Yard Dog

You were a wild

wolf puppy,

gamboling along

the beach

in your early years,

free and joyous,

a wild creature

under the sun.

in your middle years,

away from

the wild places

we loved,

we daily sought

the river

and the tamer

forest trails,

your ears and nose

alert

for critters

in the bush.

Every afternoon,

your nose

would follow

the rich smells

of the forest floor,

and you would bathe

in river, creek or lake,

one with the wild

in shorter increments,

that allowed us

to survive

our incarceration.

In your elder years,

as your legs

and back gave out,

our walks

were fewer

and shorter

but you lived for

those times,

at lake and river,

times when

the old wild light

came back into

your eyes.

In your huge

wild yard,

you reigned

supreme.

You ruled

the street,

lying up

by the fence,

where you

could mark

all passings

of car, or dog,

or horse

with your

loud imperious

barking:

Who passes

through

my territory?

Your yard

has been

so empty

without you.

I look at it,

and am bereft.

But just lately,

Jasmine

has been

acting excited,

all along

the fence,

poking her nose

through the slats,

wagging her tail,

as she did

when you

touched noses

in the final days

before your death.

And I am

wondering:

are you back?

Did your spirit

come home

to the only home

you knew?

I had pictured you

running

free and joyous

once again

along the beach.

But your spirit

and mine

were so

strongly linked,

it makes sense

that you'd

come home

to be

with me,

in your yard,

where you

reigned supreme

and were

king of the street,

Spirit Dog,

forever

my defender,

Wolf Pup,

forever

in my heart.

Sunset at the quay.....

This is our "other" quay in town, Victoria Quay, looking up along the Stamp River, to the sun going down behind the mountains, letting me know I am missing more spectacular West Coast sunsets, these long, late-summer evenings................Nice to see some color in the sky, at any rate, much as I long for the white sand, stretching all before, the lap of the waves tickling my feet, the smell of the air, so pungent and salty-sweet...........sigh. Must count my blessings, I know, I know:)

This is a view of my front yard, or part of it, as seen from my front porch. Lovely to have a wide stretch of green around me, not be cooped up cheek-by-jowl in the city somewhere. My sister's house is just across the street, nice and handy for popping back and forth. That's a potting bench on the right, being taken over by the ivy, and the wooden platform down below is usually planted with tubs of flowers, but I didnt get to it this year. It's just as well, it is too hot, 36 C here today, which must translate into TOO HOT Fahreinheit! Everything planted is withering anyway. Including my dogs, one of whom is the black lump by the front fence, inthe distance:)

Out back there is a steep hill down to a grassy area by the creek, also withered at this time of year but rushing wonderfully in winter, and part of the annual salmon migration. We have a resident bear who ambles up and down it, fishing, in season. The sound of rushing, living water does much to satisfy my soul. I have a bamboo fountain on my porch. We make do:)

Jeff, I should mention, has now completed his round of chemo, responding to it very well. He lost his hair but had very few side effects. He had a rather bearable time of it, compared to many, and we are grateful for that. The doctor, who is a marvellous human being, says he has done wonderfully and now can be maintained on one chemo session every three months for two years. Hopefully that will keep the lymphoma in check.

Mr. Dog, my elderly wolf companion, is having a hard time of it, between his thirteen year old hips giving out, a lame front leg, and the heat, trapped as he is in his thick wolfish fur. I took him for a swim at the lake the other night, for which he was joyously eager. He swam gratefully back and forth in dignified, elderly fashion, then did a half-roll in the grass for old times' sake.

But I had a time getting him up the ramp into the car after. He prefers to leap, and cant any longer. The will outstrips the body, tell me about it:) I need to ask the vet to be somewhat prepared, but cant seem to have that conversation for fear I will fall completely apart at saying the words out loud. I may have to write her a note.

It is wonderfully quiet here this evening, after a few days of providing respite to difficult kids so their mothers can survive another week upon the planet. How I love it when my space reverts to being my space again. Lovely long hours of quiet, the hum of the computer, the whirr of the fan.................it is so hot here the birds dont sing, they hide till evening or early morning, when the temperature becomes something that sustains life once again. Two hours or more to go, by my calculation.

Blessings to all beings everywhere. My thoughts are with those in Pakistan right now......