Imagine you are on the territory of the Holy Trinity New Golutvin convent: white snowdrifts lengthways densely trampled down paths; snow caps on spruces, bushes, trees; some sisters - nuns quickly pass you by, always busy and in a hurry, but, noticing the stranger, they will certainly greet him smiling to let you know that you are always welcome here; frosty air is fresh, clean and pricks your face and hands a little, but it is easy for you to breath as just by a waterfalls in the mountains. And you go on walking along the path smiling blissfully to your long-expected internal naturalization and harmonization.

And now there suddenly arises a camel head floating stately over snowdrifts, as if against a background of sand dunes in desert. The real camel with red wool! On a frosty day it is even hot to look at it – it looks like a visitor from a country where the sun heats and dries sand, where clumsy saxauls grow and snakes and scorpions creep, where everything is different from what we can see here.

It obediently and solemnly paces alongside with a harmonious, in a black vestment from head up to foots sister-nun, they approach to a spacious enclosure where mighty dogs - Central Asian sheep-dogs are sticking to their last. "Sinai, - the sister calls it. - You can take a walk here". She lets it in the enclosure, and "Asians" meet their friend Sinai affably, then they together start playing and running along the lattice...

Our constant readers have learnt about interesting events in the life of the Holy Trinity New Golutvin convent not for the first time. The sisters’ life there is so many-sided that is worth being told a long, long story about, therefore we shall briefly mention only one side of it: here, in the convent, wildlife, each living creature is treated with true Christian concern.

Pure and sinless animals have always depended on us and our attitude to them. Do we understand each other; can we really get on well? And what can we do to harmonize our relationship so that nobody would offend anybody, but we would help each other to survive in this difficult world, in modern reality...

I addressed with these questions of "Cat and Dog" owners of dogs, cats and other representatives of animate nature, as well as the sisters of the convent where there has recently been only the club of dogs’ fanciers, but now the club of animal fanciers "Blago – CONVENT” serves common welfare.

With the advent of Sinai there appeared a reason of establishing this club. This "present" was sent to sisters from Baikonur. The camel foal lost its mother. A serviceman first sheltered it in his hotel number. A good reputation of the Holy Trinity New Golutvin convent where they treat any God's creature with Christian concern prompted the address where to send the kid. It arrived by a military plane. It was grown up together with cubs of Central Asian sheep-dogs; later on two Shetland pony of Russian breeding joined their collective. So, when dogs carry their service and run barking at strangers along the enclosure, the camel runs together with them, and the ponies try to catch them up. Then they have a rest, sleep together, and dogs put their noses into warm camel wool, as well as in pony mane. In their turn, Airedales and wire-haired Fox terriers run along paths and pavements of the convent yard, also living in clover. On Christmas days there was a holiday for all children of Kolomna and Sinai let children riding on its back.

Since last autumn our edition staff had a dark strip of life, and up to the beginning of a new century we could not issue the magazine. Therefore a long-awaited event of that year - exhibition "Autumn legend - 2000 " in Kolomna, shoot in detail, remained in photos – waiting for a happy occasion. And finally it came. The subscription passed successfully. The regular output of the magazine was renewed, and I got photographic materials out of the grist. Now it is even more pleasant to write about that autumn exhibition in the stadium because it is February - curvy roads, full of dirty snow abyss Moscow streets, and only there, behind the convent walls this winter I saw a real pure frosty winter. During my last arrival - in February, on the day of commemoration of St. Xenia of Petersburg  - there was a rainbow in the sky over the convent in the afternoon.

So photos of the autumn exhibition came in handy: that warm autumn day was recollected and even felt. A mild sun, a lot of good dogs (What am I saying? – There are no bad dogs at all!), and what was especially important, all the people around were so good, even authoritative experts FCI Е. Erusalimsky and M. Polivanov looked cozy, despite of their externally strict and objective refereeing.

Certainly, the presence of sisters and mother Hegumene Xenia softened our tempers, not a bad word would be escaped at their presence, and even terrible "Asians" and "Caucasians" constrained their impulses, feeling the mood of their masters.

Annual regional monobreed exhibitions "Autumn legend" become still more popular and more numerous every year. Here, to Kolomna, people go not only from different districts of the Moscow region, but also from Ryazan, Yaroslavl, Magnitogorsk, and Astrakhan. This exhibition has a reputation of fair and incorruptible.

It takes place beneath mighty walls of the ancient Kolomna Kremlin, at the stadium, on a forest edge. Here both dogs and people feel at ease. And despite second half of September, to be exact – September uy7i17, on this very day since the morning the sun appeared for the first time after a rainy and windy week, dried up ring platforms, warmed all the tired after the journey. We offer our readers a picture story from exhibition "Autumn legend - 2000" where we show not only winners, but also simple nice participants of it, as we wanted to embody not only solemn moments of rewarding, but also simple facts of this fine "action" working process that stuck to our memory.

Take for example another feature (and two pictures of it). A magnificent and the cleverest dog of farmer Berchansky suddenly rebelled silently at the most crucial moment. Its riot was expressive in an Asian way: it just sat itself and obstinately didn’t wish to stand before expert M.A.Polivanov. The owner used all possible means trying to explain it that it, to put it mildly, was not right. But the dog wouldn’t obey. But everybody realized that it was really a high quality dog. That’s why mother Hegumene Xenia’s decision to award Central Asian Archa-Alabay, which won the 3^rd place in Open class, a fine prize of "BLAGO - CONVENT" club - a prize of the convent sympathies was amicably supported with applause.

Now a few words about the prizes of the club. These are unique ceramic ware created by sisters of the convent. The combination of white and deeply dark blue colours with gilding, thin moulded work – all this simply amazes by the completeness of form and a wholesome idea embodied in each of these works of art.

