Puppy Love

We have a puppy!  Well, she's 4, but she's still cute as a puppy!  We adopted Widget (nee Paula) on Saturday February 12.  She's a grey and black Cairn Terrier mix and she's just about perfect. 

Frank, Connie and I drove up to the Last Chance Ranch (LCR) in Quakertown to meet her after I talked to her foster mom Diane for 2 hours on Wednesday.  I hadn't even seen a picture of the dog, but she sounded so sweet.  Paula, as she was then called, had been given up to the PSPCA in Philadelphia in January I believe, and had been pulled from that shelter by LCR shortly after admission.  Paula was adopted at the beginning of February by a very nice older woman who was totally in love with her.  Unfortunately one day her granddaughter was visiting and knocked over a bunch of pans behind Paula (so the story goes) and the frightened dog spun around and bit the girl.  Sadly Paula was returned to LCR after only being gone a week because the woman couldn't risk that happening again.

We pulled Connie away from the other fuzzy creatures in the shelter, renamed Paula "Widget" and she was soon settling into the house with us.  She is definitely a momma's girl, but won over Frank at the first meeting.  She's just a love bug.  Sadly she and Natasha do not mix.  Terrier + Ferret=Wild Kingdom footage, so we are working on that balancing act.

Interestingly, I dropped some stuff behind her on Sunday and she ran out of the laundry room, then came back all love and wiggles.  I have a feeling that her last owner's granddaughter may have been forcing some affection on Widget before the pan incident.  Ah well, our gain!

With all the trials of the past dogs this makes it all worth it.  I have my cuddle buddy and walk buddy, and she even manages to wiggle up with Frank and I when we curl up on the couch.  It's pretty much the cutest thing ever.

More Dogs that Aren't Ours

So we've added Cooper to the list of dogs that were adopted by their foster parents, and now Precious joins those ranks.  Precious was actually a close call...what I had thought was part of her coat turned out to be her tongue.  I can't say I find dogs who can't put their tongues in there mouth endearing.

And yes, I said we weren't looking for a dog now.  And then Susan from the Animal Alliance returned my inquiry about a dog from a month ago.  And then I decided to take a walk and it would have been so much better with a dog.  It was so much better with a dog.  And I curl up on the couch to watch TV and find myself looking at the other end of the couch where once Callie would have been curled up, and I miss having a furry body there.  Tasha scrambles up now and again just to get a higher vantage point but then scampers off, falling on her head as always and she's off to other venues.  She curles up in her basket and doesn't have any interest in sleeping on the couch, probably because I move around too much.

She is getting slower though.  Harder to wake up from naps, a little more clumsy than normal.  She's eating less too. I admit part of me doesn't want the house to be quiet when she leaves. I just can't think of a house as a home without a critter I guess. 

But there are more important things than puppies to sort out...and I fear I am becoming obsessed!

February

February...traditionally this is a somber month for me.  No real reason, probably just cabin fever creeping to maximum tolerance and the desire for spring to return so I can stop wondering if that is a puddle or black ice on the road.  The sky is generally gray, evenings quiet...but this February is different.

This February a dear friend lost her brother in a car accident.  No one's fault, just an icy road.  She was the one who had to tell her family, her father. Now she is the one the family is turning to to make arrangements. She has a husband and two small children of her own.  I find myself wondering when she will time fine for herself, time to grieve, time to come to terms with her loss.

There is no way I can begin to understand her grief, and nothing I can say or do will lessen it.  But I remind myself that just because words won't make it better doesn't mean I should fade to the background.  So I send hugs, try to plan some sort of movie night where she can be with friends and the kids can play instead of watched.

Meanwhile in Cumberland county a grandmother lies in a hospital bed, fighting to just stay where she is as congestive heart failure seems to be mounting a final assault.  Another friend travels back and forth from here to there on the weekends to spend time with her grandmother.  This is the anticipated end to a life, but that doesn't make it easier.  Tension in the family is high, making a sad situation even harder.

Another friend is recovering from chemical therapy for a cancerous mass in her chest.  It lightens my heart to say she is recovering well and looking forward to no longer being under her mother's care! 

Such a serious month.  I feel a definite lack of silliness this month, and an increase in that helpless feeling that comes when people you love are hurting and there isn't much you can do to help. 

But February will end and March will bound in.  There will be more birdsong, more sunshine and less snow.  There will be more smiles, more silly and we will remember the ways those who have left us made us smile, and enjoy all the more the wonderful people who bring smiles to our days.