Tony Jones » family

My Dog Can Fly!

Tony Jones — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 13:45:18 +0000

Courtney snapped this improbable shot of our pup, Albert, on a dock jump yesterday.

World, Meet Albert!

Summer

Tony Jones — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 11:29:49 +0000

World, Meet Albert!

Tony Jones — Tue, 11 May 2010 13:15:03 +0000

We’ve had Albert for a month now and, thanks to the mad photo skilz of one Courtney Perry, I am able to introduce him in all his photogenic glory:

Opening the Cabin

Tony Jones — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 13:39:57 +0000

Yesterday, I took one of the most anticipated drives of the young year, to open our family lake cabin for the season. Being that this has been an abnormally mild Spring, we’re opening the cabin earlier than anyone can remember. (You can get a taste for the environment of the cabin by taking in the beautiful Courtney Perry triptych banner at the top of this blog.)

I drove up with my brother, Ted, and my new yellow lab, Albert. And honestly, my anticipation was greatest on behalf of Albert, who will surely spend some of the greatest days of his life up here. My dad and his dog, Max, were already here.

We got right to work opening each of the cabins, and then Dad walked Ted and me around and showed us how to turn the water on, a task we’d not yet learned. That meant turning on and off valves, starting up the well pump, and watching for leaks. And there was a leak, so the plumber is coming out today.

I kenneled the other two dogs and took Albert out for a short training session, then we all retired to the deck for a cocktail. Being that there was no running water, we had no choice but to venture in to Deerwood and dine at Coach’s Corner.

It’s raining this morning, which is good news both for the dry land up here and for my dissertation writing, and it’s due to rain through most of the weekend. Ted is out planting white pine trees — we lost hundreds in a 1973 tornado, and we’ve planted thousands in the last decade. I’m by the fire, writing this instead of my dissertation, and Dad is reading yesterday’s paper (again). Later, I’ll put on the chest waders and head down to the culvert under our road to unplug it — the beavers have had a busy Spring clogging the culvert and building two more dams downstream. I’ll pull those apart, too.

Tomorrow I’ll drive back to the Cities and get the kids and my mom, and drive right back up here for the weekend.

No geographical spot anchors me spiritually like this place. I’ve written entire books here. I’ve buried dogs here. And I’ve shared joyous moments with friends and family that are invaluable to my soul.

I only read Sigurd Olson here. And I always read Sigurd Olson here.

Honestly, I even think there’s something sacred about the fact that the cabin is locked up and snowed in from mid-October till now. It’s inaccessible and uninhabitable, not unlike the pattern of fasting and feasting that’s so integral to all religious systems. Being without this place for half the year causes me to long for it and appreciate it in a way that I likely would not if it were available to me all the time.

Two enormous swans peacefully and slowly paddled in front of our land this morning. That’s got to be a good omen for this year…

***

Trivia Question for a Free Book: Name a book, other than my own, in which my family’s cabin is memorialized.

UPDATE: Rob got the trivia question correct. A scene in Brian McLaren’s The Last Word and the Word after That takes place at the cabin.

Training a Dog

Tony Jones — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:37:08 +0000

The kids and I are getting a new addition to our family this Saturday: an 8-month-old yellow labrador retriever named, Albert. And we can hardly wait.

It’s been a year-and-a-half since I put down my beloved, Beaumont, and I’ve wanted a dog every day since. But it’s been difficult in this time of transition to imagine how a dog would fit in the family. Now we’ve got a stable living situation, and I’ve got friends and family willing to pitch in to help with Albert when I have to travel on occasion.

Albert will not only be a family pet but a hunting partner, so he and I will be spending lots of time training this spring and summer. Thus, I’ve gone back to the two books that guided me when I trained Beaumont. They are:

How To Be Your Dog’s Best Friend by the Monks of New Skete. I think this is a must-have book for anyone who has a dog. The monks, based in upstate New York, breed and train German Shepherds, and the core of their training philosophy is that a dog is a domesticated wolf. Being that domestication has removed the dog from its natural pack setting, it substitutes your family for the pack, and the best way to have a well-behaved dog is to recognize this fact and to establish yourself as the alpha wolf in the pack.

Their advice ranges from how to reward and discipline your dog to this gem about letting your dog sleep in your bedroom (your “den”):

“The dog is enjoying an extended period of time with your scent. The bedroom contains the most intense scents…For your dog, the in-bedroom sleep is a “high” — but a high that must be properly regulated and controlled.”

