Good bye 2019. It has been a year. A lot of it has been good and some not so good.
Yesterday we were at the lake and this morning we are home.
I re-read my first post of last year – a first Sunday and two sunsets. Last year, I had planned to write more often but didn’t. There were a lot of distractions AND diversions throughout the year from the beginning until the end. Habits changed, life intervened.
In March, my mother passed away after a brief illness, in May we got a puppy, in August we got the midnight phone call every parent dreads, and in December it all came together and we finished strong.
These three seemingly disconnected events are connected by a common theme – the color yellow. I suppose the color of the year for me was yellow, but I am taking the color with me into 2020.
O has always wanted a puppy. The problem with puppies is they don’t stay puppies, they grow and mature into dogs. O got her puppy in Ivy but Ivy became my dog and she was no longer a puppy. Ivy is an amazing dog, but she isn’t a puppy
It started before Mother’s Day with a text and a picture. Her name was Yellow. She was the same breed and coloration of Ivy – liver and white Brittany Spaniel. The breeder used colored collars to tell the puppies apart, her collar was yellow so she was Yellow.
Then there was a four and half hour Saturday drive to Southern Illinois and back. O drove the first leg with one puppy and I drove the return leg with two.
When we brought her home, Yellow didn’t have an official name, yet. O wanted to call her Bailey, but B didn’t think she looked like a Bailey and there was already a Bailey in the neighborhood and bailey ended with a long E sound like Ivy and B contended it would be confusing.
By the end of the first week, she was Fern. In the beginning, Ivy and Fern weren’t friends. Far from it. But, slowly they reached an agreement and Fern grew. The two slowly became equals of sorts.
Ivy is still the top dog and Fern knows it.
This fall O and I were raking leaves in the backyard. It was pleasant late-November Saturday afternoon. O was using the blower and I was raking leaves and stuffing leaves into the bags. It is what we have to do with the leaves where we live.
Ivy loves it when we rake leaves. O likes to pile the leaves into a large pile and Ivy loves to sit in the middle of the pile. Piling leaves makes it easier to bag the leaves and Ivy is always patient while we bag the leaves around her.
Fern was outside with us and running and sniffing the leaves around the yard. She had attempted to engage Ivy in play, but Ivy barked to let Fern she wasn’t interested.
A few minutes later, O nudged me and pointed. The two were finally playing. We stopped raking and watched.
No barking, no growling, no snarling. Just play.
It’s been over a month and every morning begins with a wrestling match and play, even in the snow.
Yellow was my mom’s favorite color and the color of a student’s gift early in the year. There is more to the story and I it’s time to tell it. But for now I’ll start with Yellow, the puppy.
Today is the first day of the New Year. It’s a fresh start and the sun is shining brightly. The sky is clear and it is going to an amazing day, so I’d better jump up, jump in, and seize the day. Making the Days Count, one day at a time, a single color to light my path. Yellow.
Happy New Year, what is going to color your day, or year?
All the best to you Clay. I wondered what had happened to you and I’m glad to see you back.
My fave colour changes as per my feelings, sometimes daily, sometimes they stay. Yellow never was a favourite colour; I’m blond (/resp was blond, now white), have white skin, burn easily and in anything yellow I look like death wormed up. But I like yellow ‘things’ like flowers, sun-lit scenes, yellow leaves in autumn…..
Wishing you a beautiful, yellow New Year!
Happy yellow 2020!! I hope you find many blessings this year.
Love the puppers!!
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
I’m sorry about your mom. And happy for you about Fern. I hope 2020 is great for you and your family.
What beautiful dogs. All the best to you for 2020!
Thank you. Fern turned nine months on the 27th and she is still ALL puppy.. chews, jumps, and is impulsive. Ivy is still a puppy from time to time, but she’ll be 10 in February. Time flies. Have a wonderful day and thank you for stopping in. 2020 is going to be a great year!
🙂
Despite the challenges, you always remain positive. Happy New Year!
Thank you, some days I am more positive than others….looking for 2020 to be a better year and a step forward. Working to make my first few steps of the year positive and focused. Today is going to be an amazing day! Hoping your day is too!
Such sweet dogs, both of them. Happy New Year to you and yours, Clay!
Thank you Mary. Happy New Year to you and your entire family. I can see clearly now, it’s 2020. Peace.