A Rocky Start

The Cowgirl memorial rock collection is coming along nicely. It's been a good summer spent visiting many of the places that she adored. Of course, she adored most places. Like most dogs, any stop on a road trip was fabulous...from roadside dumpsights (the best!), to meth-infested trailer parks, to the most pristine waterfronts...it was all good. It was hard not to get caught up in her enthusiasm but mostly it was always hard to get her back into the car. So, I agonize over each and every rock before selecting them. It is a nice meditation and a quiet reflection on a life. Its not over yet. Solid and real like my girl.

Huckleberry Still Life

Okay it's happened. Somebody finally revealed the whereabouts of their secret huckleberry patch. That, ladies & gentlemen, is the definition of a 'true' friend. This is just so exciting, I can hardly sit still to type. Of course, I cannot reveal the locale as it is now my top secret, and to add to the pleasure, there were saskatoon berries there as well. So, buckets were filled in a kind of obsessive-compulsive frenzy until we just had to stop. Blue food is so good. Mossimo and Bonnell, how do we love thee, let us count the ways, as we eat, eat, eat the elusive and lovely huckleberry (and the saskatoon).

It's BC Day!

Just a nod to the beautiful province of British Columbia. Happy Holiday

'RELINQUISHED'

It never surprises me how callous some people are. You never can tell just by appearances alone. They look 'normal' and can even be polite but then they do the most shocking thing. I was out at one of our local animal shelters yesterday. It is the one that takes 'owner relinquished' pets only. Somehow just that term is so, so sad isn't it? Of course, I suppose even I can imagine very extenuating circumstances when that would be the ONLY solution but really...most of the dogs here (and the cats too) arrive with the most flimsy of excuses from their people. The woman who runs the place and does almost everything, all the time, takes these pups in on a regular basis. She does so with few questions as to 'why' but with a few more about the personality and health of the animal being left. Her goal being to find a better, a real, a permanent home for these unwanted beings. So yesterday I happened to get there at the same time a sweet, 3-year old dog was being left by her 'owner' ('moving and new place doesn't allow dogs' you be the judge ). After filling out the paperwork, he said a quick good-bye and was out the door...and to think he looked like a nice guy. I was stunned, as was the dog. Well, we loved the shell-shocked dog up a little bit and calmed her down and then she was led back to the kennels, to wait. She was devastated and it would take some time for her to be okay again. I cannot help but think how under no circumstances would I have ever given Cowgirl up, willingly. I would have lived on the street before I would have moved somewhere without her. I would feed her before I fed myself. She was considered in every equation. When I sighed on with her it was for life. Even in death, I won't 'relinquish'. Reality bites.

Walking Alone

I looked out at the lake and the mountains this beautiful Sunday morning and thought 'great day for a long walkabout'. But I can't muster up the enthusiasm without the girl. I never realized what she gave to me by sharing our lives together. I know, she was just being a dog, but there was so much more to it than that, for both of us. Walks and hikes would happen on a whim and she never had a moment's hesitation. No prior arrangements needed to be made...no times to be set...no confirmations...just a 'let's go!'. I still sometimes forget for a split second that she is gone and then there is that now familiar heart-hurt. Can't let that go because it is all that I have left of her and it is like a good friend now. I know that as long as I feel that, she is still my best girl.

Haute Couture... the Garden Variety

What is it about some images of ourselves that really please us? So many times I see a photo of myself and I am astounded by how unlike 'me' I look. But this picture I think conveys a lot of what is going on with me these days. My snide attitude (note the puss on that face) is clearly evident, as is what can only be described as my devil-may-care style. What has happened is a delightful and lovely descent into a casual and utilitarian sense of fashion. Rubber boots not only for rainy days, baggy long-shorts for bending and tugging, bandana for keeping the bangs at bay, sunglasses just because I always, as in always, wear my sunglasses and of course, a little lipstick because as every girl knows, a little lipstick goes a long way.

XXX-Rated Family Excursion

Oh, come on...its funny. I like to call this little item "MonkeyBoy". He used to be able to be wound up and really go for it but alas, with age (and some abuse) he can barely make one stroke these days. But he has lasting sentimental value and will always have a home here. These pictures are of an outing we took recently as a family. As you can see, MonkeyBoy was his usual frisky and uncensored self. That boy has absolutly no discretion at all!

A Kept Man

I suppose that the best thing to do here is to try to speak from the heart. I'm thinking about how the ones we love come to occupy a room within us. How we try to keep them safe and warm within that room and how we sometimes come together and express our love ever so indirectly. We skirt around the issue and we play and tease eachother and every once in a while we look into someone's eyes and we see it. Do they see it in ours? I have to think so. This is my friend, Guy, and I pronounce his name the french way. I know that he loves me because he never lets on how much that irritates him. And he knows that I love him, because I see it in his eyes.

Momentary Joy

There is a lot of time on a road trip to think especially when one is the passenger. Driving into northern British Columbia via the rolling countryside and the curly-q highways brings on a calm and nostalgic state of being. Even the loaded logging trucks have a certain rhythm & rhyme when they rumble past. But one thing is pretty clear...a road trip without a dog is hardly a road trip in the true sense of the term. I keep looking in the back and expecting to see the girl and then I remember. For a moment there is the always-mine sadness, then I shift and I see all the things we enjoyed. All the things we still enjoy. Together. Now. This moment.