The Meaning of Christmas

I’m an agnostic, one of those folks who just can’t decide what is or is not in the world of spirituality. I don’t really see it as a decision. To me whether or not there is a god or gods or an afterlife or some other all-encompassing spiritual entity is one of the many things I don’t yet understand or know, and will not be understood or known in my lifetime. I’m fine with that. I was raised Christian, and do believe in the Golden Rule and the example of love and tolerance set forth by Jesus of Nazareth.

Tonight was the “Carols on the Common” in our town, where the local church provides musicians and song books for families to gather on the common and sing both traditional carols and more modern Christmas songs. I thought about how Christmas does not have its roots in Christianity. We don’t know when Jesus was born. The core of the Christian faith is the resurrection, Easter. Christmas was created to appease the pagans in the northern hemisphere. These were people who celebrated the solstice, the darkest day of the year. The pagans were not going to give up this time of celebration, so Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus would be celebrated on December 25th. Christmas was a piece of political maneuvering.

Until tonight I’ve always looked at Christmas as a manufactured holiday. Over many centuries good hearted Christians have filled the event with meaning, a reminder of the humble birth of Christ and the good he brought to man. They have made Christmas a time to look for the love and kindness within, to live with joy and share that joy freely.

Tonight I realized that the beginnings of Christmas were more than a bit of political maneuvering. The pagans knew that when the world is dark and cold you need to work harder to bring joy into your life and your heart. The strength of the human spirit is remarkable, and sometimes remarkably fragile. The pagans celebrated in the darkest time of the year, the time we most need help to be strong and loving and joyful. Anger, depression and frustration can gain hold in winter. Rather than cloak these darker emotions in self-righteous doctrine, the pagans gathered the strength of all to celebrate life and bring forward joy. Perhaps the beginning of Christmas was an early expression of tolerance by the Christian Church. Perhaps the beginning of Christmas was an early recognition that our spirits can indeed be fragile and to celebrate together is to build strength through community, reinforcing our hearts so that we can go forward into the world with joy enough to give freely to others.

Merry Christmas, Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards all men.

Fina is pregnant

I've been watching her thicken a bit, considering it could just be too much food. Since she is very short coated I up her rations this time of year when the cold sets in. But it is her waist and shape underneath that have subtle changes, her ribs have no extra cover. This morning when she sat for breakfast I could see that her teats are just beginning to swell. Pups will be just before Christmas, so we have three weeks left. Fina does not look all that big, so if I had to guess now I'd say a small litter. But then I'm always amazed how fast the pups grow in there the last couple of weeks.

4 dogs

Good lord I only have 4 dogs now. On Saturday I dropped Vesta off at Jersey West farm in NJ where she'll be working about 150 Churros. Now I actually have two spare kennels and a spare crate in the van. I've had as many as 9 dogs here so 4 is like a vacation.

It was hard for me to give Vesta up, but I think it was the right thing to do. Vesta is extremely relaxed on her stock and quite bold. She cheerfully squeezed between the fence and 3 pigs that were facing her and fought them backwards to me. All nose grips. These pigs had hanging weights of 220, 255, 260 the next day. She'll run out 500 yards with little training. However Vesta can be sloppy in her work, and did not seem to appreciate the pressure of training for precision. I did not feel she would become one of my trial dogs as she would have to be better than the three I have now, all young and all working well. Better to put Vesta where she'll be the number 1 work dog and get to snuggle up with Rebecca in the evening. I could not give her up entirely though, so I'll have a litter with her sometime soon. She's bold, relaxed, stable and friendly, and a good work dog. Those were genetics I was not entirely willing to lose. I just need to pick a male. And of course I'll keep one of those pups so my dog numbers will move back up again!

The fruits of my labor

Last night I went to dinner at the Journeyman Restaurant with my mother, her younger sister and husband from western NY, and my brother, sister in law and their son and daughter. The occasion was my mother's birthday, but the original reservation for dinner had been made to enjoy some of the pigs raised here on North Face Farm.

In short, the food was fabulous. Each course was as beautiful as it was delicious. The selection of flavors on the plate complemented each other. In the myriad of delicious offerings, the one thing that stands out most for me is the very first salad. The pork was delicious, but let me tell you nothing I have prepared from my own pork has come close to the flavors Tse Wei and Diana coaxed from the meat.

The folks at Journeyman visited the farm here late last spring, and have since purchased 4 pigs and 3 lambs. The Journeyman uses locally grown foods from small farms in the area. They took the time to visit the farms and facilities, see how the animals live, and speak to the farmers about the husbandry of their stock. When they arrived I expected idealistic city folk, looking for organically raised stock from postcard perfect farm scenes. I told them my stock is not organic, and to bring boots for the barnyard as it was mud season. They showed up with boots. They walked through the muddy barnyards up the wet pasture hill to where the sheep were grazing along some trees. They asked practical and knowledgeable questions about how the stock is fed, the amount and type of grain used when grain is used, and use of wormers and antibiotics. Since I don't actually have anything other than three sided sheds in my pastures it was clear that I don't confine my animals. I don't raise organic, but use no prophylactic antibiotics or wormers.

