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| sunshine in the morning |
Hi there. How’s it going? Well, I hope.
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| somehow, Hali figures out how to get a nap in |
I hope you had the joy of getting up from a fairly restful night, enjoying some fresh air with the window open a bit, and repairing to the sofa to let Hali stretch out and end up with her head on your leg, as the breeze from the front window allowed you to note that yes, it’s kinda nice outside.
Did you then – after a really good snuggle and song session (I’ve got a tongue, and I’m not afraid to use it // I have a tail, and I’m not afraid to wag it // I like the skritches around my ears // and I have frog-butt sometimes when I stretch out long dog style and hi – can I lick you? // er, chorus??) before Boo woke up and joined you on the couch so that Hali got both head AND butt skritches?
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| I see you out there, taking photographs of me |
When you stepped outside so that Hali could get her morning constitutional, did she then just stand on the front stoop for about 5 minutes just taking in the really nice day that was beginning? How taking a seat on the stoop worked for both of you – you could just relax and look at the moss on the ground in front of you and ponder – was it mossy two days ago? Huh. And she just took in the day from the top of the stoop – did you catch her head in the shadows off towards Adrienne’s house? I like it how she might be excited to go out, but then the full stop of just being there, no rush to the yard, or to chase any furry friends she might have out in the yard. Very zen of her.
There weren’t the abundance of bunnies and squirrels that tends to be our yard this morning – can only assume nature was all ‘oh, yeeeaaahhhh…. low 60s is sleeping weather… niiiiicccceeee’ and thus, as the sun crept into the sky above Henry’s place, our forest of DOOOOMMMMM filtering the rays of bright and joy, our freshly cut grass awash in dewy dampness, Hali and I just were. Very Tao, very Pooh if you ask me.
Finally Hali climbed, laboriously down the steps to investigate the slate stepping stone right in front of the stoop – was that a little ant? or a bug? or a caterpillar many legged thing? they moved swiftly from (or onto) her prodding nose – on a side note, do dogs need to blow their noses? Hali has on occasion taken to sniffing the ground by slamming her head nose first into the firmament. It strikes me as a non-gentle sniff (would a rose smell not as sweet?) – but, she carries on, unfazed, pursuing whatever it is she’s on the trail of.
Our wandering into the side yard (huh, I do have two of those – our ‘big’ side yard, Henry’s side) produced just more niceness – I’ve made the realization that though I’m no fan of our towering trees they do make a nice wind block, and on our warm summer nights a cool breeze over by the Eastern Pines makes me want to set up a small patio, so that I know to head there and relax. In the mornings I tend to ponder the brightening that takes place at the tops of the trees first, making the tree tops golden and lush, beckoning my inner 10 year old to clamber on up and take a look-see. Sigh. Where in the world can our Calvins run free, I ask.
Hali likes to confound a rigidist’s morning routine – sometimes she’s off to the quad, at the front of the side yard, right next to Henry’s Alfas – the squirrels love to sprint up the towering pines to escape her.
Other times she’s after the bunny that sits just back from the quad along the Eastern Pines – frozen – not sure what to do next as Hali gets all ‘oh, hey – look, there, I can go sniff it, please please please please please please’ taught on her leash. Bunny finally makes an exit towards the thick undergrowth at the fence between Henry’s place and ours – I am often pleased by Hali’s quiet attention, but not outright bat-shit-crazy, which she reserves for post and parcel delivery people. Who on earth taught her that?
So we walked on the house side of the lawn, down past the office bumpout, past the oh so nice and silent AC condenser unit, past our shiny instant hot water boiler box thingy, to the thin yet surprisingly tall maple at the corner of the house and back deck and poop-lands fence, where the monkey grass grows tall. It’s her fascination spot of the week, and I can deal with that. I just have to keep my legs moving so as to defeat the vicious attack by the hordes of mosquitos that thrive and love us soooooooo much. Sigh.
We continue our circumnavigation of the big side yard, allowing a few moments of lovely morning unsilence – the wind in the trees give a light rustle, while a few peeps of birds keeps the rhythm undanceable. There comes a time – inevitably – when our back neighbor’s shepherd starts the ‘hey – hey – hey – hey – hey – hey – heyheyheyheyhey’ staccato bark of a family pup kept at the back of the yard. Thankfully he’s not alone along our back fence line, and the chorus they all end up creating is often more punk than even the Sex Pistols in their hey-weekend (did it really last much longer?). Among our blessings is that Hali isn’t very vocal (except people at our door) so she’s all non-chalant and just keeps strolling the boundary of our yard.
Just keep strolling – that’s some damn fine advice I suspect.
It was a very nice stroll with Hali this morning. She took her time. I followed her lead and enjoyed our time outside. It was very very nice, so that made it easy. There have been moments these past weeks, where she heads out and doesn’t make it more than two strides into a sunny patch. Typically around noon. Where she lies down to bake. Oh how she loves to sun-dog. Just like Blue did.
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| a warm dog is a happy dog. miss ya girl… |
“Tell us one positive thing you’ve learned about yourself this past year (does not have to be academic or course related” – so said the instructions in my English 112, Argumentative Research class, in preparation for our Writing Assignment 03 – Oral Presentation (is that ironic?) – and thus I shared with my not-so-strangers-anymore class of 17 fine folks how through the loss and pain and sadness that I have for Blue, our heart and home was capable of making space for and accepting the love offered by Halitron. Love that shows up in a slow chautauqua of our yard.
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| such lovely wonder |
What positive thing did you learn about yourself this past year?
ciao,
“Keep Calm and Carry On” or “Keep Calm … and Cupcakes!”
{{8:29a + 26July2013 = Friday morn || beethoven’s symphony no. 1 in C major by Wyn Morris and the LSO}}