I’m sitting here, looking out the window, at the sparrows that are darting by and the random cats that just went running out into the field. George is sitting on my lap, shivering from excitement, as he just had to bark ferociously at two dogs that were going by. The boys both have cataracts now, due to their age, but it doesn’t seem to impact George’s ability to continue to believe that everything he can see is his domain.

The way this works is that George sits on my leg and braces his paws against the arm of the sofa. In effect, I am his office chair since this enables him to look directly out the window.  Henry is curled up next to me and under a blanket since our second long walk of the day involved more water, including me making the decision that it was probably just a muddy crossing so I should keep going. Until I ended up to my shins in cold muddy water and had the good sense to turn back.

I’m not entirely sure where we are. I know that the cabin is located just outside the boundaries of a nature reserve. Early this morning, the boys and I walked through the woods and came across a herd of deer completely unexpectedly. Wow, they move fast once they start and they are loud!

We got here last night, in the dark. What should have been an hour and fifteen minutes driving time turned into four hours, due to traffic. I love watching how quickly the boys shed their age when they are somewhere off leash with lots of new smells. As much as I try to take them with me everywhere in the city, it’s no substitute for being able to run free.

My goal is to spend this week doing something different, figuring out what I need to process and move forward from. I’m also hoping to fill myself up with positive energy since normally this time of the year is definitely not my favorite and one where I really miss my Mom. My goal is also to survive the dog farts, George just let one rip in my lap.

GG came along with us. She will go back to civilization to spend Christmas with her family. I am relieved to not be participating this year. It’s not like it’s an excruciating experience. However, it’s not something that I enjoy and this year I am deciding to do things my way.  So far, I haven’t gotten any feedback but that’s probably more to do with the fact that her family tends not to have “discussions” like we do. They are more mild mannered people 😉

I believe today is the Winter Solstice so it should be the shortest day of the year. As my Mom would say, as of tomorrow we are heading back in the right direction.