One Year

Our dog Ellie looks off camera as she stands in the dog park of Irving Park with a flowering tree behind her, taken in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in April 2017

Oh pup. It’s been one year since we had to say goodbye to Ellie, a year where I still miss her rather intently at times, not unexpected given the strength of the bond that formed over her long life. The picture is three years old, taken near the start of our morning walk on a lovely spring morning when we still had a year left in Portland and two years with her. She was such a comfort in difficult times, our time together was such a blessing.

Current Mood

Out cat Trixie sleeps deeply ensconsed in a plush cat bed with one leg jutting out in December 2019

Boo and Sam and Trixie and I curled up on the couch to watch an old Doctor Who we hadn’t seen before where the main villain is a cactus (seriously!). I woke hours later still ensconced in cats but my Saturday had gone missing. If anyone’s seen it let me know, I was hoping to spend the day together.

Swelter-in-Place

Our cat Scout sleeps on the desk in front of her cat bed on a hot summer afternoon in our house in Portland, Oregon on August 27, 2011. Original: _MG_3405.CR2

While Portland had mild summers there were always days when it got plenty hot and since the house didn’t have air conditioning, my office on the main floor got plenty hot too. So hot that Scout would even get out of her beloved cat bed and sleep beside it on the cooler desk surface. She was so devoted to me that she would rather swelter-in-place than retreat to the cooler basement without me so I’d sometimes go below as much for her benefit as mine. We did eventually get AC but sadly only at the end of our time there, not nearly soon enough for Scout’s benefit as she died from cancer seven years ago. Today would have been her nineteenth birthday.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 24-105mm f/4 L
🗓️: August 27, 2011