Our house plants are inside for the winter. We have brought them in at night then taken them back out the next morning for a while. Now they are in for the duration, another sign of winters’ approach. I am not sad that winter is coming, it is the great circle of life and living turning to the next season in the cycle.
Watchful, sometimes needy, needing constant attention on walks, affectionate. She is a good dog.
A blog I look forward to reading
I avidly follow Jon Katz’ blog at Bedlam Farm. He is a writer who lives on a farm and writes about dogs, cats, his farm, his ‘ex-girlfriend’ (now wife) Maria, life, donkeys, the changing world of writing and publishing, and many other things.
I first heard of him about ten years ago when I read his book A Dog Year, which inspired me to adopt Stella, my ACDx. Owning her has been a challenging, rewarding experience that gave me purpose during a difficult time and continues to enrich my life.
Some of Mr Katz’ views, particularly on dogs, our relationship to and with them, and what he describes as [my word, not his] veneration of them are controversial among many dog owners. His views make sense to me – my, our, dogs are are not my furbabies, my furkids. They are my dogs. Beloved companions, yes. I miss them after being away for several days. I shed tears when the time comes to let go of one and sometimes I do the same when remembering Kingsley, Moonpie, Avis, Corndog, Rex, BoJo. But they are not humans in fur suits. they are dogs and it is our responsibility to help them live in our world, which is quite often not accommodating to their dogness, their need to roll in and eat gross stuff, to poop and pee and sniff butts, to do what dogs do.
I like what he writes about change and adaptability. He does not whine about how the world of the writer has changed. He has adapted to the fact that a writer on his level no longer can count on sales of and royalties on paper books for his income. He writes e-books, he asks (yet not requires) blog readers to pay a fee – which I do. We don’t necessarily have to like or embrace change but it is good to be adaptable.
He also writes about the real world around him and Maria. His farm and the animals, rural landscapes and rural life and the people in it. He writes little about Politics and Current Events and The World In Crisis, which I and anyone can find elsewhere. I find his blog to be refreshing, calming, a place to find peace and goodness.
I encourage you to visit.
Sometime, the more you look, the more you see. This photo of Stella’s fur is almost abstract in its artiness.
Kendal may be eleven (almost twelve) yet he can still lay with his hind legs stretched out.
I love Canadian currency. The bills are colourful and when counting change, because of our loonies and toonies one often has more than one thinks. Emptied the change basket the other day and this pile totalled $21.73. Yahoo!
Achilles keeps an eye on something on the other side of the back fence. Whatever it may be, there is no chance that it will sneak up unnoticed.
So it is impotrtant to enjoy them.
This morning I bundled up and sat out on the deck for a while with the dogs and a cup of coffee to enjoy the quiet and the day’s growing light. Sometimes it is amusing to think about ‘bundling up’ when it is in the single digits and come February, single digit temperatures may feel quite balmy.
This volunteer came up, and we have no idea what it is. Do you know?
previouslytexan 