It's been a very long time since I've felt like writing.  Life is... well, it just is.  As we move through it we are given gifts that both challenge us and give us joy.  Life is full.  It is rich.  I wouldn't have it any other way.

I've been witnessing my strengths and weaknesses, how I both manage and evolve.  I am strong.  I am weak.  I am human.  Some things I face head-on.  Others, I dance around.  I am both fearful and brave.  I am love and I am fear.  I am most definitely alive.  And thankful.

Am I vague?  I won't burden the page with the "reality" of caring for sick and aged relatives, of facing financial crisis, or all the many minutia of daily life.  I find joy in the sunrise, in the sound of my animal friends, of finding myself in moments of passionate awareness that I am alive to witness and participate in this glorious grievous moment.

How do they say?  La chiem! To life.

My little friend passed away yesterday. He was the soul of everything gentle and loving. He changed our lives. Now his spirit is free and his little grave is nestled on the hillside beneath the pines. I miss him terribly. Be free little one. ~Paloma

Photo Challenge for the week.... Furry feet.

We have a lot of feet around the ol' ranhero.  These two sets belong to our Chow Chow mixes, who are brother and sister.  One set is dainty and known to us as Twinkle Toes.  The other sets belongs to our Big Bruiser.  Guess which are the boys' and which are the girls'!.....




Twinkle Toes aka Shunka (meaning 'Dog' in Lakota) is the tan set.  And he's the boy.  He likes to play with his little stuffed animals and takes them to bed with him.






Big Bruiser is Mona, the black set.  She's one big girl.  She belches and (ahem) farts and knocks things over when she brushes past.  She has not time for little stuffed animals but would rather take down something and eat it raw.






This here's Dear Husband with Suzy-Q, Mona, and Shunka.  They all sorta look like deer caught in headlights, don't they?