It has been a mighty long time since I have written a post.  This year has had challenges and I have focused on working through them.  All the doggies are doing well – full of sass and zip.

I wrote this little piece this morning about where I find joy.  It was done for a nifty on-line writing class I am taking, but after posting there, I decided to share here.  I hope you enjoy …

Every day, in that time between the end of work and the start of dinner, 160 toe nails start to dance with anticipation.  Ten pairs of eyes watch my every move.  Any pass through the den creates a stir of dust and wagging tails … waiting … waiting for the magic moment I pick up the invisible fence dog collars.  Anticipation is a cloud above us.  Here I go, it is time.  I make the approach.  Chaos and deafening noise erupt as each dog gets his collar, or in the case of the 2 little ones, a harness and leash.

And then we are off together, this wild band of rescue dogs that is my family, and me.  Off to run in the two-acre field next door that I lease as our own personal dog park.  I walk, they run, play and roll in disgusting things.  And there is my daily hit of joy – knowing that these souls that have been through so much are happy and safe.   Lady Bug, the little beagle that was too terrified to move when she came in March, sidles up to me for a cuddle, big brown eyes that are always a little wary looking at me with peace in them.  Athletic Daisy gallops and spins with a grace that never fails to take my breath away.  I run with her in spirit, my heart skipping a beat at her magnificent movement.  She no longer lives in fear of being abandoned in a home foreclosure, locked in a garage as her owners drove away.  And there goes Frankie … total laughter and joy in his little heart.  He is all heart.  He arrived as a foster – with a crushed pelvis and one back leg held together with 4 screws.  He is the living, breathing manifestation of joy as he visits every rabbit hole and deer bed he finds.

Joy bubbles up in me to watch my ragtag family.  I feel it start in my toes, right where they connect to the dirt, and rise through me, filling every cell, and sometimes swelling out as tears of pride at how the living spirit can survive and triumph.  And yes, that in these ten lives, I got to help make that happen.

When I was young, I thought joy would be something I found that was sustainable.  I know joyful people – so I know you can live in joy, but I am a heavy spirit and joy demands a certain amount of lightness.  For me, joy is like a delicious drug that gives me a jolt of wonder that life can be beautiful.  And I get that hit, once a day … along about dinner time.