Hello!
One of the delights of my childhood was being snowbound. I grew up in northern Ohio in a tiny village of lake cottages that hugged the shore of Lake Erie. Winters were long and snowy and it was an unusual winter indeed that did not produce at least one snowbound episode to delight us children and frustrate the adults. What a delicious feeling it was to be cut off entirely from the world, save the old party line phone, for a few days. Silenced in a blanket of snow, life turned inward and mandated that we do other things that had been put on shelves and in the backs of closets in the rush of daily routine.
In a parallel manner I have become “puppy-bound.” The birth of Bianca’s puppies dictated an abrupt curtailment of my regular routines; my sole job had become guardian of their wellbeing. Like my dad in those snowbound days of long ago, I have taken a leave of absence from my work, not due to snow, but due to puppies. And like those days, I have tackled some of those second-burner jobs … several boxes of filing, closets, drawers and the like in the first weeks and yard duties in the last week as the need for constant vigilance changed to periodic checks.
Hello, hello!
But, the joyful outcome of being “puppy-bound” is not getting all those things done … although granted, I do feel pretty good about them. Rather, it is in seeing the transformation of both Bianca and the puppies. As each puppy was birthed, wet and helpless, Bianca shed her mantle of carefree school girl and assumed the cloak of motherhood with the ease of putting on one’s favorite sweater. Her instinctual abilities and her devotion to duty are spellbinding to watch. And then there is the transformation of the puppies! If I thought it was hard to keep up with my own growing human children, then all I have to say is that I am glad puppies do not wear clothes that can be outgrown! And if anything, the growth curve is steepening. New skills that the puppies have mastered this week are walking, wagging their tails, barking and growling. This new combination enables them to wage mock battles with one another producing hilarious consequences. One of the funniest is the friendly tail wag that gets out of control, tipping the owner over and giving the “aggressor” a definite advantage!
So with that, I bring this ramble to a close. But before I go, here is a little holiday gift for you to enjoy.
On the move
Everyone's on the move
Pushups, with a little help from a friend