Merry Christmas!

Our dog Ellie looks back towards the house as the snow falls in our yard in the Irvington neighborhood of Portland, Oregon in February 2018

Uncertainty was the word of the day when I took this picture in February 2018. I was leaving the next morning for my interview in Arizona. Ellie’s health had faltered a bit and I silently worried her time was drawing to an end. Thankfully the snow didn’t keep me from getting to the airport and I got the job that brought us here. Best of all the pup bounced back and we got more than a year with her before age took its final toll. She gave me enough joy to last a lifetime, this pup, my hope is that joy finds you too not just this Christmas but in the years to come.

Sweet Dreams

An overhead view of our dog Ellie sleeping on the back porch of our rental house in Scottsdale, Arizona in October 2018

Last night I dreamt I was petting Ellie, I kept asking her “How are you here?” as I stroked her chest and rubbed her head. She didn’t reply (now that would have been telling) but she looked at me as she did in life, as though being with me made her the happiest pup alive. I decided I didn’t care how she was there, only that I would appreciate every moment for as long as she was, it was one of the sweetest dreams I’ve ever had.

Makes up for the night before when I dreamt I was getting relentlessly attacked by flying scorpions.