If I have been silent, I have not been inactive or uninvolved. There has been borzoi club work to attend to, dog shows to work at and go to, relationships to nurture, love affairs to be engaged in (notice the plural), sicknesses to treat with ever increasing doses of medication although none of them work. Kind people have visited my web site and contacted me with nice letters. Usually, they ask me when I am having my next litter……. Can you imagine? With my knowledge and passion, it is assumed that I am still breeding. But no, there was only one Blyss litter, and one great Blyss Kennels champion, the great son of our Mikhailya, CH Int Ch JP Majenkir Magnus O’Blyss, known to many as Max, who lived in Japan and came to be lost there. So, there are no more Blyss Kennels litters, or borzoi for that matter. There is only me, and a retired Silken Windhound, GCH Wind ‘n Satin It’s My Party “Kinsey”, who turned out to be a rather great dog, surpassing all of my expectations of her.
We have taken to taking a mile long walk every evening. Although it is a cold and windy night tonight, we still went out and did the walk. We both walked briskly and enjoyed ourselves immensely. We were together, and I loved her so much! It did not matter that it was not the coolest time of a hot summer day, I wanted to be with her out walking just the same, so I did. My heart overflows with love for Kensie. I could not go on without her, and her sweetness and her devotion to me. For, I have nobody. I know what it is to be completely alone in this world, including losing several significant people in my life, including two most beloved dogs, to premature death. I know what it is to lose your parents, which may be normal, but the way I lost mine is not. Then I lost my siblings one by one to extreme mental illness. My family did not do very well. I hoped for the love and stability I lacked in my childhood in my adult life but after three failed marriages, I realized that strategy was a failure as well. Well, let them go, all of them. I had my borzoi, after all, and now my Silken. They were all that counted and that mattered. They were the ones that were with me morning, noon and night, and then the next day, morning, noon and night!
A few weeks ago, it was the Borzoi Club of NJ Specialty Show, held with the Somerset Hills Kennel Club in Bridgewater, NJ, part of a four-day cluster of dog shows. It was a wonderful show to see, so many beautiful borzoi gathered together in one place! I allowed myself to get dressed for the occasion, as there are so few opportunities left to dress up anymore. I work a very pale pink elegant summer sheath from Ann Taylor, with a hand-crafted Borzoi necklace from Russia. I was so happy, and I attended the dog shows during the other days of the cluster as well! For truly, there is nothing that can make me happier than spending a day ringside watching dogs being judged.