ten days

We are heading out tomorrow for our summer vacation at the cottage. Ten glorious days of northern bliss. I am so looking forward to it...to slowing down for an extended period of time. To hanging out with Sophie. To spending time with my family. To taking some new photos. To having no demands, no deadlines, no expectations for ten days. Even Elora makes this trip to cottage with us. We are there long enough to give her a chance to settle in...and a family vacation would simply not be complete without her.



The cottage is a place of reflection for me. A place where I think about my life and about where I want it to go next. I am feeling the need to simplify these days....I have found so much in the last year that I want to spend time on (writing, photography, two blogs, my new job, and so on), but I am feeling stretched a little thin trying to keep up with everything. I will spend some time at the cottage thinking about this concept of simplicity, about what the next chapter of my life story will be, about who I am.



When I return in August it will be almost one year to the day (August 12th, 2008) that I was laid off from my previous job. And this, without a doubt, has been the best year of my life so far. My August 12th post here on Finding Sirius will be in honour of that year long journey. A journey that I began at low point in my life when I was lost and unsure. A journey that I began by following a dog...and my heart.

missing them

I am travelling this week for work...flying out tomorrow to Kansas and arriving back home on Friday. I am looking forward to my trip but oh, how I will miss Sophie and Elora. This is the furthest (in terms of geography) that I have ever been from them....and for one of the longest stretches of time.

It's funny how once you learn to live with animals, how quiet and empty and awkward your world becomes without them...even if it's only for a few days. I know that I will be sitting in my hotel room in the evenings this week listening for content dog sighs that never come and watching for sleek feline movement at my feet that isn't there.

And I will lie in my hotel bed, on the pristine, crisp white sheets, enveloped in peaceful quiet and I will think of my sofas covered in fur, of 2am cat "crazies", of muddy paw prints on the hardwood floors, of down-filled duvets forever tainted with the smell of wet dog.....and I will ache to be home. To be surrounded by cat love. To be encompassed by dog love.

woman's world magazine

A few months back a research editor for Woman's World magazine emailed me regarding the article that I wrote for the Toronto Star newspaper about Sophie and I. She thought it was a story that their readers might be interested in and so: Sophie and I have a feature article about us in the issue that will be on sale this Monday, July 20th!

I have not seen the article (that will be very much based on the Star piece, although I did not author this one) nor have I seen the photos (of Sophie and I) selected from the shoot, but hopefully it turns out well and some of their readers connect with and enjoy the story.

The magazine is available in Canada and the US, but does not currently host an online presence. I will attempt to scan and post the article here for all of Sophie's international fans. :) The power of dog love....of how it touches people's lives, of how it makes this world a better place to live in...I will never get tired of being a part of that story, or of sharing that story, every chance I get.

sunday stills - texture

This week's Sunday Stills challenge was texture. This little flower popped up unexpectedly on the side of my lawn. I initially noticed it for the colour...but as I took a closer look I saw a variety of texture's and surfaces on the delicate flower. It continues to amaze me...the things that you can see in this world through the lens of camera.

sunday stills - wildflowers

This week's Sunday Stills Challenge was wildflowers. These wild daisies line the stone path down to the lake at our cottage.

lessons - seven

In everything that you do....



...be true to yourself. To your nature. To who you are.

the ride

A good friend reminded me lately that when life is busy, even if it's busy with things that you love to do, you need to take time to just be. Time to slow down and to refresh your spirit. She reminded me that I need to take time to be with Sophie. So I did.



My best girl and I did an impromptu run up north for the weekend last Friday afternoon. I turned my back on chores that needed doing, on photos that needed editing, on work that needed finishing...on everything I should be doing and took off with my dog. On our three hour drive we had the windows wide open and country tunes blaring. We took the winding, dusty, back roads and I did not check once to see what time it was or to calculate how much further we had to go. We just enjoyed the ride.



At the cottage we swam in the cool lake water and explored the surrounding forest together. We felt the sun dip behind the horizon in the evening while nodding off together in lazy swing. I turned my Blackberry off; I did not write, I took only a few photos and I made some headway on a novel I've been meaning to read while Sophie lay at my feet enjoying a good, old fashioned beef bone.



And on our ride home on Sunday, I looked over at this happy, tired little dog riding in the passenger seat and was so glad we took off up north together for a few days. I've been thinking about Sophie a lot lately after a photo session a few weeks back with Oban. He was only a year older than Sophie and his athleticism...the ease in which he moved...made me realize how much of an effect Sophie's hip dysplasia really has on her abilities. And for a while I was feeling bad for her...like she was missing out on not being able to jump and fly like this other Border Collie. But after this weekend, I can see again that she is a happy, energetic dog that lives her life to the fullest...she isn't missing out on a thing.



I was reminded this weekend that it's not always about what you can and can't do, or what you should and shouldn't do....sometimes you just have to enjoy the ride. And, for me, the only way to really do that is with the company of a great dog.