Suzy Says

Big River Beach

The beautiful weather has made walking the dogs even more of a pleasure. So far I’ve done pretty well at my “walk the dogs more often” resolution (though not as well at the “worry less about the cats” part. You can’t have everything). A couple of days ago, we met up with Lu and her dogs, Harlow and Marco, at Big River.

Patterns in the sand

Megan has been working with Star to teach her to heel and not pull so much on the leash. She’s planning to enroll Star in a Canine Good Citizen class this spring, all in the hopes of finally finding an adoptive family for her. Megan says that if we can’t find a home for Star this summer, she’ll stop looking. It’s going to take a special family to adopt Star. She’s so sensitive and nervous, needs constant care in her diet (her nails break off unless she gets enough Omega-3s and protein), and lots of exercise and attention. In the meantime, though, Megan is working hard to make Star the best and happiest dog she can be.

We stopped at our brother’s place on the way home to check in on the boys and their latest projects. They have a new – really new, not just new to us – welder, and are working on making a windmill to join the solar panels.

Imagine our surprise when we were met by none other than Miss Jessica!

Erica had to take her car in to be repaired, so Jonathan had picked Jessica up from school. She was wearing a pink pom pom scarf her mother had made her, which I immediately tried on. It was a little small on me, and Jessica, fearing that I’d want to keep it anyway, said, “And PS, it doesn’t look too good on you,” which made me laugh so hard I almost cried.

I gave Jessica her scarf back and went to visit Henry. I found some flowers to put on her grave and talked to her as I always do, while Jessica brushed away leaves and then, sweetly, patted the ground as if petting Henry. “I think she’s happy here,” she said. Then she gathered flowers for the other occupants of the ground under the tree. She really is a sweet girl.

We brought Jessica back to my house to wait for her mother, and she set about making a fairy house in my garden. Here you see her picking rhododendron leaves for fairy beds:

When I took the picture, I said, “You look so serious, ” to which she replied, “I’m trying to look glamorous.” After a pause she added, “I can be both, you know.” And she can.