my Charlie

What is one of the strangest things you eat?  I'm currently eating macaroni and ketchup.  In a bowl.  With a spoon.  Childhood comfort food, thanks Mom.  A mug of hot chamomile-lavender tea sits to my left.  To my right is my Charlie-pup, sleeping off anesthesia from his veterinary visit this morning.

It is raining outside and I have an entire afternoon and evening of nothingness.  But this is a good nothingness.  So good.  Because I always have something.  And if I don't have something I put myself to work doing something.  But not today.  I'm just going to chill here next to my dog while he snores.

After I dropped my pup at the vet this morning I drove straight to my favorite woods.  I was stressing out something fierce after they gave me all the worst case scenarios that *could* happen during his procedure today.  There was possibility of a broken jaw during tooth extractions, nerve damage resulting in blindness, needing every single tooth removed resulting in a bill of near $3,000.  But he's my dog and I love him and things have to be taken care of.  And I have to make the best decision I can for him.  So all these thoughts swim around in my mind and my heart.  And the woods call to me.

I hiked those woods today and let my worries fall to ground.  Some stretches of trail passed by in a blur as I worked through thoughts and emotions.  But always, always I see beauty.  I came upon a pair of Bald Eagles perched on a tree branch at the edge of the bluff.  I saw rust orange mushroom caps with concentric dark circles growing from the center.  I found two feathers, one with a light blue tinge and the other with stripes.  And a few times a stray rain drop would find it's way through the tree tops and land on my skin.

A few hours later I was picking up my pup at the vet.  They cleaned his teeth really well and discovered that there were NO teeth that would need to be extracted.  Hallelujah!  Plus, the fleas he had picked up a few weeks ago when we went out of the state have been mostly eradicated with just some good at home care.  So, we are back in the game and my hiking buddy will be back on the trails with me in no time.

Until next time friends!