#NewThisDay Writing From My Photo Stream

Frank jokes about Fudgy––our guard dog. He’s quite territorial. And enjoys being around us whenever any of us is out in the yard. I have retired from being Fudgy primary caretaker. Frank and my son are now the caretakers and they do a good job letting him in and out of his coop, morning & night, buying his feed and feeding him. It’s a delight to have Wave home. This morning, awake early, he found me to request what turned out to be his breakfast #1. Pancake. After that, I invited him out to walk around the river and he said yes. For some reason we just started clearing some brush by the river, creating a new path. The sun was shining, the river was rippling, Fudgy was crowing and we were happy to be lost in our work with the trees outdoors. Seems like we were at it for about an hour. I decided not to worry about a swim but just make myself available for the time with him. When he was done and wanted to move on we went to the brook and slopped around in the wetlands getting muddy and listening to the birds and watching the mallards and the heron. He worked up an appetite for breakfast #2. Dipping eggs. Then I had to get ready for my group, Wednesday morning writers. Which was wonderful, as usual. Then on to Israeli group, which was very moving and touching an intimate, as usual. Then, in the warm afternoon, Farm Pond! My daughter and Wave drove there and I walked there. Then my daughter walked herself home and I stayed and played with Wave. The water was cold but I dove in. Wave, shivering, went in and out. We chased each other in the sand with water guns and I made sand castles and he toppled them. It’s his April vacation so we took them out to dinner for a treat and to make this time feel special to him. Wave and I felt the pleasant feeling of summer coming.