The prizes of the Kolomna exhibition were carried to different parts of Russia for a second year running, and their owners will keep a memory of that wonderful day, for a long time, as on that day everything gave pleasure: both their own (with a dog) victory, and meetings with breed associates, unhurried conversations behind the ring (without bursting envy, rage and hysterics that are so typical for many other exhibitions); both bright rosettes, and unusual prizes made of ceramics by talented sisters of the Holy Trinity New Golutvin convent.

Looking through photos I recollect that even in 1999 (the year before last), I decided to award our prize of the newspaper and magazine "Cat and Dog" editorial staff to "The Most Philanthropic dog " – Lakhza Lakshery. When we first met, it turned out that her home name is just Losya and it is in its third year. But most of all I liked the way they were sitting together - Tanya, an acquaintance of Losya’s owner, Renata Nureeva and Losya. Tanya was sitting on a tumbled down tree trunk, and Losya next to her with its pads in Tanya’s palms and they were facing each other with undisguised sympathy. They did not see me taking picture of them.

Later on this picture and the report that Losya became our prize-winner was published. A year later, in the autumn of 2000 I first didn’t manage to find Losya anywhere. Some time later I noticed Tanya and Renat getting out of the following coming car, Lakshery being with them! We met on a path to rings and greeted one another. I learned the year news, especially about Losya’s fine cubs that all had been given out then. Tanya and Renat thanked me for the publication.  Suddenly I felt  someone pushing me sideways. Looking down I saw Losya sitting and stretches its forepaw to me. I shook with pleasure that strong and mighty forepaw. It was very pleasant for me to hold it in my palm, - in fact Losya was great: it remembered for the whole year some minutes of kind attitude of absolutely strange person to it! We had never met before that exhibition in Kolomna and even weren’t to meet after it, and, to tell you the truth, I would have never recognized it without Tanya and Renat, but it still recognized me.

That time it was very difficult to find the prize-winner of the newspaper and magazine "Cat and Dog” editorial staff. I was choosing among several nominees our "Hope of the new century, new millennium".

Finally the prize was given to Orthodox Convent Hosh-Habar (I took a picture of it when it was still a cub during my first visit to the convent). It is not just handsome, stately, and clever. There was a reliable conscious force in it. It got the second place in Junior class because its new owners have not learned yet to show the dog in a proper way. But they will undoubtedly manage it soon - now it lives in the Holy Trinity and St.Sergius Lavra.

I hope to meet Khabar, Losya this autumn again. Probably, this exhibition will be embellished with the participation of such coryphaeuses as "Asian" Tau Buy and "Caucasin" Daemon. It is so useful to see leading lights like these. For this purpose exhibitions are actually carried out. However, each dog owner is convinced that his own dog is the best in all over the world. That’s his "standard".

It is not difficult for citizens of Moscow to get to Kolomna for this exhibition: from “Vyhino” metro station a convenient soft seating bus goes each half an hour. The distance is 80 kms. In case the road is good. It takes 7 minutes to get to the stadium from the bus stop, you need the same time but in other direction to get to the Holy Trinity New Golutvin convent.  There is a cozy functioning church.

Come everybody: with dogs, or without dogs – just for pleasure and for the good of one's soul.

Natalia Dmitrieva, the author’s photos.

Photos

1. Buyan and CASD Gekcha, Kutmash, Kichi.
2. Junior CASD: Kutmash, Kichi, Tsarevna Budur, Afi-Aladzha.
3. Zetland pony Buyan. 10 years old.
4. Kutmash and Kichi.
5. Orthodox Convent Zhasur-Tibet and Buyan.
6. Young Sinai. The summer of 2000.
7. Orthodox Convent Tsakhiyar (8 months).
8. Orthodox Convent Zhasur-Tibet, the winner in Winner class, CAC.
9. CASD Afi-Aladzha.
10.  Lakshery Lakhza, the winner in Open class (owner Nuriev).
11. BOB, Candidate in Club Champions (CCC) Tau Bai (owner Kokorev, Magnitogorsk) and CAC, Candidate in Club Champions MИKOMC (owner JSC MИKOMC). Experts: M. Polivanov, E. Erusalimsky, Hegumene Xenia, R. Zainetdinova – President of All-Russia Club CASD.
12. Orthodox Convent Kair, 2^nd prize in Winner class (owner kennels “Convent”).
13. Orthodox Convent Erken, the winner in Open class (owner Potapov, Zaraysk, the Moscow region).
14. Orthodox Convent Pamir, the winner in Junior class (owner Dyachenko).
15.  Jaykhun from “Russian Legend”, the winner in Champion class, 2^nd prize in comparative female-dog ring (owner kennels “Russia Legend”).
16. Tau Bai, BOB, CCC (owner Kokorev).
17. Winners of the competition “We are really like each other!” Orthodox Convent Rovoyat (owner Kiseleva, Kolomna).
18. Vaygach, 3^rd prize in Winner class (owner kennels “Convent”).
19. The winner of Handler competition Olga Chernova and CASD Benazir-Guard.
20. 4^th prize in Intermediate class.
21. Khosh-Khabar.
22. Archa_Alabay (owner Berchansky).
23. Hegumene Xenia gives Archa a prize.
24. Edar-Pasha, the winner in Open class (owner Molodtsova).
25. Akhsan, the Best Junior, the winner in Champion class.
26. The Best Male Dog, CCC, BOB Daemon (owner T. Yagodina).
27. The winner in Intermediate class, CAC, CCC, the Best Female Dog Elka-Aira (owner Atryakhin, Astrakhan).

Pharkhan-Loma, 2^nd prize in Champion class (owner kennels “Russian Legend”).