For my birthday, Mo came to Jamestown and we drove to Yosemite and over Tioga Pass. Molly was with us, as usual, and as usual, we let her swim in the chilly Stanislaus River. She loved swimming so much, always was ready to jump in the water. She wasn't doing too well, though and the current almost got her. It was scary, and she dragged her tired little body out, shook off, and ambled up the trail with us to the warm car.
Mo knew Molly was ill, she was even cooking special food to try to offset the kidney disease that the doctor had ordered. In spite of all the extra care, at 13 years old, on October 15, Molly left, with a little help from the doctor. Mo was ok with it. The time was right. She hadn't eaten in two weeks and hadn't had water for days. She could barely make it up the steps. I guess it's healthy when you can let go when it's time to let go. Something I never learned very well. Mo misses Molly. I miss Molly.
Yet she found a new dog already (writing this in late November) and already our sweet new girl is filling up the place that Molly left behind. Another lesson in mortality, I guess.
First day off since I returned from my daughter's wedding cruise. Took some time to go for a walk in the daylight instead of in the dark as I usually do in the mornings before work. Fall here is different, more like I remember Halloween in my growing up days in southern california. Crisp but not cold, still dry, and most of the color comes from all the planted trees, but still, it's color, and it's amazing. Melody has written so much about our cruise and is still writing away on her blog. I love it, and love reading it. Almost like living it over again. SO very much fun and good family time together, even though some of us couldn't be there, I'm grateful for the time we got for those of us that were. I'll upload my walk around the park to Shutterfly and put the link to my photos in here soon. 
http://kyotesue.shutterfly.com/action/?a=8AaMWLdu5Zs2zc¬ag=1
