You see your friends for your breakfast meetup at the end of August. Two weeks later you are moving into an apartment on the other side of town. Only you don't announce it (to those who are not Ocean readers -- hard not to announce a move on Ocean!) -- because really, it's so complicated. Talking about it makes your head spin. People are traveling, so there's a bit of a break in the breakfast gatherings. Next one falls on November 6th. So do you just show up and say -- by the way, I neglected to mention that I actually do not live at the farmhouse anymore and those flower fields? A thing of the past. Oh, and I got a dog and he is very large but a little shy when meeting new people. Let's eat!
I think about this as I take Henry out this morning. Last night's supermoon, the Beaver Moon, is still with us at the early portion of our walk.
The weather remains solidly good! It will really get chilly in a couple of days but for now, we are enjoying the lingering fall colors. Here we are on Squirrel Hill, so named by me because Henry is so excited to pick up their scent everywhere!
But I have to hurry. My breakfast meetup is, well, on the other side of town and Henry needs to go to doggie day care first and that's in the opposite direction.
(heading downtown, along a very familiar stretch of road...)
Breakfast with friends. I'm better at writing about rather than talking about life's changes and the reasons for them. How often do you regret your choice of words when describing a tricky situation? Yeah, for me it's quite often. There's not an editing option once you've put down an idea. Still, they're friends, it shouldn't matter. It doesn't matter.
We sit at the table for a very long time. This is normal. We always extend the breakfast into the lunch hour.
(the food is grand, the setting -- all blue and beautiful)
As we pass the noon hour, I have to take off and return to my new neighborhood. The kids will be waiting.
(Sparrow, with a brief stop at home, where he shows me all the Halloween candy he does not like -- anything with peanuts heads the list)
I would like to say that it was a wonderful afternoon, but unfortunately, Snowdrop slammed the car door on her fingers and much as I like to provide instant remedies for a child's pain, I could not think of any for this beyond time, and a cozy snuggle on the couch. With two chapters of Anne of Green Gables.
As always, we end the day with picking up Henry. The pooch is so very excited and happy to see us that I forget how shy he really is, until he encounters people he doesn't know indoors and I feel him pulling back. Yesterday, several residents urged me to bring him to that gathering at the Edge, but Henry would have none of it. Possibly not the best time for him -- in the evening he is tired and very hungry. He's going to want to go home. But still, it is a reminder that I have got to get him exposed to more strangers, so that he will slowly let go of his initial shyness. (Once he has a few minutes with you and he sees that you aren't there to beat him up, he is your friend for life.)
Tonight, predictably, he eats voraciously and then settles on the couch by me. My supper is very late. How can I walk away from this snuggler-supreme?
With so much love...
