one good thing about living in carbondale is that eventually you will see a saluki; salukis are egyptian hunting dogs, and are the mascot of the university, so they are often paraded out around homecoming time, or at big football games, places like that. once i was driving on campus, near the old health center, and i saw one, just out on the street, though he was being held on a leash by someone; they are quite distinctive dogs, like greyhounds, with thin faces and beautiful hair, so you don't forget that kind of experience.

on this event (below) i had a camera, and there were several; i'm not sure why they were being brought out, but it was to show someone; and, unfortunately, the crop function of my photo handler here on the laptop doesn't work well, so i can't make them any closer up, though that story isn't over yet. i brought my camera, because i am tired of using other people's photos of them whenever i need them. unfortunately in the excitement, and in the process of protecting a young child who was nervous about the process, i failed to get such things as knees, ankles, and leashes out of the pictures; in other words, it was a photo shoot, but i'm not very professional, in the end.

my point, though, is that they are not only beautiful, but also gentle, and kind, and soft and friendly. what wonderful dogs! they are, of course, hunting dogs; two of these were from kuwait; my friend actually runs a shelter for them, and has an agreement that we on this end will take and provide for salukis, if they on that end will take a stray of any kind, from anywhere, and send it over here. it seems to be a good working agreement.

the saluki national show has been held in lexington kentucky in recent years, but he doesn't speak highly of it; he feels, as i do, that it should be held here, and that, since we have people who have wide spreads of beautiful country land, it would not be too much to ask, to put a saluki show here, and build other events around it: boat regatta, folk festival, homecoming parade, etc.

dog shows, however, are not his favorite thing; he loves the salukis, just as pets and animals. they're wonderful. dressing them up and putting them onstage i suppose is somewhat like doing the same to an innocent young girl; though people do it all the time, if you love them, it's hard to go all the way through it.