Puppy time?

I bred Fina to Tom Forrester's Pete in VA. Pete works both cattle and sheep on the farm and at trials. He won the cattledog Nursery Finals in 2006, and was 3rd in the cattledog Open Finals in 2007. He made it to the final round at the National Sheepdog Finals in 2010. We'll see if we get some pups. I had 2 girls in season and Fina peaked before I expected her to so I'm not sure I caught the timing right. I'll be keeping a pup from this litter. They are due somewhere around December 21st.

I met Pete and he is utterly charming. Friendly, relaxed, no fuss kind of dog. Not much seems to bother him.

The Myth of the Almighty Prepotent Stud

I never cease to be amazed how seemingly educated and intelligent people seem to forget how genetics works. Half the genes in a pup come from the bitch. Remember that folks.

So many folks seem to regard the bitch as a uterus, a simple vessel to carry the pups. People see a dog they like and immediately enquire as to the sire. This comes to mind today based on a new enquiry to me, interested in a possible breeding of a bitch of mine. This bitch was sired by the same dog as sired another litter I bred several years ago. One of those pups went on to be a fabulous agility dog. The mother of that litter was my Rhyme. This dog that so many folks admire is very much like his mother. In particular the traits that the agility folks find most attractive are entirely from his mother. No one has even asked who his mother is!

I had a conversation with someone talking about spooky temperament in some lines. A breeding was discussed in which a stable male from lines that seem to be consistently stable produced some spooky pups. The proposition was that there is spooky temperament in the male as he produced the spooky pups. I met the mother of those pups. She is fearful to the point of not being able to live a normal life. You certainly cannot condemn that male based on not being able to overcome the genetics of a bitch so desperately afraid of the world.

Yes, some males seem to be quite prepotent for certain traits, but nothing is infallible. Even if you have met pups from several litters off a male I’d want to know something about the bitches that he was bred to. In any litter a bitch may have put far more of a stamp on her pups than the sire. You may think you are smitten with a male as a stud dog, when actually his greatest contribution is to be fairly recessive and bred to good bitches. Don’t fall in love with a stud based on one offspring or even one litter until you have met the stud and the bitch to get a sense of which parent likely contributed the attributes that attracted you.

Breeding is such a gamble. The one thing we do know is that half the genes come from each parent, and we hope the dominant gene in each pair brings out the traits we want. Forgetting the genetic contribution of the bitch takes breeding from being an educated guess in an unpredictable world to just plain wishful thinking. So if your beloved Bessie has nothing to recommend her other than being in your kennel, go buy yourself a pup. Certainly she has faults. All dogs have faults. If she has some strengths worth capturing then be honest about the good and the bad, choose a stud to complement her as best as possible, and understand that Bessie will be responsible for half the genes in the pups for better or for worse.

The Season is ending

It was a very anticlimatic end for this year's trial season. Song and Fina were both running better and better as the season went on. Fina had not qualified for the finals, but Song had. Then Song pulled a muscle in her right hind just 3 weeks before VA. Though I was relieved that it was an injury with an excellent prognosis with rest and rehab, my season was over. There are only a few trials in the northeast now with the finals having dominated the month of September and the season winding to a close.

Song is recovering well, but won't be running again till Nov/Dec, which really means she won't trial till spring. There are a couple trials I hope to attend with Fina and maybe Levi.

Fina looks like she may be a real star, quite a change from the dog I ran this spring, retiring almost every run. Levi, well who knows with Levi. He is my best farm dog right now, serious, sensible, and plenty of power. I have two good Open dogs so there is no rush for Levi to decide what he wants to be when he grows up. Gust was sticking terribly on the drive this summer, completely unwilling to work between me and the stock. On the fetch she comes like a freight train, driving a ewe into my knees and leaving me in a knee brace for a few weeks while my MCL regained it's original shape. I confronted the discomfort coming between me and the stock and got inside flanks on her. Now little by little she's settling into a good drive.

The last of the pigs and lambs leave within 3 weeks. The winter hay is in. Soon the hay fields will all be cut for the end of year outrun training and long drives. Unfortunately by the time Song is ready to go the snow will be on the horizon. Hopefully we'll get a bit of December training before we ice over for another year. Gust, Fina and Levi will benefit from being able to stretch out.

Vesta leaves soon for NJ to manage a flock of 150 Churros. That will keep her busy and happy as she'll be a companion as well. It looks to be the perfect match where she'll be both loved and very useful.

Fina should come in season soon. I plan to breed her this season though I've still not chosen a male. Most of the ones that attract me are far away. Hopefully she will peak at a time when I'm available for several days to get her where she needs to go. If not, there are some good closer options that will move up the preference ladder based on my schedule.