Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m so grateful to everyone who takes the time to connect with me in this space and in other ways as well. I’ve said it before and will say it again:
Thank you for being part of the Cycle Forward community.
Thank you for inviting me into your communities and entrusting me with the work that you do.
Thank you to those who have crossed over the threshold from “client” to collaborator and friend.
And thank you for joining me in marveling at the natural world and for being good stewards.
If you know me, you know that I try to be as open and authentic as possible. I’ve been thinking for a few days about what I might write in this post, and honestly, I need to write about my dog, Penny. She came into our lives last September and gave us the very best year (13 ½ months, actually) before succumbing to cancer. We only knew she was sick for a couple of weeks. She started limping in mid-October. What we thought was a shoulder injury turned out to be so much more. We miss her more than I can say.
I’m immensely grateful that she found her way to us. (“Us” being myself, my wife, Kathi, and our other dog, Annie.) We fell in love with Penny nearly right from the start. I don’t know what her life was like in the first 10+ years. What we do know is she was rescued from a hoarding situation near the Ohio/West Virginia line, she’d had a bunch of pups along the way, and she had a great foster mom who was the bridge between Penny’s past and our time with her.
The foster organization was Senior Hearts Rescue and Renewal. We scoured their social media accounts looking to learn about Penny. Each of their Penny posts was liked and shared hundreds of times. I could hardly believe that with all the attention Penny was getting she was still available when we came along. Some of you know Annie is a feisty one. We didn’t expect she’d pass the meet-up test. She held it together for a while, but soon turned to some less-than-friendly behavior. Somehow Penny’s foster mom saw Annie’s potential and made a positive recommendation (talk about gratitude!).
The four of us went on to have the most wonderful year together, and for this I’m truly grateful. She got to visit some places: Ohio, West Virginia (her roots!), North Carolina, Tennessee, Massachusetts, Maine, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and New Brunswick. Here’s a favorite moment from our time in NS (volume up). More important than the adventures was the love we shared. I swear, my heart swelled any time I walked into a room and she greeted me with a wag.
Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to write about this today but sometimes the spirit calls us in a certain direction. (I was reminded of this yesterday in a conversation I won’t soon forget.) I wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday and hope we can keep connecting throughout 2023!
PS - Friday gives us a chance to #OptOutside. Consider taking your furry friends for a trail walk so that you can take in the splendor of late November. Also know that Small Business Saturday is coming up in just a few days. Please support your local businesses. See below for a few ways you can support me.
Books and Zines on Special this Week
For those who’ve been thinking about a bulk purchase of Deciding on Trails, I recently added 5- and 10-book bundles to my website. The bundles offer a savings on the books as well as on postage. Not only this, but now through Cyber Monday, I’m offering an additional 10% discount on any quantity of books or zines. Simply use this link to my Shop page, scroll down to “related products,” and use the “buylocal” discount code. Please let me know if you have any questions!
In Gratitude
Appreciation back atcha, Amy! Sorry for your loss. It sounds like you, Kathi, and Annie gave Penny a wonderful year-plus, and it's awesome she got to be in Nova Scotia with you!