I have returned... again.

I'm back from Florida. The necessary deed was done, sad as it was. I was shocked at how ill our poor dog was - she really wasn't herself and putting her down was definitely the right (albeit heartbreaking) decision. Here are a couple pictures I took of Trekka before. She was a difficult model - always moving at the last moment so excuse the blurriness.

Oh! I should explain her name. Trekka joined my family one day in Cuba. A daily walking of the family dogs is an important and cherished routine in my family. One day, my mom walked our German Shepard an unfamiliar way. She ended up in a neighborhood that was not usually part of the daily walk route. Our Shepard began snuffling in some tall grass, and out popped this little white puppy. The two dogs said hi, and then my mom lead our dog back home. And the little puppy followed. She followed for ten long blocks, and then sat down in front of our gate. My mom let our Shepard in, and then looked at the little white puppy. And she invited her in. And Trekka never left (although she never liked going for walks in Cuba - we often thought she was afraid of being put back in the long grasses again!) Cassie (our Shepard) and Trekka became fast friends, and in Cassie's decline Trekka even acted as a seeing/hearing dog nudging Cassie when family arrived home so she could say hello after her eyes and ears began to fail. She may have been one of the luckiest puppies in Cuba, but she definitely earned her place in our family.







She almost looked like she was "laughing" in this one.











And, since I'm on a family pet roll - this is our family's nineteen (yes, 19!) year old cat Smokey. He joined our family in Botswana, and has travelled to Virginia, Cuba, Bolivia, Venezuala and now Florida in his nineteen years. Not too shabby! He's definitely an old man now, but remains in good health so fingers crossed!



So, beginning tomorrow the veggie kitchen will be up and running. Several cooking magazines were perused on the plane back from Florida. Several ideas are percolating - stay tuned to see what develops next!