DUSTY SUNRISE
It's been an up and down week - more downs than ups. Our drought continues, much to our distress, as does the wind that whips our trees into a daily frenzy. The rain that was last week promised to us for this week has melted away, as happens so often.
Last Friday we returned from the pharmacy - more Imodium - to find Mello fiercely guarding what appeared to be a snake. Every so often she takes possession of an item, generally an old glove or shoe, that she defends against all comers until she gets distracted and leaves it lying on the cobbles.
Indeed, it was a snake, a very dead snake. Whether Mello had killed it or merely claimed it was unclear. I was surprised to see any snakes, dead or alive, in January. Sensibly, they generally don't emerge until the second quarter of the year when things warm up. We don't harm them although we do encourage them to slither off elsewhere. (Note my snake grippers, ordered from Amazon and delivered all the way from China.)
SELFIE ON TROLLEY & DRIP
As Slavic was unable to work on Saturday (his car was playing up) and I was on day 5 of the runs, I thought it might be an idea to pop into Loule hospital for a check-up. After an extended wait (because the front desk failed to notify Emergencies of my presence) I explained my state to a doctor who put me straight on a couple of drips. They haven't cured the runs but they did end the tummy cramps, for which I am most grateful.
On Monday I cancelled my English lesson, less because I wasn't capable of giving it than because several of the better pupils would be away. And a class of just one or two is seriously hard work, especially when there is a big skills divergence.
SPARKY (CENTRE) WITH MELLO
On Tuesday morning we gave Sparky a sedative pill and then took her in to the vet in Loule for surgery on her chronically swollen and congested inner ear. That afternoon the vet called to say that the little dog had survived the operation well but had suffered a heart attack while being resuscitated and that he had been unable to revive her. He suspected that it might be connected to heartworm or some other disease she had contracted as a stray.
Sparky was a creature who brought us nothing but joy, except perhaps on those few summer nights when she felt that the moon required a good barking. How easily any such little faults are now forgiven. Mello, her life companion, with whom she so often shared a bed, is bereft. So are we.
We know that all our pets are going to die, as we are. All we don't know is the time, manner and order of their exit. But knowledge of the inevitable in no way dulls the searing pain of loss that each death brings. Jonesy says there must be a way to arm ourselves against it. Apart from becoming a very hard and unpleasant person, I can't think of one.
Clouds occupied the sky on Wednesday night to make our end-of-the-month blue supermoon experience less than exhilarating. But Jones, who ever has one eye to the sky, was waiting when the orb did pop out briefly. One night we watched a documentary on the moon and its influence on our planet. It would be hard to imagine life without it.
And here we have the first sunrise of February. Jones wakes at five and takes herself in the darkness to the eastern windows where she performs her exercises while she peers into the starry vista without. At six she returns to bed for an hour, interrupted often by canine escort duties as Ono staggers down the stairs for an early morning pee. The old fellow grows increasingly blind and unsteady although he still manages to accompany us on walks most days.
MODERN MAGPIE ART
To our delight, birds have started to take food from the new birdfeeder, a structure that has stood skeletal and forlorn against the sky for most of the several months of its existence. We've been putting out cat biscuits for the magpies, which love them. Jonesy rushed to get the camera to prove the point but found that the birds had flown by the time she returned to the window. You'll just have to take our word for it.
I loved this - from our Cape Town nephew. It's an essay on relationships in two sentences.
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