Home Is Where My Heart Is

…..and my heart is with these two rascals.

I’m frequently asked “what’s the hardest part of your traveling,” and the answer is leaving Gracie and Bandit behind. Even though we have the best of care for both of them, it breaks my heart to take Gracie to the kennel where she has 20 other dogs to play with and Katia spoils her rotten. She has a tough life away from me! I just worry if she is behaving ( yes, she always behaves) and does Katia REALLY understand my Big Girl, who can be challenging to someone unaware of her well…..”specialness.”  Honestly? Katia understands and loves Gracie better than she likes most people. This time Katia looked at Grace and said to me ” Grace tells me you don’t feed her,” and we burst out laughing because that’s exactly what Grace says about Katia. “Mom, she never feeds me!” She begs me for food and treats and she also begs Katia for the same. Trust me, Gracie is well fed. She doesn’t weigh 90 lbs because she isn’t fed! But, I do miss her and I worry about her. We seem to always have pictures of Gracie running like the wind to greet Dan when we pick her up from the Kennel but that’s because I have the camera and go to get her while Dan waits on the road to put her in the car. And yes, she runs like the wind to him, but what you don’t know is that she greets me the same way. It’s just that Dan doesn’t take pictures. Yesterday, I went to get her myself as Dan was on the phone with work. Katia opened the gate from her driveway onto the road and not one, but 2 BIG dogs came galloping towards me at full throttle! There I stood thinking, ” Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! This is where I die!” Gracie was crying for joy as she body slammed me followed a split second later by a Bull Dog who doesn’t know me but figured Grace was having fun, so why not! Yep, knocked on my assets, I were!  And covered with crazy, excited dogs! Jumping and barking and vocalizing like mad. Didn’t hurt too much as I slowly stood  up to see Katia and the other dogs owner running towards me calling to see if I were OK. Oh heck…..it’s great to be loved, but sore. Just a little…sore.

Dan found a huge bovine shin bone at the pet store in Estes Park that we brought back for her. Happy camper!

Miss Bandit breaks my heart in other ways. She gets to stay at home alone with my 2 neighbors looking after her, and Findus too. Findus is their cat who comes in to visit her for a short time every day. But, he’s a wild kind of guy and likes to spend his days roaming the hills. That’s OK because KitKat is kind of a snob and snubs him when she’s had her fill of him. The guys take real good care of her. They feed her twice a day. Play with her. Give her treats. Change her litter box and even let her out for short times on the weekends when they are at home. I insist they leave a light on for her ( unheard of, they tell me!) and I keep the window shades partly open so Bandit can perch at the window and watch the birds. For my new friends that may not know Bandit, she also has some “specialness.” Due to an accident, she is minus her right front leg and left her wild, wanton ways as a barn cat behind to become the most spoiled of a house cat. Then when we do finally get home, she’s crying and her voice is a little hoarse which just kills me! Of course, when I’m home all day, she  ignores me unless her needy little self demands that I do something for her….RIGHT NOW!

The first few nights I am home, Bandit is plastered against me in the bed. At times, she’ll awake and walk up my chest to my face and just look at me until I roll over and snuggle her. I’m rewarded with a soft “purrrrrr.”

Yes, home is where my heart is and Gracie and Bandit have my heart.

On this journey through life, it is good to surround yourself with those you love and who love you. Especially the 4 legged one, or 3 legged ones as the case may be…….

Thanks for stopping by today. Journey on my friends. Journey on.