Archive for the ‘love’ Category

“Trailblazing Sniff Patrol”

Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

It was just about 7 a.m.- and we were OFF.

It had snowed about 4-5″ and we were the only ones around, beside the snowplows.  Needless to say we were ALL positively ebullient: there was enough snow so the 3 kids were forced to do their bunny imitations. As lorra applied science to create a successful leash management strategy, the kids insisted on RUNNING, all with giant smiles on their open-mouthed faces. We were the first out after only the street plow, so when we got to the foot path along Riverwoods Road we were forging a new trail. Bravely. Lots of conversing: “o, is there something good to smell there? let me, let me!” and ‘if YOU’RE gonna pee there, I’M gonna pee there…”– stuff like that.

Meanwhile, between managing the leashes and the ankle deep snow, lorra was joyfully engaged, waving at anyone who drove by. (Again, mostly snowplowers.) She was particularly impressed by Penny, who was as energetic as the others, and as incessant. In addition to the heavier load she carries, she had the biggest, baddest snowballs around her feet and ankles. She found them annoying, but she didn’t let them stop her!

After several blocks our tracks joined some others; from a dog and person who’d gotten there first. We went quite far, until lorra felt going any further (farther?) might have meant having to carry someone at least part of the way home. There was quite a bit of running on the return.

Then came the good part.

With a fresh bowl of water in placed the garage, the 3 were let off leash while lorra shoveled the driveway in the coming-down snow. So many decisions to make! Barking and chasing the lead edge of the shovel, or scream-barking at Dixie, the golden barking back from her end of the cul-du-sac, or barking at the snow plow (back again to redo the street), or just running like crazy together thru the yard? So so so fun. for everyone. for about an hour! But we weren’t done yet.

Next stop- laundry room. Where each doggie got his/her own time in the sink to melt off those annoying snowberries with comforting warm water. Followed by a long, cuddle-massage in a giant towel. And some blowdrier on the warm, gentle setting. Penny couldn’t get enough of this part. Winnie was concerned about Penny’s safety, being attached by the roaring drier, until Winnie got her own dose and understand that it was okay.

Afterward, ‘This’s livin’  could be heard, murmured softly in 3 distinct voices. Exhausted, they are each breathing deeply as they lie at my feet, eyes closed, smiling.



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Posted in Multitasking, friendship, fun, love, pets | 2 Comments »

Healthy Heart, Happy Valentine!

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

For any shirt purchased from www.hardworkingwoman.com during February,

we will make a donation to the American Heart Association.

ALSO, if you add ‘free heart’ and your size in the comment box, we’ll send you a ‘Thinks With Her Heart’ for FREE! while supplies last.

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Posted in General, fun, gifts, good works, love, shopping, tees | 2 Comments »

‘as if’

Sunday, June 24th, 2007

i think judith would have chosen this place to sit, early in the morning, in the yard of the apartment building she lived in, to rock gently as i am doing now.l she’d told me how she loves to just be– in nature. to feel the sun on her. and the wind.
i came out to read (j would have loved this book about raven behavior) but there are too many distractions. the birds, mainly, walking flying persching talking. singing. to each other and to no one. there is a giant elm tree hosting many of them. and other trees and buildings all around doing the same. the lawn of this great city yard mingles wildflowers (weed, to some) and grass, and the way the weeds looks improves the beauty of the whole thing. the breeze is cool and lovely mitigating the early burning sun.
still, 10 years later, whenever i look out what was, for a short time, my mom’s bedroom window, i can not help but see as if i were she. from the bed. seeing the beauty of the maple leaves against the sky. Moving, sunlit. Thinking about the thoughts she may have thought. or not thinking.
thinking what others think, feeling what she feels. being a particular person in the light of her. no wonder it feels as if a part of me dies when she they dies. because it does.

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Three things.

Tuesday, June 12th, 2007

I spent a big chunk of yesterday and this morning with my old dear friend. Didn’t know til I got there (I flew) that she’s in a nursing home. That’s why there was no answer to all my calls lately. That, and because she ripped the phone out of the wall frustrated at not being able to get the words out of her mouth anymore.

The first thing: lifting her out of the chair back into the bed, helping her use the toilet and cleaning her afterwards, trying to move her into what looked like a more comfortable position on the bed, all those things were me and my mom all over again. Only– 10 years later. Used the same muscles. And the same state of mind.

The second thing: There was a kind of acceptance. An ‘it’s-what-it-is’ ness. Being present in the extreme. Without assessing, comparing to other times. Past or future. No self-consciousness. Just being with her. Now.
It had been like that with Mom. And that was an enourmous gift. Because somehow, i didn’t squander the those last few months i did have with Mom by not being other than fully with her.

And that leads me to the third thing: Now I get how a person could do hospice work. Without being torn up all the time. Not that sadness isn’t a part of death. But it’s not the only part. It’s not just about loss and what isn’t anymore. It’s its own thing. And every person is being– now and now and now. Til she isn’t anymore. The being may change, and not be what we would choose, but is there for the being with. Never before could understand how someone could actually choose to be with sick and dying people. And now I do. It’s just how you look at it.

Old, dear friend, I sure love you.

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