Joy and sorrow

It has been a very long time since I last wrote. I have been very busy working on the MSA compilation as well as dealing with a lot of grief and some good laughs.

Our old Akita, Bear, died in mid June. After 2 weeks we could no longer stand the emptiness without a dog so my husband checked Craigs List, hoping to find a Rhodesian Ridgeback that needed a good home. We were in luck, an ad had been re-posted that day about needing a good home for a Boxer cross Ridgeback. The owner had lost his job in construction and had to give up his 5 acre ranch with horses and cats, and a big, beautiful dog. He had moved into a 1 bedroom apartment and could not keep his beloved dog. We met him that night at a public park and fell in love with Boone. The next day, his owner brought him to our house and watched him play in the yard, meet the Chow next door, and enjoy the experience of running free. We have had him for 3 weeks now and do not know how we could get along without him. The cats were not too certain about him, still aren’t, for that matter, but he just ignores them and their cat food out on the floor. When the heat lessens, we will take him to dog park to play with other dogs. My husband walks him daily to get him out and about and even I have taken him for a walk. He is so big and strong that if I fall in his direction he catches me, and if I fall the other way his leash catches me. The extra exercise is helping me walk better and that is another big plus. Later this week we hope to take him to a dog beach where he can run free and play in the waves on the Gulf (central Florida).

The sadness, other than the loss of our Bear, is the upcoming death of our friend, Willie Waterhouse. He has been our boat captain and more in Utila for many years and is dying of cancer. There is nothing more the doctors can do and he is in pain. We suffer emotionally for him and with him. He is loved by many, especially by us as we go every year and I spend hours with him up in the flying bridge. We talked about everything from politics to education to the sea, mostly the sea and the ecology of nature and how all life is interconnected. We dread the phone call from Honduras, but we will know that he is freed from pain. We pray for him.