convinced that it was my challenging gesture
that had doomed our success.
So today we wait till the skies are, at last, that
familiar blue; the few clouds white and fluffy. We
sneak carefully down across the main road and,
having left my mobile at home to prevent it being
soaked again, I wonder if a walk once a day
would not be a good New Year's resolution!
Too many of our walks are filled with routine
calls, our peace easily lost to thoughts about
veterinary matters or the hundred and one humdrum, non-urgent concerns that steal away
I resolve to:
Spend more time
and energy simply
enjoying the moment”
these precious moments when my dogs and I
get to enjoy each other and our beautiful Island.
On the other hand, I think it is irresponsible
to be out without a phone. If I twist an ankle or
one of the dogs is hurt or runs away? I used to
get so cross with my parents for going out
without a phone, without the means to get
help. So, after
discussion
with them,
we decide
on a
compromise of carrying the phone - but switched off
until we turn for home!
First resolution sorted. I point out the huge yachts
with gray sails and the now perfectly blue sea. I lecture
them gently on how they should be grateful for a forever
home, for not being hungry or afraid or tied up outdoors
in all weathers. They look at me with their gorgeous
eyes of brown and gold, innocent of anything but the
joy of the moment and remind me that it is I that I have
so very much to be grateful for.
Second resolution nailed - more time and energy
enjoying the moment. As we turn for home I notice a
small dark cloud peeping over the volcanoes. I tell Mike,
out loud, that the joke has worn thin! We walk home
watching as the purple grey clouds roll across the
whole horizon and a rainbow starts from above our
house. Ridiculously lovely, magically it stretches out and
by the time we get home it is a complete, brilliant,
inverted smile. There is not a drop of rain. The only
drops that fall are my tears, each with its own rainbow.
I want us all to start this New Year with clean, full water
bowls for the furry family and a toast of thanks for friends
and absent friends. Mike wanted any donations to be
made in his name to Nine Lives, the charity that strives to
neuter stray cats and in so doing gives these feral
neutered cats a better safer life and saves thousands and
thousands of kittens from being born to die of hunger
and disease in a world where they are not wanted.
If you have family or friends that have skipped over
the rainbow before you, make a firm resolution to keep
their memories alive and bright by giving a little of your
time and /or your money to causes close to their
hearts, to those in need of friendship.
The Gazette | January 2015 | 39