Another Dog Down

I had a nice retreat…except that I came down with a cold (shared with me by my daughter), and have been feeling under the weather ever since – a full week now. I think I am on the mend at this point. That’s good, because I am scheduled to return to my favorite place this weekend for Pentecost. The cold also included severe laryngitis (literally no voice for two days), and that is improving as well. Since I’m supposed to sing the propers for the Masses, I am hoping for a complete recovery soon!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my illness was compounded with pet-grief as we euthanized our old yellow Labrador, Misty. Misty would have been 13 years old this year, and she started going downhill fast. She has been stumbling a lot for the last few months, and has clearly been in pain, which we have tried to control with medication. She became noticeably worse during my absence on retreat. Going in and out of the house entails some steep stairways, and I’ve been worried about her falling down while trying to negotiate the steps. That started happening, too. And she was getting knocked over by our other rambunctious dogs, as well.

My daughter with Misty,
 in the beginning

So…Misty is gone now. It’s always hard to lose a pet, isn’t it?

Misty, near the end

The weather matches my mood, too: rainy, dreary. But not cold, at least. And because it is so rainy, everything is very green. My drive to and from my retreat was gray and dreary, too, but also quite pretty in a green-and-gray-rainy-day sort of way.

While I was on retreat, I started work on another dossal curtain for my spiritual director - red, this time, for Pentecost. I had to finish it up at home because I became too sick to work on it there. The main challenge with the dossal curtain is that it is just so BIG! My new 8-foot-long table at home was very helpful.

My husband, ever the supportive spouse, surprised me with a sign which he’d had made by a local guy; he mounted it on the door of my workroom while I was out of the house. Pretty cool, huh?!

Life goes on.

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.