Training Your Retriever by James Lamb Free. First published in 1949, this is the bible of retriever training. It’s also outdated, hilarious, and about as different from the monks’ book as you could imagine. As you can see in the Amazon reviews, Lamb Free dictates corporeal punishment for the dog — he also recommends that the dog sleep outside and only be brought out of its kennel for training sessions. Here’s some of his classic prose:

Whether it’s a retriever your after, or a trainable, intelligent dog of any breed for any purpose, it pays to loosen your purse strings before your start, even if it kills you.

If you honestly can’t afford to pay the price a reputable breeder asks for an older, trained dog, then content yourself with a pup or a young untrained dog.

If you can’t afford to pay for the pup, you can’t afford to keep him anyway.

If you’re just plain tight, to hell with you.

But for all that, no one book better gives a plan for training a retriever to hunt than Lamb Free, all the way from the simple sit command to the most difficult blind retrieves. I’ve found that using these two books in concert is just the right mix of old theory and new, soft-hearted family pet instruction and hard-headed hunting training.

Anyone else have any suggestions?

Back from Vacation

Tony Jones — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 23:29:37 +0000

I have returned, relatively intact, from my first big vacation with the kids as a single dad. We covered 1446 miles in the 2004 Volvo XC 70 (never have I taken a road trip in such a comfortable car). Among the highlights were visiting long-time friends on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, staying at the Creekside Lodge in Custer State Park, touring Wind Cave, and spending many hours learning about Mount Rushmore. Among the lowlights were the illnesses that we shared in the moving petri dish called our car.

There were definitely some challenges in being a single parent with three kids, like what to do when one is ill in a hotel room and medicine is needed from a store two miles away. But the joys far outweighed the challenges. We bought arrowheads and cap guns, recorded 34 license plates, discovered a couple great diners, and shared many, many laughs.

And when, on the way home, tears ran down my cheeks as we listened to the final chapters of Bridge to Terabithia, we had an important conversation about grief, which children of divorce feel keenly.

I’m happy to be home, and happy to have celebrated Easter with my kids and many other family members.

And I’m thankful for love.

Best Road Trip Hints for Kids?

Tony Jones — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:17:26 +0000

I’m hitting the road with the kids at the end of the week, not to Washington, D.C., as originally planned, but to the Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota. (I decided we’ll go to D.C. when the kids are a bit older.)

So, I ask you, dear readers, for the best road trip games for kids. I’ve already printed out some road trip bingo cards, and the license plate game. Any other ideas?

And how about favorite audio books — or, better yet, podcasts (free!) for the trip?

Really, any tips for the road trip?

Washington, D.C. Travel Tips

Tony Jones — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:58:34 +0000

Call me Clark. I’m loading the kids into the family truckster (Volvo wagon) and driving them to Washington, D.C. at the end of March. We’re going to do the usuals: tour the Capitol Building, spend a day in the Smithsonian(s); visit Mount Vernon.

But my question for you, dear blog readers, is this: What else should I know? Any off-the-beaten-track suggestions? How about where to stay (I’m currently searching VRBO.com, and looking for hotel deals)? Anything else?

Thanks for your help!

Single Parenting at the Holidays: Hellos and Goodbyes

Tony Jones — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:57:40 +0000

Me with the Kids

Today I say goodbye to the kids for a week, after a wonderful Christmas with them. I come from a family that vaunts the holidays, particularly those that have occurred recently. So, as a single dad, I have to battle inner voices that say, “This holiday is more important than that holiday.” Of course, every day with the kids is a gift, thus my struggle with thoughts that one day on the calendar is more important than another.

Do I get them enough on Thanksgiving weekend? When should we eat on Christmas Day, based on when I pick them up? How important is New Year’s Eve, really? These are some of the inner conversations that I have — and have to battle — during this time of year.

It’s funny, because I know some families that don’t really care if they celebrate Christmas on December 25. They’re happy to have their kids and celebrate on the day that’s most convenient — whether that be when they’ve got the the kids, or when other relatives can make it into town, or when their work schedule permits. But for me, that date on the calendar still plays a big role in my emotions of when I’m with the kids this time of year.

So I was happy to have them for a few days before Christmas, and I took them to a waterpark in Brainerd. And it was a joy to pick them up on Christmas Day and spend the past few days building Lego sets and Matchbox Car tracks.

But today is a farewell, and I won’t see them for a week. And, as a single dad, I’m once again confronted with the bittersweet emotions: Joyous for the time I’ve had with them, and sad for the New Year’s Eve I’ll miss.

On the other hand, I’ve got some great adult New Year’s Eve plans — going to my cousin’s wedding — and I’ll be happy to say goodbye to 2009 and ring in 2010 with people I love (one in particular).

And I suppose I’ll celebrate the New Year with my kids, on January 5. Hey, that’s the 12th Day of Christmas! Maybe it’s time for a new holiday tradition…

Christmas Break at the Waterpark

Tony Jones — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:38:21 +0000