Café Aulet

Get out the map

2008-05-14T17:17:11Z

Maybe I am crazy or maybe it was the spring air, but when I took my dog out to the park Monday night, for our first long walk of the season, I think I could safely say I was lost - lost on a disc golf course.

]]> Starting about four years ago, the disc golf players who use Community Park in Channahon, worked with the park district to improve the course. Disc golf is a growing sport and there are also courses in Shorewood, Plainfield and New Lenox, just to name a few.
Superintendent of Park Planning in Channahon, Daryl Cole, said the course was originally built in the 1980s and was expanded from a nine hole to an 18 hole course in that decade. The recent improvements were player driven.
"There are a bunch of disc golfers, they have done all the labor, ... and we have paid for the concrete," Cole said.
In addition to the improvements, the players moved the holes around a bit to get better left hand shots and such.
But, this disoriented walker swears there used to be a path that meandered through where the course is...a path that is not there anymore. This is what let to me getting lost.
And, without being out there, Cole could not confirm or deny that there was a path where I thought there was one.
Really, it was kind of funny. Here I am wandering with my dog on a course built for disc golf, one that was being actively used at the time. Had it not been for the need to duck every once in a while or the need to keep my dog from fetching the flying discs, it would have been more funny.
I am directionally challenged, but, luckily, I have a visual memory, so if I have been to or found my way through a place once, I can generally do it again. Since the changes in the park, though, all my visual cues are gone and I was left wandering, ducking and apologizing to the disc players.

After wandering around for a bit on the course, I found my way to the Prairie Woodland path. It was one I have walked before, but now, after wandering aimlessly for more than 30 minutes, there was not enough time in my hour walk to make it all the way to the canal.
But, this was the first of what will be many walks through Community Park this spring, summer and fall. While I like walking in the rain, I do not like walking in the bitter cold.
I love Community Park. A couple dozen feet into the park and I feel like I am miles away from my house instead of only a few blocks. I almost always spot deer, my favorite animal, and if I get close to the water, there might be one or two frogs as well.
So despite ducking and dodging for being in the wrong place, I am really grateful that I have a place so close to my house, where I can escape into wildlife for a while. It would be better off if wildlife had a map.
Or maybe I'm just crazy...

The deal is in the bag

2008-05-09T15:30:00Z

Most people who know me already know this, but for those of you who do not know me personally, I have a problem. I am addicted to buying purses. At any given time, I probably have enough purses to start a rental business and still have my own choice of styles.
Although I am a big fan of Coach purses, a purse does not have to be designer for me to want it. It does not have to be expensive. In fact, it does not even have to be new.

]]> I love thrift shops. When I am cruising for a new purse, and I am in the mood for a deal on a designer bag, my two favs in the area are Still Stylin' in Channahon and Plato's Closet in Joliet. Because of my addiction, it has been only two short weeks since my last trip to Plato's Closet, where I landed a name-brand purse and matching wallet for under $20.
The whole reason I went looking was because my pretty, pink Coach purse, that I had put away for the winter because of its suede bottom, was about ready for its spring debut. But, I had changed my wallet, and my essentials no longer fit. I intended, when I went into Plato's Closet, to only buy a wallet, but as I have already told you, I have a purse addiction.
I have been using the new purse and its matching wallet for a couple weeks, but the other day, my friend and I were looking for fabric for a sewing project and she suggested that curtain fabric would be the right weight. In search of a good deal, she steered me to the Unique Thrift Shop.
I've been in there before, but apparently I averted my eyes from the back wall and additional aisle of purses and bags.
I exercised some self-control and did not buy the purse I had picked up. Okay, actually, it had nothing to do with self-control, it had to do with the fact that Unique accepts cash only and I only had enough for the other things I had picked up. I actually have no self-control. I went back and bought the purse later.
The original visit, I bought a wallet that says Prada. It isn't real, of course, but that really does not matter to me. I doubt I will ever be in a situation like that episode of "Sex and the City" where Samantha has it out with a Playboy bunny for taking her fake designer bag.
Sometimes the fakes are better, anyway.
I have an imitation Hermes bag at home. I could not carry a real one; it would give me real concern for my safety. The real ones are worth thousands of dollars
So, if you see me on the street, take only a quick look at the bag I am toting around. If you look really fast, you would probably believe I am carrying a designer bag.
And when I pull out my wallet, pretend it's a real Prada. In fact, pretend that we are in New York and I am one of the famous journalists who is recognized everywhere. That's what I will be doing.

