Friday, October 24, 2014

Pictures of my dog in an orchard

On Thursday, I finished two grueling exams at school and then I grabbed the dog and we drove out to the country. Autumn in the mountains has been beautiful, my classes are entertaining for the most part, and the red haired wildling I live with gets funnier and more handsome every day.

Yet I've been preoccupied. It seems like dark times have fallen on my family; that's what my sister and I decided the other day over the phone. Cancer and sickness and stress and sadness. And here I am tooling around in the South, far away from everyone, feeling useless. Trying to figure out what to send to the person getting a stem cell transplant, what to say to the person waiting and waiting for the brain scans to come back.  

Sometimes when things feel heavy, I put the dog in the passenger seat and we drive out to where the roads are long and empty. It makes me feel very alone, but in a comforting way, like the way things feel back in Vermont. This time we ended up at an orchard, in a sunny field where I threw apples for the dog over and over. I sat and watched her raw, unbridled joy, her manic tongue lolling enthusiasm for the day- this one bright day. This one bright afternoon. And I thought about nothing, and took a hundred pictures, and here they are. 

7 comments:

Lisa said...

beautiful pictures! and I hope things start to look up for your loved ones. ((hugs))

lynn said...

I love your dog. And I'm sorry about the health issues. Life can be tough.

Christal said...

What a great end to a day. I am glad you and Hometeam got out into the country to decompress.

Sian said...

Sorry to hear that :( hope things get better x

Tracey said...

Having someone so ill in your family is scary and hard. Waiting for scan results is horrid. And I'm assuming the stem cell transplant is a different person. I'm praying for both. I know the dark cloud that takes it's turn over families, only too well. It's hell and that's putting it nicely.

Liz Stout said...

Hometeam is the absolute cutest ever. I love the apparent joy in her expressions throughout this post.

Unknown said...

Good luck with all the family health issues. Hometeam must be such a comfort...she's ridiculously cute and sweet.