The Shootout!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend to everyone! Today has been somewhat busy for me. I was up and running (more like skipping) by 6:00 this morning. After feeding the dogs and making some organic coffee, I sat down at my laptop, and finished reading / editing the final chapters, of a friend’s manuscript. His book was a fantastic non-fiction read, and I felt honored that he had asked me to help him edit it. In fact, his dedication is to me!

Around 10:30 this morning, Ronda Lashley and Jose arrived at the rescue ranch. They had come out so Ronda could interview me a little more, and for her to also take a few more pictures for her article in the 'Austin' magazine’s July issue. Ronda had come out a few weeks ago, and she interviewed both Kinky and I, and it had been a lot of fun! We did part of the interview in Outer Space while it was still under construction—I hadn’t decorated it, yet.

So, the first thing I did, when they arrived, was to show Ronda what Outer Space now looked like. Ronda was impressed with my decorating, and Jose really liked it, even though he hadn’t been to Outer Space before. Then we left Outer Space to go take some pictures of the dogs.

I was talking their heads off—telling them how important John Kemmerly was to us, and all of the great work that he has done out here—when we met up with John at the barn. After introductions, Ronda asked John if she could take some pictures of him walking a dog. John was polite, and tried to wiggle out of it with excuses like, “Well, I don’t think so, I didn’t shave this morning, my shirt is dirty. I think y’all need to let Nancy do it.”

“Come on John,” I begged. “You’re the one that does most of the dog walking around here.” I could tell that John didn’t really want to do it, but he agreed to do it anyway.

John and I decided to walk Katherine Ross and Ms. Pepper. As I walked Katherine Ross, and John walked ‘our ton of fun gal’—Ms. Pepper, down to the creek—Ronda began taking pictures of us. Ronda started out following us with her camera, and I joked about her needing to use a wide angle lens on me, and then she got ahead of us and started shooting us, again. It was a lot of fun and I think John really enjoyed it, too.

During our walk back to the rescue ranch, while visiting with Jose, I discovered that he was an oncologist, and he also owned a photography gallery in Fredericksburg, ‘Photography 414!’ It is located at 414 East Main Street in Fredericksburg.

When we returned to the rescue ranch, John took Ms. Pepper and Katherine Ross back to their pens. Ronda then asked us to pick out another dog for her to take pictures of. We decided on Randy Travis. So, John put a leash on Randy, and then we took off for the front yard of my writing cabin.

Ronda took several pictures of Randy with John, and then she left to go visit our pigs. John, Jose and I remained in the front yard— over by the pig pen. Then I heard Ronda, who was inside the pig barn, having what sounded like a two-way conversation with a pig.

I looked at Jose. “Is Ronda inside there, all by herself—talking to one of our pigs?” I asked.

“Yes,” Jose said. “But she is talking to Tony. He’s inside there, too.”

I laughed. “That’s good, because I thought she was carrying on a conversation with a pig,” I said. “I’m hard of hearing and didn’t hear Tony’s voice.”

Then our dogs started barking! Randy had jumped out of the yard and was running back to his pen! John left to go put him back with his roommates—(Moe) Bandy and Mandy.

When Ronda was done with our pigs, she told me that she and Jose were going to walk around and take a few more shots. “That’s great,” I said. “I am going to go get my camera, and take pictures of you taking pictures of our dogs, so I can blog about it. I’ll be right back!”

I went to the trailer, grabbed my camera, and when I was coming out of the gate, John walked up and suggested that we take Kermit, so we could quickly catch up with them before she was done. We jumped into Kermit and John drove us to Willie Nelson’s and Bobbie Nelson’s pen.

I jumped out of Kermit, and started shooting Ronda without her knowing it! When she turned around and saw what I was doing—she broke out laughing and so did we!



After she had taken several pictures of Willie and Bobbie, she thanked us for our help, and then she and Jose left the rescue ranch.

As soon as they were gone, I went to the trailer. I opened up my laptop and went to: www.photography414.com to check out Jose’s gallery online. Wow! I was blown away by his beautiful gallery, and the pictures were awesome! I showed it to Tony and he was mightily impressed, too. We are definitely going to check it out the next time, that we are in Fredericksburg.

After viewing the awesome web site, I checked my e-mail. John’s mom, Mary S., had sent me an address to check out: www.flixxy.com/canine-freestyle-dancing-dog.htm
I went to the address and the video was fabulous! Please check it out