By late November, you can’t lie to yourself anymore and think that it is still summer or fall. Like being at the end of your life and your beauty is dimmed, you are not in the springtime of your youth and therefore not the first pick of the boys. The inevitable bitter cold with biting, raw winds bear down from wherever they come from as you try to go about your kennel work suddenly turning what once brought you joy in your beauty it into an unpleasant ugly chore. To make things even worse, Jelly sustained a bad injury on her forelegs by falling down hard on them while running off leash in the Watchung Reservation, making it necessary to go to an Emergency Vet nearby and the beginning of many visits to “Dr. Mary” for “bandage changes”, making it a very expensive injury from which to recover. The lacerations cut across her wrist joint and the challenge was to keep the wounds covered until they were healed to avoid osteomyelitis or “septic joint”. So, all of that has been happening, and after three weeks, there is still one wound wrapped although it is becoming noticeably smaller. I feel as if I live on Rt. 78, the long road I need to take to get to another road that takes me to Washington, NJ, where our regular vet office resides. I would not let another vet practice touch my borzois, as I learned the hard way from past experiences.
There has been much in the way of good news, too. I still see announcements on Facebook of Mikhailya’s great-grandson, “Vinto” wining Best in Show placements in Japan on a regular basis. How proud we all are of him. But not only of him, of his great dam, “Lucy”, who still does a lot of Best in Show winning here in the States, herself. The next very big show will be the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in February in New York City. That will be followed by the Borzoi Club of America National Specialty Show in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the week of May 10 – 17, 2017. I can only wait and wonder if Lucy’s owners will show her in these shows again. It is just hard to say, and I am not privy to this information. Perhaps they will bring “Vinto” back since he has done so well in Japan. If I were their owners, that is what I would do, but I am not.
I have been trying to keep my spirits up, but with the onset of the holiday season, it is very difficult. I have been reading more, in the historical biography area. I just finished the Ellie Bolles Ellison (2014) The True Mary Todd Lincoln, and want to read the Chernow biography of Hamilton fame, since I can’t afford to spend $1,000.00 on a Broadway ticket to see the play. It’s comical that this milestone has come about. I could say more about this in light of the outcome of the recent presidential election, but I demur. However, I digress. What I mean to say is, by reading it creates the illusion that I am in the company of others and it distracts me from the intense loneliness I feel. It appears that I am not anybody’s cup of tea. Watching the movies on Turner Classic Movies has the same effect. I think I will try to do more reading in the new year, or, it depends on what movie is playing. Perhaps I can be more selective.
The well being of Jelly and Tresor are all I can ask or expect. Nothing else really matters at this point, as long as I can rise each morning and do what I need to do every day. But I know all too well how alone I am and how much the responsibility for Jelly and Tresor weighs on me.
At this time, I can identify other areas that are critical and important, and I will be writing more about them in the year to come.
In particular, one area of interest that developed for me in 2016 and about which I have written before was the need for donkey rescue. I have begun to see more attention given to this cause throughout the year. Facebook has many groups with people who have a keen interest in this topic, and in recent months, the New York Times, reversing a long period of disappointment I have had in them, has taken up the topic with vigor. And as donkeys require awareness and assistance, so it goes for all equines, horses, large and small. I hope I can raise the level of awareness somewhat in Blyss Blog readers while still remaining true to the focal topic of this blog, the borzois of Blyss Kennels and challenges and joys I have living with them.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. In spite of many sorrows, I have much to be thankful for. I hope you do, too.