The ordinary is extraordinary

There's still a ton of things to do, but I've got someone working on the major house projects and I'm confident that the work will get done. I have a semi-functioning mower on loan so I think I'll be able to handle the mowing, trimming, and spraying to be done before we leave. We have fewer and fewer things listed on eBay and Marketplace each day, so stuff is moving out. And we are into the packing stage finally. 

I have two interesting dog experiences to report. They are barely worth mentioning but they struck a chord. Last week we walked into a store in Charlottesville. The woman working there recognized us immediately, saying "I adopted a dog from you." That happens periodically, and I'm always glad when people say something. Being associated with someone's beloved dog is a very nice way to be recognized and remembered. It happened again today when someone came by to pick up something we had offered for free on Marketplace. I usually don't remember the people (nothing personal, that's just me), but hearing the dog's name usually does bring back some memories. 

We had a lot of puppies in the past year but none of them were actually born here. The doberman and the shar-pei litters arrived here about the same time from a hoarding situation. Marvel was intended to deliver her pups here, but she decided to give birth during the transport. They arrived already born and cleaned up, but less than a day old. I had used chalk board paint inside the puppy shed and wrote out every pup's name and collar color so I could tell them apart. 

This is one of those pictures where Bailey looks very much like Maya. They are similar in many ways, but fortunately Bailey doesn't have Maya's wanderlust. Bailey is afflicted with a serious case of FOMO (fear of missing out), which keeps her nearby most of the time. 

This is just a picture of a couple of crates from my van that I took to Green Dogs today. We had as many as six or seven crates in the house that have been passed along previously, and many more that I had in the outdoor sheds or in storage. But these two crates are special because they were the two that were permanently installed inside my van behind the driver's and passenger's seats. These are the crates that gave hundreds of dogs rides to their new lives - from shelters to foster care, often in our home, and then from foster care to their forever homes. These crates have been peed and pooped in and barfed in more times than I care to remember. They've carried nervous, anxious, scared dogs, and they've carried happy, excited dogs, often to the park for hikes or for the biggest adventure of all, to a new home. They are just two ordinary crates that have done and seen extraordinary things.

I wasn't gardening this year, but my lotus flower didn't know that. I was very happy to see it budded and even happier to see the flowers opening while we're still here.