The hounds of Turkish Kurdistan are tall, strong, and long- legged. They are run on gazelles, at least in the south, as well as hares, which would certainly select for size. All we saw were also smooth coated. To me they resemble the salukis of Arabia or (most) Iran, more than those of Central Asia, …
Author: Steve Bodio
Turkish Landscape
We started in Ankara, headed south, and crossed the Taurus range. I think the landscape, though long- inhabited and bearing traces of human presence since the Neolithic, would seem more familiar to an inhabitant of the Amercan West than an Easterner or European. The strangest thing for me was the abundant groves of nut trees …
We’re Still Standing
While I was in Turkey, Libby got a crew (thank you Simon Armijo and Charley Wagner among others) to build two concrete –or “SEE- ment” as we say here– buttresses to hold up the crumbling east wall of our 120- plus year- old stone house, which regular readers may recall was dumping fist- sized lumps …
Back to the Blog!
Despite the fact that I am still on the “Model T ” iMac and its incredibly slow speed, I thought I had best jump back in before the world passes me by! I have a bunch of purely bloggish referrals i have collected in the past week, even a few which have gotten past the …
Principles
(Can’t stop blogging yet). It occurs to me that my “Blogfamily” shares a vague yet real constellation of values. In no particular order or hierarchy: Conservation/ “Green” values, but not the PC kind– we tend to be hunters or at least carnivores. Love for traditions, old things, learning– meritocracy? “Social libertarianism”– small “l”. Respect for …
One More
Russians do the best animal and fieldsport art in the world. Here is an old one of “classic” (Psovoya) borzois, courtesy of Ingrid Lasimer.
A parting shot…
I want to leave you with an image or two. Luckily, although all my stuff is still tied up in the EMac, more comes in all the time. Here is a photo that Andrey Kovalenko, breeder of one of my tazis and owner of the father of another, took while on an extended ornithological trip …
“Story”
Michael Blowhard shares his ideas about narrative in this long andwonderful post. I am inclined to agree with him, especially as I start work on two (!) for- lack- of- a – better- word- thrillers. “Narrative” has always been hard for me, at least beyond the level of anecdote, while “writing”– images, wordplay– has been …
“Conservatives”–??
Hereis a conservative if quirky blogger who shares some of my doubts expessed below about conservatives who want to remake the world. Money quote: “The designs of the neocons are so appallingly far fetched because they are infected with the same Rousseauvian fantasy of the worst leftist excess. Strip away the layers of socialization they …
“One of the Most Popular Things Our Government Has Done”
Ontario has banned pit bulls and their relatives, and says all puppies must be destroyed or sent to research labs. The above quote is from one Dalton McGuinty, the premier ofOntario, who goes on to add: “…just so you know where the majority of the public stands on this issue”. Says Dog Politics: ” We …