A post about a dog

Teddy, my sweet bouvier des flandres mix who lives with my ex, visited this week. He returned home Wednesday. We lived together 8 years ago, and in that time he's made it to 16 years old. It took a bit of adjusting to his new "old dog" ways to feel as though we could give him a comfortable time.

J & I took him on walks around the neighborhood, which was cozy and fun. I noticed that our new neighborhood is visually like a mountain town, with houses distributed in among pine trees and madronas. On the second day Teddy was here, I took him on a walk around Greenlake. It was a bit much for him, but he was a trooper & finished the 2.8 miles without appearing to suffer any injury.

Before he left, he managed to pull himself up our steep staircase & into our room. After a few panicky moments, I walked him down the stairs on his leash. There were a few tense bits, but he made it down ok.

There was something soothing about having him here. I was surrounded with old pets, sleeping everywhere in the house. Since I'm still way low energy, I take a nap on occasion. No matter when that was, Teddy or Jema would be there, sweet company & very welcome.

Jema was not pleased by having Teddy around, but was tolerant if she had an escort when traveling by him. We brought her food upstairs, which kept her from needing to go downstairs too many times a day. But a cat likes to wander the garden & so I was reminded daily of her particular frustration with having to deal with a dog, for goodness sake!

There are big doings this weekend, we are almost overbooked. We've been getting the house ready for company & Jason's been running errands to make sure there is enough food. I don't think things will settle down for a week.

Here is a lovely version of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, by Gilberto Gil:

for the video & the more polished version, click here