A heavy day, weather wise, and otherwise. But a light one too! Think of it as a big hill -- the climb was all about getting ready for the fast paced spin down the slope. So today I finished the climb. I reached a summit of sorts. Now comes the spin (It's called "glass half full" thinking.)
Chronology always serves me well for Ocean posts on days that have way too much squeezed into them. And my chronology started once again at 4 a.m.. Not my landscaper's fault this time. It's all on me. Too many thoughts about the climb, about the spin.
Does Millie sense that something is off about the morning? I dont think so. My girl is always worried that something is going to be sprung upon her. For example, this morning, I found another hairbrush that I had purchased for dogs who hate being brushed. She doesn't exactly hate being brushed, but I decided to give her a few strokes with this one to see if she liked it more. She would have none of it. The brush was new and me, coming toward her with it? I may as well have been a monster ready to attack her with jaws of steel. She runs for her life, barking furiously at a brush that, well, sort of looks like her old brush. Really Millie?!
We eat breakfast on the steamy porch. It's as humid as a greenhouse with tropical plants growing inside. We expect storms in the next day or so.
Still, I have my Millie and the morning meal is as lovely as ever.
But no reading today. I have three lists going: what to pack, what to take today for Millie drop off, and what needs to be done just today. All three are pretty long.
I should deliver her to the doggie daycare, from where Julie, one of the trainers, will take her home, but I linger. I love our mornings together!
But inevitably, I wake her from her dozy doze and we head off to doggie daycare, She is apprehensive, but then she is always apprehensive on car rides. This is not a dog who likes surprises!
And as I give her a last quick hug, I think to myself -- I cannot imagine life without Millie. My companion, my playful pup, my always ready for kisses girl. How do you get a dog to understand that you are not handing them over for good? Isn't every first boarding experience a betrayal of sorts? Do the dogs feel you've abandoned them? Sigh...
After a few very boring errands, I go back to Steffi's House. Ed meets me there and we get to work. He digs a handful of holes (yes, with his pick-axe, though at the surface, the holes ooze mud), goes back to the farmhouse for a zoom meeting, comes back for another round of holes. I do everything else, including lug rocks from the next door lot. With the heavy rains last night, the water, running down a slope, dislodged all the mulch in the bed with the crab apple in the middle. I must have hauled over five or six dozen rocks to build a protective edging. And a few dozen more to create edgings elsewhere.
Just before 2 pm, I remember that I put off picking up Sparrow's cake at Madison Sourdough. It's his birthday today and I can just see myself driving up too late, where the bakery is already closed and the little guy will once again feel like being a middle child is the worst.
Ah! They close at 3! I can put in a few more plants. I drive over (rather hurriedly) five minutes before closing time.
Ed and I are to bring the cake to my daughter's house for a celebration. I am so streaked and plastered over with mud that I have to shower and change. Quickly. And, too, we have to make a stop at doggie daycare because I forgot to hand over to Julie a basket of Millie's toys. And her feeding dishes. (Yes, I made a list. No I did not look at it. Forgot to.)
At the daycare, I ask anxiously -- is Millie having a good day? She is! -- I'm told. But would they really tell me if she was not having a good day?
And now for Sparrow's celebration. Sandpiper is still in school, but we have to get on with it without him, because I want to help my daughter pack up the kids for their trip and then I still have plants to put in.
Happy happy birthday, Sandpiper! May your face light up forever and ever over geographic facts and names! You wanted another dog for a present.. I got you Millie paper instead!
I'm done with my garden at 8:30. Two back segments and a small side one.
I meet up with the hired by me waterer. I explain how to water these fragile flowers, She smiles -- my mom is a master horticulturalist so I know my way around plants. Oh, did I strike gold! Every other day -- I remind her.
And then I go home. It's 9. I have nothing to eat in the refrigerator. Time for a salad with an egg on top. And crackers. And chocolate.
Oh am I tired! When I sit down on the couch, I feel I've gone to heaven. That piece of furniture after a long day of laboring can make a believer out of the most jaded and cynical among us.
But I miss Millie.
It's past midnight now and no I haven't packed. Well, it always gets done. I've never gone on a trip without a suitcase or bag. And no, they've never been empty.
with so much love....
