The title of today's blog is a song on the album of the same name by Canadian singer-songwriter, Sarah MacLachlan. The chorus has the words:
And if I shed a tear I won't cage it
I won't fear love
And if I feel a rage I won't deny it
I won't fear love
Today was a beautiful, warm, calm spring day. I didn't have much that I had to do, since I got most of my weekend tasks accomplished yesterday. Andy made a big omelet for us to split for brunch. He left his chair pushed away from the table when he got up to get a cup of water. Skadi took the opportunity to jump on his chair, at which point I said, "Grab your phone and get a picture of this." He came back into the room a bit confused, then started laughing as Skadi boosted herself partly on to the table, and leisurely grabbed a bite from the center of his omelet. It had all dog safe ingredients, with eggs from our very own free range chickens. Andy picked Skadi up before she could help herself to seconds, and I snapped a few cute pictures of her struggling to get back to her second breakfast.
We sipped coffee on the deck in the warm sun for about an hour while Andy read on his Kindle and I knitted. After brunch was sufficiently digested, we got the dogs and went to the prairie for a walk. Andy walked Bridget and I walked Celine through the gate, at which point we let Bridget run. Celine was acting calm and fairly obedient so I thought, "Well we'll see," and I let her off leash as well. People often see pictures of my dogs that I take and ask why Celine doesn't get to go off leash like the others. Well, Celine is a snot, and is more interested in visiting her Boxer friend and everyone in the neighborhood than recall. I thought that maybe today she was in a different mood. Bridget flushed a rabbit, which all four dogs gleefully chased from the north to south end of the pasture, then they all recalled nicely back to me and Andy. We went to the campsite in the middle of the prairie, by the oak heart tree. We sat on the large recycled log cross sections, and watched the dogs play and explore. Bridget and Prins went back to the area that the rabbit slipped out of the pasture, then came back when I called them. Celine noodled around, rolling in all kinds of gross decaying things. Then she got that look in her eyes, the look that says, "Well I have seen all I need to see here, time to bounce!" She started trotting towards the west boundary fence, and I yelled at Andy to get up, that she was going to bolt. He didn't believe me, as he hasn't witnessed this phenomenon and thought I was exaggerating. Celine just merrily trotted off while we ran to catch up, then slipped under the fence through a hole she should not have physically been able to fit through, and she ran towards her friend the Boxer, who I didn't realize was out in his yard. He is a friendly dog, and was on his tie out. However, today presented a new social dilemma for Celine. The folks from the new house about a mile west of ours were walking two of their dogs, and Celine had not met them before. She decided out with the old, in with the new. I yelled to the couple, "She is friendly, just shoo her away if your dogs are not friendly!" The couple were laughing about as hard as Andy, still in the prairie (he stayed with the five GOOD dogs that did not try to follow Celine). The wife bent down and took hold of Celine's collar while her young dog was over the moon to have a new friend. I caught up, put Celine's leash on her collar, profusely thanked the jovial couple, then started to walk Celine back to our property. A few families came out of their house to share in the Sunday afternoon entertainment. We have a nice neighborhood and everyone is dog friendly. The Boxer was barking mournfully from his yard that his friend Celine didn't visit him. Celine dug in her heels halfway back to our fence line and HAD to pee to mark that she was there and did something different today. I shook my head and Andy laughed louder. I boosted Celine over the fence, handed the leash to Andy, then climbed over it myself. He said, "I didn't believe you when you said she would escape and go roam the neighborhood. I am amazed that she slipped out so easily and just took off to call on her friends. Oh and you move pretty well when you need to!"
I hate running. The shuffle-jog that I do in conformation rings is about as fast as I like to move. I told Celine that I was never letting her off leash again and that I hope she enjoyed that romp because it was her last. Leash only, even in the prairie, until I have the fencing fully reinforced. Again, not one of the other dogs could find the hole that she used and they all patiently waited with Andy while I chased after Celine. She has the quarter or so acre of well fenced dog yard that she can run free in, those she usually chooses to sit and vocalize to me her long list of complaints for the day.
We walked back home, put all the dogs in the dog yard, and they eagerly lapped the cold water from the bowl in the shade on the deck that I changed right before we left the house. I decided it was time to spend an hour on the tractor, pushing in the south garden pond. I was able to move the largest rock from the garden, with some clever maneuvering to get it in the tractor bucket, and set it northwest of the house in Penny's Memorial Garden. That was when I started thinking about Sarah McLachlan songs, and the dogs that Penny knew and loved: Chester (our male corgi), Bailey (our rough collie) and Ziva (our first Rottweiler). Ziva passed away before Penny, whereas Chester and Bailey each passed less than two years after Penny. They were quite the team when we farmed at Skycastle. Bailey killed at least one coyote and Ziva was a varmint destroying machine. Chester was the comic relief, often chased by the geese until one time he had enough, turned around and bit Steve Pip, who was shocked enough that he turned tail and waddled away, honking loudly. Chester got only a mouthful of feathers, but was so proud of himself. Penny spent the last two years of her life blind, from glaucoma, though that didn't stop her from seeking out our Bourbon Red turkeys and gleefully scattering them.
After I labored to move the large pink granite rock from the front garden, I decided that it needed company. I had unearthed a large paving stone while working in the front that was in excellent condition. It was nearly 24" round, and about four inches thick. I decided to move that as a new base for the granite pagoda in Penny's Garden, then found two more rocks that I loaded in the bucket. I arranged the elements in a way that felt right, then moved the corgi metal garden silhouette. I got a bit choked up, was thoroughly soaked and muddied up, so I decided to stop at that and go back in the house to clean up. I drove the tractor back into the barn and felt an enormous sense of accomplishment. I felt that I did something special and noteworthy. I had created a shrine for Penny and her friends' spirits to visit. The three rocks symbolized Ziva, Bailey and Chester. The pagoda is for Penny herself. Andy came back into the house and I told him about Penny's Shrine. We walked out together to visit the shrine, and Andy got a bit choked up.
Time to wrap up this post and head to the grocery store for a few essentials that we ran out of today, including coffee. Skadi was a bit miffed that she didn't get a swig of Andy's coffee before she was unceremoniously removed from his place at the table.
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