12.12.14 In its arms, acceptance delivers to us Grace.

12.12.14 Crap- With All This Stuff Going On, We forgot our anniversary

Crap. With all this dog stuff going on, we forgot one of our anniversary. 

Thing is, I can never remember. 

He's the one who usually shows up with the flowers and plans a nice meal, while I saunter in, say. 'Hmmm- is this for something special ? 

Oh crap. Beautiful flowers. 

Geeze. I so suck at this' and then go draw him a card with the zillion animals all around us, poor man. I'm guessing 38 years. 

Tomorrow night, I'll surprise him. Hopefully with one less animal very soon.

12.11.14 Gemma Is Doing Beautifully. Here She is!

Gemma is doing beautifully, settling down from being lost. 
Fattening up, having a nice time. 1-3 years old, great appetite, will do anything for food.

 Loves to cuddle and put her chin in your hand.
 Is learning about bones and playing, I suspect , for the first time.

Smart! Elegantly beautiful. Please spread the word- gwen.mcclellan05@gmail.com 

I tell her she won't believe how wonderful a home of her own is going to feel.

12.10.14 Reprogramming a Hummer

Had a sister-in-law who worked as a vet tech. 

Sometimes the vet would hum or sing a song all day that all the employees hated .

 They learned that they could 'reprogram' what he hummed or sang by just going by him, singing their preferred song. 

Soon they were competing for whose song got hummed , and seeing just how many song changes could happen in one day.

 I'm telling you ....I laughed so hard, trying to imagine this workplace.

12.8.14 Gemma Comes Inside

Well, I've been busy.

Someone came and loaned me a great dog trap, and 1/2 hour later she was in it.
That night was going to be 12 degrees out, so both I, and later come to discover, the whole neighborhood, were so relieved.

This is Gemma, healing up and then I am hoping and praying for an excellent home. This photo is from her first hour inside. Emaciated, recently having given birth, scared to death.

And warm. Fed well for several days here outside, before I finally got her.
So very lovely .

The beautiful , very smart, eager-to-please , quiet-as-a-mouse, elegant young Beagle mix has been inside for three days now, chowing down huge amounts of food, and quietly craving attention. 

She is great with cats and dogs, her injured back leg is a concern, and her terror of all things 
( understandable, from freezing and starving and lost) is settling beautifully . 

She is now on several Beagle rescue lists, 

but please let people you know all about her, 

in case we can find her a wonderful, patient, totally delighted new home. She is just a gem.

12.9.14 Older and Wiser

For the first time in my life, walking on freezing rain-ed walkways gave me pause. 

And while we were on either side of the car, scraping off the frozen ice on the windshield,
 I thought of my brother-in-law moving from Chesterfield ( brrrrr) to Florida, 
wondering for a second if, like wanting to revisit places of one's past, 
or a dawning interest in sitting quietly outside with binoculars to identify neighborhood birds,
if getting sick of wintry things , and wanting to move 'south', is somehow developmental.

 In the meantime, at 62, I figure with the newborn caution re walking on frozen surfaces,
 that I'm either just older, or possibly older and therefore wiser.

12.8.14 In my 20's, I discovered the writings of Ortega y Gasset.

In my 20's, I discovered the writings of Ortega y Gasset. I was so heartened by his ideas and thoughtful writings: just knowing he had entered all that into the vast legacy in the world, of significant, conscious contemplation. 
"Our firmest convictions are apt to be the most suspect; they mark our limitations and our bounds. Life is a petty thing unless it is moved by the indomitable urge to extend its boundaries."