Celebrating Solstice with Della

This was probably Della's first proper Solstice celebration and she enjoyed it. I built a fire in the firepit which was needing to be cleaned out. I hadn't used it all summer, it was overgrown with grass and I had been chucking random pieces of wood in there for months.

Most of us see a fire. Max sees a pile of sticks that he'd like
to have. I had to warn him off a couple times and finally gave
him a piece of firewood from the pile to carry around.

Not long after getting the fire started we had a visit from one of Della's kids - Astro (formerly Guinness). They stopped by to pick up their calendar and brought me a wonderful portrait of Della that Astro's new mom had painted. Astro loved seeing Della and she loved seeing him too, although she was equally happy to see his new family. Della likes having visitors.

Thank you, Nicole.  This is just so Della.

After the sun went down it got chilly so the fire felt good. Most of the dogs deserted me for the warmth of the house, but Della stuck around. Della is a real outdoorsy dog. She's a farm dog at heart, happiest being outdoors but she wants her people out there with her, doing something fun. Serena will always go outside with Della, but she's ready to come back in after a quick romp and a round of barking at the shepherds. Della will find a spot in the sun and sit and wait for the next fun thing to happen.


I piled a lot of wood onto the fire and there was quite a bit already in there, although some at the bottom was still wet from recent rains. After it was dark and the naked dancing was over it felt like it must be midnight, although I checked the time and it was only 6:00 p.m. Della and I hung out for a while longer until all the nymphs, sprites, naiads, and other elven folk had gone home. Happy Solstice, we welcome back the lengthening daylight.