To see the world in a grain of sand And heaven in a wild flower To hold infinity in the palm of your hand And spend eternity in an hour - Opening lines (as recalled by John Vervaeke) of William Blake's Auguries of Innocence As Karin & I talk about what it was like to... Continue Reading →
Alexa, How Do You Say Dumb Dumb Poopy Pants in Chinese?
Ever wonder what it would be like if you left an 8 year old and an 11 year old in charge of teaching themselves Chinese? You'd be on the right track if you guessed there would be a lot of silly sayings and bathroom humor. There'd also be a lot of laughing and excitement. And,... Continue Reading →
The Lion Tracker’s Guide To Life, Part 2: The Deepest Lessons Must Be Lived
If you read part 1 of the Lion Tracker's Guide To Life you'll remember that this book is about how to be, not what to do. Renias and Alex do not instruct Boyd on the step-by-step of tracking lions. They mentor him. They invite him to be with them as they track. They guide him... Continue Reading →
The Potter & The Clay. The Scent Work Partner & The Dog. It’s All About Letting The Process Find You.
If you aren't well acquainted with the differences between British TV and American TV, watch the original Office, by Ricky Gervais, and compare it to the American version with Steve Carell. As much as I love me some Carell (40 year old virgin to Beautiful Boy, now that's some range!), the American Office opts for... Continue Reading →
The Lion Tracker’s Guide To Life, Part 1: Learning The Language Of The Search and Finding Your First Track
In Boyd Varty's deeply meaningful book, The Lion Tracker's Guide To Life, you'll find exciting and inspiring stories from Boyd's life as a South African lion tracker. You'll also find numerous incisive passages that will resonate with you as a human who wants to be a better partner for your scent work dog. Much like... Continue Reading →
King Tut and the Boy Who Could Do 50 Pull Ups
Coaching is not about training. It is not about methods. It is about observing, knowing, believing, and convincing. A coach is excited by the vision of what the student will become. A coach infuses the student with excitement over this vision and the journey begins. In my early teens I had the honor of coaching... Continue Reading →
Seven Boxes. A Tree. And A Few Teams Flowing In The Energy Of Connection.
Reflecting on 4 trial days across two back-to-back weekends in October in Minnesota, I feel most drawn to two out of the eleven searches that I had the honor of judging: a Level 3 Container search, and a large exterior/interior Elite search. These two searches played out like our fintery weather (fall & winter pulling... Continue Reading →
Remember That Time…
My family has a travel adventure page on Facebook called WheelSpin Adventures. We just joined a group called Bookish Road Trip. A recent post on that group asked for members to submit a photo that was connected to a special memory of a place they love. Some of the commenters attached photos of Paris or... Continue Reading →
Sea Shell Searching: Self-Correction And The Thrill Of The Quest
Our family recently took a trip to Florida to visit my wife's grandparents in Ocala. On our way there we stopped in Panama City Beach for a few days and fell in love with St. Andrews State Park. The park offers a miles-long stretch of beach with plenty of opportunity for one of our favorite... Continue Reading →
Scent Work in Color: Colorku and the Joy of Going Nowhere
Life is weird. There are some objective experiences that we can all agree upon, like Folger's being the best part of waking up (and I don't even drink coffee); or, like never floating away from the surface of the earth, because gravity (or because ghosts are holding on to our ear lobes - that would... Continue Reading →