Do you want a good deal on a designer bag too?
Still Stylin' in on Route 6 in Channahon, just west of the I55 interchange
Plato's Closet is on the corner of Caton Farm Road and U.S. 30
Happy Shopping.

P.S. Sometimes, because of my addiction, I try to clean out my purse collection. And, sometimes, I rid myself of some that I wish I had kept. Like the lilac, lizard-skinned, Liz Claiborne. If anyone later bought it, likely from Goodwill, and you are no longer using it, I will buy it back from you. Heck, maybe we can trade. I have a new one I just bought from Plato's Closet with a matching wallet.

The dog days of spring

2008-05-06T18:47:44Z

I have a dog. He's a really sweet, loyal, golden retriever mix. I am not a dog person, but Zen has wriggled his way into my heart. Having said that, though, Zen has some bad habits.
When I met John Sullivan of Bark Busters for our story that ran April 30, he was training Mookie, a nearly two-year-old Yorkie. Mookie lived alone in his home with his human parents and no children. And Mookie, being a Yorkie, is a small dog. Although his jumping on visitors is rude, it is not dangerous.
Zen, on the other hand, weighs in at more than 60 pounds. He lives in a house with two children under the age of 10. When he goes running full force to greet my youngest and jumps to lick him, he knocks him head over teakettle.

]]> The bad habits that Zen and Mookie share, jumping on visitors, excessively barking when someone is nearby and generally getting so excited he does not listen, are all behaviors Sullivan describes as bad manners. Zen even has a problem when visitors come to the door. Even if he greets them on leash, even if I manage to get him to not jump, he will inevitably pee on the floor.
John said we could break him of it. I was not convinced.
What I did know, though, before he even came to my house, was that my dog would love John. He is so relaxed. Much more zen than Zen, if you will.
Training that day went well. I think John's zen energy rubbed off right away.
In fact, Zen was listening so well that we were able to bring him outside to teach him to listen despite distractions.
It's been a week and a half since we began the training, and, as was expected, Zen is listening to my husband Carl, but not so much to me. And I have had unexpected setbacks.

When John comes out, he suggests that you train a dog with a check chain. A check chain is a metal chain to which you attach a leash. The idea is not to choke the dog, but, rather, to break his attention with the sound it makes and have him listen to the command. There is a right way and a wrong way to put the collar on. The right way looks like a P and allows the chain to tighten and loosen. The wrong way chokes the dog and does not release on its own.
When I took Zen out to practice yesterday, no matter what I did, I could not get the collar on the right way. All I was doing was choking Zen, so I gave up.
I think the collars need directions.

As far as Bark Busters goes, as a company and philosphy, I like it. The first thing I like is that they come to you. So, rather than trying to pack your kids and dog into the car to go to a training class, John comes to you. In addition to the convenience of it, I like that my neighbors can see that my dog is being trained. It lets them know that I see his bad manners and I am trying to correct them. To further this, Bark Busters gives you a door hanger that says be patient, dog in training. This helps visitors to just wait and not respond to an overexcited dog.

When it comes to the kids, I both like and dislike the approach of Bark Busters.
What I like is that they give a video to the parents that teaches children about dogs. Things like not approaching strange dogs and not irritating dogs are covered. That was really useful. My boys are 6 and nearly 4 and I want them to understand that they can not just approach any dog on the street and expect it to be friendly. And, I stress to them that if a dog is with its owner, you have to ask before you pet the dog.
What I don't like is the philosophy of a pack situation: owner, dog, kids. The reasoning makes sense, in that small children do not have the ability to truly train a dog, to be consistent when correcting him, for example. But it seems to me that children should be above the dog in the pack, somehow allowing them to bette protect themselves. What I am told, though, is that if the adult is the pack leader, the dog will respect the children.

Gratefully, my dog is not and has never been aggressive. When he was a puppy, I would put his food in his bowl and then take it away again, to teach him he could not be aggresive about his food. He plays with the boys and takes most things in stride, even when the boys get a little too rough.

Bark Busters does not leave the owners out on their own, either. A week after our training session, John called to see how we were doing. I said what I told my readers - Zen is listening to Carl, but not as much to me.
But, I admit, I get lazy. When he is not actively training and he is just out around the house, if I tell him to do something and he does not listen, I do not always follow up. Sometimes, I just give up. I know that is not good.

In a few weeks, John said, he would come back out to the house to try to teach Zen some more advanced things. Some day, he will be like the dog in that commercial. The one that sits and stays while his owner gets an ice cream cone. Well, it will be that way if only I can figure out how to get the check chain on his neck.