A New Year: 2013

A Sunrise full of hope over Poway, California

January 1 -

What would I write today, this first day of the year in which I plan to write more regularly than ever before? I did not know. What gets recorded below is completely stream of consciousness as a start on my writing year, no plan or outline.

The one thing I wish I could carry over from last year is my West Highland White Terrier, Iona. After blood tests that revealed that her health was just fine, her behavior told me that something was terribly wrong. Finally, xrays revealed that my intuition was correct. It was a shock to discover she had a huge cancerous tumor in her chest and was having trouble breathing. I was beyond devastated. Iona was my sweet companion for 10-1/2 years. While I knew I would have to face the end of her life eventually, I expected she would have a good 15 years. My only thought was to spare her pain and suffering. I am still not accustomed to knowing she is sleeping under my desk as I write, or in her car seat in the back seat of my car, or seeing her precious white face peeking through the sliding glass door as I arrived home at my front door. Her remains and a picture sit on my mantel in a redwood box, her paw print in a clay medallion hanging just below.

While there will never be another Iona, I adopted two rescue dogs - a Border Terrier mix (Penny) and a Miniature Poodle mix (Bridgette). They are sweet and playful, and are great companions. Iona would have loved them.

I had a lovely day today. I had planned to do some laundry, read for a while, and then write. My sister called and wanted to have lunch and then catch a movie. Few restaurants were open, but we felt lucky to fine an open sushi restaurant. It reeked of Pine-Sol, but we stayed realizing our choices were extremely limited. We ate on a freezing patio to escape the disinfectant smell. After our lunches of salmon teriyaki, salad, rice, and California sushi, we walked across the parking lot to see "The Guilt Trip" movie. It was entertaining, but not the best movie.

I hope to write on the page of each day this year. I have many stories to tell, but I often do not know which to write about first. Stay tuned...