My Country Life

I first saw a picture of Benny–then called Mendell–on the Carolina Corgi Rescue FaceBook page on July 16, 2015. I felt an immediate connection with the sweet puppy staring back at me, but it was too soon. Melvin had just passed away on June 29 , and Mendell was clearly a senior dog with some health issues. So I looked away. I thought of him over the coming days, but each time I put him out of my mind. When the time is right, the right dog will come along, I told myself. I spent the rest of the summer missing Melvin and trying to enjoy my new freedom. Melvin had required extra attention the last year or so of his life, so why not take a break from the responsibility? It’s so much easier and less expensive to live life without a dog. No more vet bills. No more carrying Melvin up and down stairs that he could no longer navigate. No more planning my day and week around my geriatric dog. Yes, that made so much sense. But my heart ached. I missed Melvin. By mid-September I decided to...

June 29, 2015 I said goodbye to dear Melvin yesterday, on his 16th birthday. A noticeable decline began last week while we were in Atlanta and continued through the weekend. By Sunday night I knew it was likely time to let him go. Monday morning confirmed my fears. How perfect that perfect-Melvin should leave this world on the same day he entered it. We spent the day together. In the morning we sat on the porch of the cabin. He mostly slept while I looked through the hundreds of pictures I've taken of him through the years. In the afternoon we visited my mom, my sister, and all his dog friends. I adopted Melvin when he was a year old. Fifteen years he's been with me. He was with me when I turned 40, then 50. He was with me when I bought the land and the first time I camped on it. He was with me for every construction weekend while we built the cabin. He walked the path to Mama's house countless times. He was a great traveler and made the transition between country lif...

I love this picture. I took it last February during a snow at the cabin. The picture captures only five, but there were dozens of cardinals outside my window, in the trees and on the ground—red jewels adorning the snow-covered woods. There’s no snow here now. Just soggy gray skies with the hope of clearing later today. I’ve been thinking about my hopes for the coming year. I won't bore you with the details of my 2015 goals. Suffice it to say that a renewed commitment to good health is at the top of my list, along with the continued pursuit of simplicity and avoidance of excessive consumerism, allowing time in my life for what matters most to me–family, friends, animals (especially dogs), and nature. Wishing you all a happy 2015—a year full of love, joy, peace and good health.

Merry Christmas, family and friends. I love creating my Christmas card every year -- selecting a favorite photograph or two, creating the card, crafting the message, and addressing each one. Signed, sealed and stamped with love – it's a Christmas wish, from my heart to yours. Whether taped to the fridge or the mantel, or simply tossed in a pile on the desk, a card sent the old fashioned way is sweetest. But it ain't happening for me this year! Here's the card I created in early November, just before I grabbed the tail of a tornado.

I was feelin' crafty over the weekend and made this sweet little wreath from muscadine vines that grow wild on my property. I spray-painted it white and added a burlap ribbon. LOVE IT! My sister has a small interiors shop in a nearby antique store, and I decided to make a few wreaths for her shop. I had so much fun! Creating the wreaths inspired me to write for my blog again. It's been a long time since I wrote just for the fun of it. Oh, I've been writing – grant proposals, white papers, market analyses, and other serious stuff. I enjoy business and medical writing, which is mostly what I do these days. I like learning about a new subject and find it very satisfying when I deliver a manuscript that meets a client's needs. But I'm experiencing a bit of a lull right now; that's the nature of freelancing. Sometimes there is too much work; sometimes there isn't enough. Rarely is it just right. It seems that every time I have more than a day or two of unc...

Down by the creek, near where I cross every day on my walk, stands a huge sweet gum tree. For as long as I can remember, the tree has shown signs of disease – a big gaping hole at the base and fissures that extend up the trunk. Nevertheless, it reaches like a rocket, perfectly straight and taller than all the others. A while back, in the dead of winter, I noticed a raccoon had crawled inside the den at the base of the tree and died. She had probably lived there her entire life. But on this day, upon returning from her nightly hunt, exhausted, she laid down for an eternal rest. It snowed soon after, and each time I passed I thought of her. When the snow melted, I left her undisturbed and covered her with leaves and dirt.

Those daffodil bulbs that I transplanted from LaMama's last year are coming up. I had forgotten all about them, so I was delighted when I noticed the sprouts. Especially since it's the first warm, sunny day we've had in a while. A week ago I was frantically wrapping pipes and preparing for the coming winter storm; today I'm sitting on the porch, without a jacket, enjoying this tease of spring. All those people who laughed at us and how we can't handle snow aren't laughing now, are they? Of course, I was in the country for the snow so I missed out on all the craziness in Atlanta. I felt for all my Atlanta friends; I've been there for plenty of icy events over the years, and it can be really scary. Since this one hit in the middle of the day, it made it even worse. Out here in the country, it was just pretty. I stayed home, sat by the fire working, and waited for it to pass. I haven't written for this blog in a while. I've been busy with writin...