8-year-old stinkers. We still travel a bit to go to competitions, getting back to OKC and the Summer Canine Olympics for July 4th weekend, and Diane and Loki went up to McKinney, TX in April for Barn Hunt Regionals. These days there are so many great trials close to home. Our local K9 Country Club in Bulverde, TX has their 5th meet of the year coming up, and Loki is vying for the inaugural annual “Rat Race” championship. To tell from his strut when he leaves the ring, he has already won it.
Winnie has her Open title in Barn Hunt, Novice Trick Title, and Canine Good Citizen certification but it seems her real talent is in scent work. She got her Novice title in OKC, and she was High in Trial at the Bexar County Scent Work competition in May. They hold it at the Texas Transportation Museum, again, about 20 minutes from home. We can get there by 8am, hang out with our dogs and friends all day, watching them compete inside or around full-size trains, win High in Trial, and bring BBQ home for dinner before dark. Now that’s living easy.
Winnie is also learning agility, at class, in seminars, and in our front yard. Diane had a mishap running her, fell and broke both elbows. Luckily, we have access to telemedicine, where – after a one-time 30-minute registration process and $70 co-pay – you have 24×7 access to medical doctors who can yell at you in half-intelligible accents to go to the emergency room. We went to an urgent care center the next day, where they were much nicer, evaluated her thoroughly over 3 hours, prescribed Tylenol, sent us to a specialist who confirmed the diagnosis, and prescribed that I should train the dog for a while. That is how I learned Agility with Loki as well. Anyway, it all came back to me quickly. The discovery that I cannot run and remember numbers or speak English at the same time. That being “more interesting” and “more exciting” to my dog than distractions outside the ring do not exactly play to my strengths. Fortunately, Winnie just really wanted to do good. She wanted to make her mama watching outside the ring proud. She has good instincts.
While the dogs celebrate their birthdays with high dollar treats, us humans like to travel. For Diane’s 50th, we went to Pueblo Bonito Sunset Beach in Cabo, staying in a Penthouse with a private hot tub overlooking the ocean. Diane’s mom Judy and cousin Gary joined us for a week of lavish meals, spa appointments, intermittent exercise and general relaxation. The resort had put in a nightclub and coffee bar since our last visit, so we spent a bit of time up there. A week after we returned, it was birthday celebration part two, the distillery tour. We hired a driver, picked up Catherine, Ralph, Linda, and Courtney and made a day of it. We hit 5 maybe 6 distilleries between Dripping Springs and Blanco, sampling bourbon, rum, gin, whiskey, BBQ and some fancy cheese and crackers. It was a pretty fun day.
Diane resurrected her horse show judge abilities for some local competitions at Hill Country Riding Academy. A young person asked nicely enough to be granted the opportunity to compete Malloy. Because Diane is so impartial, he wasn’t first in every class, though he did win a few and is now embedded in another girl’s lifetime memories. For Malloy, it was just another chance to earn carrots. He works hard for his Dad bod.
Over the course of the year, we were happy to host visiting family, friends and neighbors. My brother JD a few times, Diane’s mother Judy a few weeks, her uncle Mike and aunt Diane, the poker players wives, and the occasional visiting barn hunt judge and their dogs. We enjoy showing off our local hotspots. And five years in, we have become a bit more involved. We are now patrons of the local STAGE theatre and have season tickets, so we never miss a show. Our “Dogajolo Wine Club” celebrated its first anniversary, named for our first bottle shared among dog sport friends. Honorary memberships are free with a visit with us to Vine in the Village, Bulverde, TX. I volunteered to take over the neighborhood watch, although mostly as Alan’s understudy in effect. I made quite the stir in Austin when I drove to brother Chris’ house with the magnetic security signs still on the truck. We closed out strong in our three-year run at Trivia at Goofy’s Bar & Grill. We won the last contest and took home the trophy, now proudly displayed in our living room. We also earned a spot in the San Antonio-Austin Regional Finals, finishing in the top third. We still plan to go to trivia at other venues next year.
For the holidays this year, Judy is flying in for the week and we are planning attending holiday events around town. It will be good to have some quiet relaxed corgi cuddle time with family and friends. We hope you are doing well and doing what makes you happy as well this holiday season.
Jesse, Diane, Malloy, Loki, & Winnie
December 2, 2022
Corgi Ranch, TX 