When I was young, my dad took me to House on the Rock . I never understood why he took me there, and not to Taliesin at the same time...until this trip. The first garden at HOTR Taliesin There's a story (since proved wrong, for any number of reasons), that Alex Jordan built HOTR because he wanted Frank Lloyd Wright to collaborate on a house and Wright refused. But that contrast stayed in my mind this trip. Though House on the Rock has some cozy spaces in the house itself... ...it's really about the show, the razzle-dazzle. In fact, one thing that we learned about the house is that Jordan only ever spent 4 nights in the house ever. he built it as a showcase, as a tourist attraction. And it succeeds, even though it's kind of exhausting. It's also a place for him to showcase all of his collections, from carousels to dollhouses to firearms to cars to jewelers models to musical rooms to full-built towns. I think my dad aspired to that, though all he really seemed to collect...
Our amazing Coya passed today at a little over 15 years of age. Thanks so much to the amazing staff at the Animal Humane Society who helped her go with dignity and grace, and allowed us all to be there with her. When we lost Geronimo, I was low-key looking for another keeshond, and became involved with several keeshond groups online. Most had coalesced around closing down a notorious New York puppy mill, but I made friends all over the country (and in Canada) who cared about the breed. You are all amazing people and I care about you so much. When Wendy found out about a backyard breeder in Western Wisconsin who had a dog on Craigslist, so grabbed Bill (who had Sapphire, one of the puppy mill dogs) and they went to rescue her. Once they got her out of there, Wendy needed a home for her, and so 4-year old Coya came to us. Her pedigree papers called her "Lacoya of Seven Bridges," but to separate her from that we called her Coya, after Coya Knutson, Minnesota's first female c...
(photo credit Mel Bowman) Sometimes, these blog posts are mainly to remember what it was like. And right now it's hard, for so many reasons — but the main one is that Beatrix suffered a concussion last weekend at circus and it's a lot right now. It wasn't from an aerial drop or any big trick — she simply bumped her head twice in quick succession in the dark of the loft, and then went on to do the 2-in-a-row acts she had anyway, and by the end it was obvious she was concussed. She was not allowed to perform on Sunday (missing double trapeze, among other things) — which was really hard emotionally but clearly the best move for her brain, which is the important thing. She's been doing the right things (ibuprofen, sunglasses, quiet dark room, no screens), but she's missed a lot of school and play rehearsals and it's been hard. She's trying to get show-ready to perform at circus this weekend, while we are trying to balance that with brain healing. She has alrea...
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