“Learn to pause … or nothing worthwhile will catch up to you.” ~ Doug King
Today I paused. I went to the Memorial Garden and worked only at my pace. I walked some dogs; stopping in the garden to spend time with each. A pat on the head; a belly rub; a promise to help them find a home again.
The garden is quiet in January. Everything is curled up in a tight, frost-bitten bundle protecting its roots and the shoots we will see by this time next month.
Just a few of us here – the walkers,
the birds,
and the dogs who keep us company.
“Every winter,
When the great sun has turned his face away,
The earth goes down into a vale of grief,
And fasts, and weeps, and shrouds herself in sables,
Leaving her wedding-garlands to decay –
Then leaps in spring to his returning kisses.”
~ Charles Kingsley
Until the spring leaps, we will gladly make do with dog kisses.
Gardens For Goldens 
I want to go there and see what you have here and to be smothered in god kisses as well. My husband has always rescued Goldens and when we are ready for another one (we have a goofy Weimaraner right now we rescued) we may take a visit to you…or at least I sure would like to
Lisa
We would love that, Lisa. I feel duty bound to let you know that every adoption begins with an application at: http://www.homewardboundgoldens.org. Always paperwork before angel work. 🙂
I’m glad you’re back at the garden, a place of love and compassion. All my best ~ Mary
Thank you, Mary. It was exactly the chicken soup I needed right now.
Lovely! I esp love the first picture featured here the one of the dog shaped plant growth, What plant is it? I look forward to seeing this in the spring when it is in bloom…Amazing!
It is a creeping fig vine. By the end of next season, we hope it will have covered the entire pup.
Awesome! I look forward to seeing that!
Hi, Ogee. This is a very moving post. Such sweet faces and good thoughts. I meant to come back before when you asked me about the link to my other blog and offer you the link. It’s: http://lemonysqueezes.wordpress.com/ I work in a special needs room with cats with various physical disabilities and health problems, almost all of whom will never be adopted out. I share their stories, as well as other goings-on at the shelter. I recently did a training for working with the dogs there, and plan to start posting about the pups in the near future. Thanks for your interest, by the way. 🙂
Melanie, I will happily follow along. Funny how we all end up drawn and bonded to each other – our blogger community. Your post to Dasha, Billy Bob and Autumn is beautiful. I am so sorry for your loss – but how lucky are we to share a bit of their lives with them? If only they could stay awhile longer. 🙂
Thank you, Ogee. I appreciate your words, and will be so glad to have you along for Lemony Squeezes. I usually post to that blog once per week, and will visit the shelter tomorrow. You’re right that we are so lucky to share our lives with these precious animals. They are all so special to me, and I know you understand how deeply I mean that. You’re right: this blogosphere is such an interesting and wonderful place.
Dog kisses make the darkest winter days golden. So happy you are back in the garden and surrounded by the precious pups!
It is the perfect place to be 🙂
Beautiful post. 🙂
Thank you. Inspiration abounds. 🙂