Common Sense

Lori Bergman wrote the following (excerpted here)
"Three yards of black fabric enshroud my computer terminal. I am mourning the passing of an old friend by the name of Common Sense.

His obituary reads as follows:

Common Sense, aka C.S., lived a long life, but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was, his birth records were long ago entangled in miles and miles of bureaucratic red tape.
Known affectionately to close friends as Horse Sense and Sound Thinking, he selflessly devoted himself to a life of service in homes, schools, hospitals and offices, helping folks get jobs done without a lot of fanfare, whooping and hollering. Rules and regulations and petty, frivolous lawsuits held no power over C.S.

A most reliable sage, he was credited with cultivating the ability to know when to come in out of the rain, the discovery that the early bird gets the worm and how to take the bitter with the sweet. C.S. also developed sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn), reliable parenting strategies (the adult is in charge, not the kid) and prudent dietary plans (offset eggs and bacon with a little fiber and orange juice)....

As the end neared, doctors say C.S. drifted in and out of logic but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations on low-flow toilets and mandatory air bags. Finally, upon hearing about a government plan to ban inhalers from 14 million asthmatics due to a trace of a pollutant that may be harmful to the environment, C.S. breathed his last. Services will be at Whispering Pines Cemetery. C.S. was preceded in death by his wife, Discretion; one daughter, Responsibility; and one son, Reason. He is survived by two step-brothers, Half-Wit and Dim-Wit.

Memorial Contributions may be sent to the Institute for Rational Thought.

Farewell, Common Sense. May you rest in peace.

Often unattributed this has made the rounds with  variations since first published in 1998. I thought of it today as I browsed the newest edition of Clean Run. 

Many great articles and well worth the read but one that really me wonder was an interesting reflection from Susan Salo about being connected to other beings. Her explanation is much deeper than mine but ultimately she points out the way two animals run together often fall into a natural rhythm. When I was working with driving horses we always did our best to match a pair so this would be easy for them. They were going to move together so why not take advantage of it?  Knowing this in agility is important as well. People talk about driving  dogs around the course, and the benefits of having great distance skills, both important no doubt. That said there is nothing like running in a coordinated manner with your dog to both improve your running (I'm a lousy runner generally speaking) and to improve your dog's running and jumping. I pulled out 3 tiny clips from one trial compilation I had to show you what I mean. This is not done with any great forethought  it just is what happens when I run with the dogs. You can see how getting out of sync would  have a detrimental impact on jumping and running form.

Common sense? Apparently not as common as I thought.