Mid Winter

Chores, projects and the usual routines have kept me from regular postings. I both admire and (wrongfully) dismiss those who write daily--admire the discipline and dismiss the need. There you have it.

Maggie just passed her second post-chemo check-up with flying colors and continues to amaze and delight her support team. Her coat is improving and she's busy growing new whiskers. She is back in class and trials, on a limited, "nuthin' to prove" schedule. Love my Maggie.

Winn is happy too- trialing many weekends. He teaches me to be in the moment in a different way than Maggie or DDare, and I am happy to be reminded of that.

It takes, it seems, a foot of new snow to get me to sit down and construct a blog entry. Truthfully this lovely female cardinal is today's inspiration. She has been sitting outside the window framed by snowy branches, inviting me to capture the image. Thank you, and yes, the feeder is filled.

One small project completed: DDare's crate cover. Of course it's hard to finish when the puppy wants to use it otherwise!

DDare's puppy agility class is going well and so are our home practice sessions. Despite winter we are able to find enough space to do our homework: backing up on to a board, the "ready 1-2-3 game" sending to targets, and our tricks. We were fortunate to attend some seminars with Sylvia Trkman and are so inspired by her! DDare is now happy to bang shut a drawer, in preparation for the noise and movement (which he controls!) of the teeter. Oh what fun is a puppy!

Allen Mosley celebrated his birthday at a South Side Agility gathering. We had a cake decorated to resemble the agility pitch for which he is caretaker. The 60 candles proved no match for his most excellent blowing-out, and the bonus--he set the aframe on fire AND blew that out, too!

And finally, this was a musing I posted to the Agile Canines group last week. These thoughts have been on my mind for a while.

***

I am on the road and sometimes that's where I do my best musings, so forgive me in advance! I was struck by a friend's recent post about feeling guilty (my word, not hers) about her dog's MACH, coming as it did among the posts regarding Becky's loss of her sweet Cody Bones.

We have all known each other for many years now, and the circle of life is everpresent, eh? Nearly everyone has lost a dog recently it seems, or is going through treatment for illness. And at the same time, there are young dogs trialing for the first time, dogs hitting their peak, and puppies being born and raised.The joys our partners bring us are not lessened by the experience of saying goodbye to them, but the grief we share is real.

I can't imagine saying these goodbyes, and yet I know I will. We can't plan for the perfect death for them. We can only be here today. And although time passes and eases some of the pain, it never heals us completely, because it just isn't possible for that to happen. I guess it's only in time that we accept our grief as an integral part of being us. Human.

Love you all, for your ability to celebrate AND grieve.

Chris

So that's the view, today.