I was just able to slip away from our dog who was finally lulled to sleep with quiet words and lots of stroking. As I watched his eyes close and anticipated creeping softly away as he slept on, it took me back to the many times we have had to do the same thing when our sons were little. Our sweet dog has had a rough time of it the past few days. He has canine epilepsy and has just come out of a 30-hour period of seizures every few hours. The days afterwards are hard for him as well, and he needs our help to relax and sleep sometimes. We all took shifts last early evening and had to tend him often during the night….tho’ this soothing is much lighter duty than the seeing him through the actual seizures.
The week began so nicely with a birthday celebration for my youngest son. Grandparents and presents and cake and ice cream by the fire on Sunday. Do you see the candlesticks surrounding the cake? That is the result of me forgetting birthday candles and my husband not being able to find any at the little stores he checked between work and home and my dear son telling me that candlesticks would be fine and I didn’t have to go quickly hunt up the candlemaking supplies and dip him some tiny beeswax birthday candles-lovely, obliging boy! A birthday breakfast on Monday morning with our usual family presents and homemade cards followed and the honoring of the birthday continued on into the afternoon, when we went to the town of Ashland to have lunch and watch for trains.
I discovered a tiny used bookstore there and quickly perused the shelves while the guys watched for trains. Two went by while I was still in the store and I tore myself away to join my family….but only after I chose this book. And I chose it for its cover, as I have two copies of it already. I never accept a bag when I buy old books for it is so good to hold them in my hands and think of all the other people who have done the same. So I sat with my book on the old yellow railway cart and actually considered
getting out my notebook
to make some plans for the rest of the week. It has been a busier-than-usual January and February for me and I was really looking forward to some steady and stay-at-home weeks ahead. I am so glad I didn’t get out my notebook, for it is easier to put thoughts aside than a lovely, sketched out, written plan.
After several satisfying train sightings, we headed home looking forward to a home-made supper and a movie to watch before bed. We came home to evidence that our dear dog had had a seizure-or two. The rest of Monday and Tuesday and today have been a blur of seizures and dosings with medicine and a visit to the vet and uncountable cleaning-up-of-messes and loads of wash. Elzic (named after a fiddle tune) is out of his seizure period, but still so unlike himself and needing careful watching and attention. Our house is a mess, studies have been sketchy, meals plain and hurried and our Valentines Day celebration not what we are used to.
Oh! And did I mention the stray puppy that wandered our way Monday morning? And the phone call we received that day to say that my husband and sons are wanted as extras for the filming of an HBO mini-series on John Adams?
So the weeks (or months) to come will be filled with appointments for fittings and then long days on the set now and then, with no set schedule. It will be a wonderful opportunity for them…and I begin to see that this all will be a “wonderful” opportunity for me to try to be graceful in finding some sort of rhythm in our rather unrhythmical lives.
We let go of any expectations of our day today and it has been a pretty scattered day. I miss our usual platefuls of valentines and our raspberry pancakes and smiles across the table as we open our cards….but our Elzic is still with us and is slowly improving, I was able to fill a few orders late this afternoon, and we watched some old tapes of our life when it was very simple.
I have more to say, but Elzic is awake again and having a hard time with his poor, tired-out brain…so I will go now. I have a lovely “housekeeping” post in mind to do soon, but don’t know quite when I will get to it now. I hope you all have had a sweet day today!
