sunshine

For a brief hour, just after breakfast, sunshine makes its way between the roofs of houses in the new development and streams brilliantly across the porch, and into the living room of Sally's House. It's a fabulous time. Henry is at peace, on the new and very wide couch.

I have shed all my anxieties about his barking. (He hasn't barked at all since we moved here.)  What incredible luck to have found this place! Yes, it's too big for me, but the owners put it on the rental market at a dead time (winter in Madison is not a good time to sell a home) and so they were willing to rent it to me at a lower the price if I kept it until the hot summer rental period. Talk about luck! It's what they needed, it's what I needed. At the same time, I have little doubt that my unit at the Edge will be rented out quickly. There aren't many such units there and the rental team is fabulous at its job. Yes, it's a gamble on my part, but not a very big one. And honestly, I would give up a year of travel to have made this move -- it has made that much of a difference! Henry cannot live in an apartment building. I have strong images of him walking through the loud garage -- while the machines blasted the air flow, he would hug the walls, the cars, anything to quickly get out of there. Similarly, once off the elevator, he would pull toward the wall as we walked to the apartment. And, of course, it would only have been a matter of time before he freaked out a resident and caused a calamity for them, for me. Here, in Sally's House, he lives in peace, and I can see the tension seeping out of him.

 

He wakes me at 6:30 -- his usual. But because there is no passage through the corridors and rides in the elevator, and because he is getting older (nearly a year now!), I dont rush to go out. I take a shower first. He waits. We go.

Again we see a person -- this one with two dogs. Henry so wants to meet and greet, but they are on the other side of the street and frankly, this is no time for dog play. People who walk their animals at this hour are in a hurry to get to work. 

 

Breakfast. With joyful classical music streaming, along with the sunshine.

I still have clothes and books to unpack. It should be easy, but there's so much else to do. Sadey's coming in the middle of the night and I need to be ready for all that her arrival will bring with it. Well you might ask -- does Henry really need a sibling right now, and I will say that my best guess is yes. very much so. We are a pack of two. Much as Henry loves quiet, he also needs play and I find this to be the toughest job for me. Not the walks, not the challenging anxiety issues, but keeping his mind occupied on the days he is not at doggie daycare. What I know to be true with kids, is also true with dogs, at least with this dog: having two is at once harder and easier than having just one. At first, when you introduce the second, you feel yourself to be overwhelmed with the challenge that it presents. But gradually, every ounce of you is grateful for the additional life you are privileged to care for. What they contribute outweighs the hardship by a ratio of about a million to one. I hope this to be true with Sadey and Henry. Cross your fingers and rub a rabbit's foot on this Friday the 13th!

 

 

I take Henry to day care and return to organizing and unpacking and hanging art work. Yes, even for a half a year stay, I put up art. Just nine pieces -- I want the color pop! A final big push to get everything in order. No kids today. Still sick, still wrecking the work schedules of their parents.

As for the Olympics? I'm never watching them again! I hate it when deserving people who should have won don't win. Ah well, it's only a game. The Olympic Game.

 

I pick up Henry, I bring him home. No, he's not my perfect pup tonight. It's muddy. He doesn't like mud. Neither do I, but hey, these are the bathroom conditions available to you right now! And, as people come home from work, they take out their dogs. Tonight he notices the people more than the dogs. Well, at least I can spin him around and go in a different direction. 

Ed comes over. Sadey's transport is running on the early side. We discuss if he should drive the hour to Portage -- the drop off location for Sadey -- while I babysit Henry, or the other way around. I desperately want to see her, to be the pickup person, but I hate driving on a dark highway at night. To me it's like driving in a fog (which I also hate): you can't see where the road bends. I slow down, just as I would in a dense fog, but this isn't proper driving. You cant go 45 mph on a superhighway. 

In the end, he goes. At 8:30, he brings Sadey home. I take out Henry to meet her. They sniff outside (as per recommendation) and then both come in. She has a fenced off space -- the playroom -- but initially, she's not interested in staying in it. I walk her around on a leash as she sniffs the place out. 

Sadey is the most chill dog I have ever met. The girl with wings instead of ears!

 

 

After thirty hours on the road, she has every right to be tired, scared, cranky, distressed. She is none of those things. All smiles and wags and licks.

And Henry? Oh, I'd say he is 95% on board with her. True, three times he thought it best to assert himself, but mostly he was curious and not complaining. 

It is quite late when I get a message from Snowdrop -- gaga, can I please meet Sadey tonight? Please?!! I'll be quiet! We're not sick any more! 

I agree, thinking that a quick quiet visit should be okay. 

Of course, everyone wants to come meet her. The kids, parents, dog...

The little guys adore her sweetness!

 

 

 And she adores them right back. There's no shyness in this pup!

Several times the kids sneak open the gate and the three dogs have the run of the place. With Goose here, Henry forgets his issues with the new sib. It's chaotic, it's not by the book, but in watching Sadey very closely, I see that she is a happy pup. Well, a two year old happy pup! And when they all insist on a photo of them with all three dogs, everyone is very obliging and agreeable.

 

 

When everyone leaves, I close the gate on her again. She'd gotten out before, so I put chairs in front of it for added strength. She needs to decompress. She'll keep that room as her space for a while, until I'm sure Henry is fully on board with this new addition to our family. 

Sadey joined our pack today. What an amazing dog! What a day!

with so much love...