Letting go....

****This is the innocent face that was trying to steal my apple pie while I was preparing to work on this blog. She creates a plan, then puts it in action. Unfortunately for her; her brain only functions to the level of a small child.

2008 has come and gone and I've just realized that I haven't been on here since June. I've always meant to but there have been just too many dark days and I really don't like writing during those days.

It hasn't been all dark. Mollie and I got away for a weeks adventure in July to Tobermory, where we met up with some of our crazy Fundawg furiends, human and canine.

It's funny how I had started out earlier today with a thought in my head that I had intended to use as the focus in today's blog. I took that thought out with me on my walk with Mollie this afternoon.

She had a great walk. I didn't take our usual path along the Rotary Trail as it's been pretty icy lately, so I just walked her up the sideroad not far from home. Well out of nowhere comes a horse with a sulky. They turned along a driveway, came back out and back up the road. By the time, I was able to get my mitts off, camera out and on, take my picture, they had made pretty good tracks.

Mollie, being the ever alert, scent hound, sight hound, crazy hound attached to my waist, had never been that close to a horse before.


Although it was good for the horse, not to mention the gentleman riding along on the sulky, that Mollie was not able to roam free, robbing her of the opportunity to give this man the ride of his life and the poor horse nightmares for the rest of his/her life. It sure gave me a work out holding back my full 55 pounds of ADHD in full throttle for the next half kilometre of our walk, looking for her horse.

Eventually, she gave up and we were able to enjoy a liesurely walk.

The last six weeks or so of 2008 were challenging, to say the least.

I was looking back at my posting from mid-January 2008 about our move here, titled "Goodbye Slumlord". In it is the picture of the old tree in the front of our house.

In the wee hours of the morning of September 14, 2008, as I was getting ready for bed, I was looking out my bedroom window, talking to Barry. The wind was incredible. Suddenly the was a loud crack and bright blue light and loud popping noises as part of the tree came down, taking the hydro line across the highway with it. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Naturally we were without service for the night. We were alright with that. We also spent the next couple of hours out on the highway, with a couple of people who had stopped, making sure vehicles, especially trucks did not drive through the live wires.

The part that will always stay with me was when I was on the phone with the hydro people and Mollie escaped from the house. She ran right through the wires. Thankfully, she came back fairly quick, for her standards. I think she was confused by the energy that night. Coming back she was on our property, away from the wires.


If there's one thing I can say about my life is that I always try to learn from challenges I'm faced with. And I'm always stronger from them.

During that period, my husband, Barry was unemployed for two months. That tree certainly has helped give us some warm fires, combined with the wood we had already purchased in the spring.


It's still sad sometimes, seeing the stump silhouette where the tree stood proud. But it was meant to happen and some good came out of it as well. And thankfully, nobody was hurt.

I also see that stump as sort of a symbol of 2008. What it took from us. What it gave us.

And now I'm ready to face 2009. I'm ready to take on a new direction. I'm not exactly sure where it's going to take me but I'm certainly going to enjoy the ride.

May all your hopes and dreams for 2009 become realities.