2017 - Day 81/284 - Wednesday...

Take heed, your whole life can change in the blink of an eye. Because of really big things or because of really small things. As I reported yesterday (and thank you all for the respect), our beautiful little girl dog Maddie died after eating something she found up on the road. Only after she died did we come to realize that she was the sun of our solar system. We were but a couple of tiny planets (maybe a couple of dwarf moons) rotating around her life-giving brilliance. Jody and I have always known we were creatures of habit, but that little girl dog quickly became a new habit. We were on her schedule, she was not on ours. It became painfully clear last night. Jody and I are both still out of sync, but we will recover from the pain, and one day we will find another little girl or a little boy or a big girl or another big boy that will prove to be a vital piece of our existence. Until then, I expect we will be more sad than glad, more quiet than loud, more calm than quirky. We know we are not the only ones to have experienced these kinds of losses, and in the 25 years we have been together, we have lost other dogs and cats, and it never gets any easier. We will do it again happily, we will share our love and our sorrows. In the meantime, Barney the girl cat is still with us, although she has her own schedule, and we are really not a big part of her life. All she knows is that we feed her (she looks darn healthy too), she lives in any of the many sheds and shelters around the farm, but we have never petted her or held her. But she is still there. Deeds, Actions, Changes, ONWARD, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!