I have to admit that when I am working a lot of hours I am pretty dog gone lazy. I come home and really don't feel like putting out the energy that it really takes to be a great dog owner. My dogs greet me with enthusiasm and excitement and I am happy to see them as well. However, the thought of putting out the energy to take Beeks on a walk in the prairie, or to practice his tricks, is not there. I wish it were. He needs the exercise and yet the best I seem to be able to muster up is to let him out into the yard to run like a banshee. It's true that it has been unseasonably cold and rainy lately, but that isn't really an excuse. Dogs and people don't melt or turn to ice if they are out in the cold. I'm just tired. Maybe lazy. Probably both. I am hoping that it warms up and I have some time to spend at home for a while. Don't get me wrong, I love working and don't want to pass up a chance to work but my energy level is getting the best of me right now. Max and Beeker seem to be able to sublimate the situation quite fine. They can get quite aggressive in their play. I sometimes have a difficulty telling if they are really aggressive or just letting off steam. Then I remember that if they take self induced time outs, with whole body shakes(both of them)they are playing on the same level. I am impressed and grateful that they have figured out this balance. They both need the release.
In the yard again...
The Honeysuckle is almost fully in bloom and it gives off such great aroma now. We also noticed that the cottonwoods have released their cotton and it is flying into everything. Soon it will look like snow has fallen everywhere. Funny scene for Illinois in May.
The entire area surrounding our house is now dense with green underbrush. It is difficult to see most of the fern that were once the only green we could see under the trees. The bluebells that were once a great contrast to the green forest floor have died and their leaves are now a yellow green. Big changes in little time. Beeks and I went on our walkabout this afternoon instead of this morning because of the rain and my need to leave for work. I noticed that our own pet cemetery (no Steven King jokes necessary)is almost over run with wild weeds as well. Yes, we have a cemetery for our pets that have died since we moved to this retreat of a home. When we first moved to the CU area, our pets were getting older. We had a mix of "yours, mine and ours" pets. I have written about all of these pets in past posts so I won't go into all of the details here, but it is suffice to say that we have been blessed with 7 wonderful pets in our family since Brad and I have been married. All of these pets(3 cats and 4 dogs) have been as important to the mental health of our family as any paid professional and probably more. When we moved here we came with two Newfoundlands and three cats. The cats were 21, 14, and 3 years old. Chez was the three year old. The 21 year old cat slipped away while we were living in the rented condo, before we were able to move into our home. I suppose the whole moving trauma was too much for her. She was Brad's cat and although he often made fun of her she showed us that old cats can learn new tricks. When Brad came in to our family, he brought Paddington. We already had a cat, Sunshine that was both of my sons' security blanket. Blending families is difficult for people and pets alike. Within three months the cats learned to tolerate each other and soon they were "the old gals". Long story short, when Paddington died and we didn't have a place to bury her, we asked my parents if we could bury her in their back yard. So... I drove 150 miles with a dead cat in my car to bury a cat we loved. We wanted to know where she was and to have a place for us to remember her. When we moved to our present home we lost another cat, Sunshine, and our two older Newfoundlands within the first year. Whether it was because of the trauma of moving or illness (both Newfies were diagnosed with cancer)they died with us and we are thankful for their gifts of unconditional love. We didn't want to have the pets cremated and then disposed of when we had such a beautiful landscape that they each loved in their own way. Although they were living here for only a short time, they did live here and loved the beauty of the place. To be honest, we are privileged to have such a large woodsy space to be able to have an area to bury our pets. Had we been living in any of our past homes we would not have been able to bury them. In this woodie area we are lucky to have a large kitchen bay window with a window seat that Sunshine(the cat) loved to lay and watch the birds as they came to the feeders. Brad located an extremely large boulder to place over her grave. We placed it near the feeders. When Belle and Beau left us as well, and we had them cremated, we wanted them to be with us too. We have scattered their ashes in the same area and now we like to think of them as we look out each morning watching the multiple birds perched at the feeders. Belle and Beau loved to roam around the yard with Brad. While they were here, in this home they had the most freedom of their lives. They were safe and they could be off leash because they wanted to be with Brad as much as possible. It seems only proper that we keep the symbolic "spirit" of our family together.
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