MERRY CHRISTMAS

When I was growing up, my family didn't put up the Christmas tree until Christmas Eve, then we kept it up for the twelve days of Christmas. Over the years, with pressure from people with different traditions, I have relented to putting up the tree earlier. This year we broke the record for early and put it up at Thanksgiving time. It has been a gloomy month, weather-wise, and the tree and other trimmings have lightened up our days. However, time has flown by so fast, that it seems like we could have put it up yesterday.

As I mentioned earlier, we had a Yorkie/Poodle cross for about 15 years. She went on, to the happy hunting grounds, August last year. We were more than a year without a dog. We adopted a four year old Yorkie/Poodle cross, around the beginning of November, this year. She was the pet of an elderly couple, he died, and she went to a nursing home. It has been a very successful adoption. Her name was Tina. We wanted to rename her. Tina was okay but...................... not quite right. We thought it would be wise to pick a name with a similar ring that she would respond to. Xena [the warrior princess] gets the most votes. Jamie thinks we could name her Rosina, then we can call her Xena or Zena, they sound the same.

I forgot what it is like, living with a dog. We have had big dogs and little dogs. Once big dogs are potty trained, they pretty much take care of themselves. They ask to go out when they need to, and at night before bed, one might ask their spouse, “Has the dog been out lately?” If they have been out in the last couple hours, one can go off to bed. We certainly don't want them to wake us up in the wee hours because they need to go out. Little dogs are different. Perhaps it is just the training. But little dogs want you go out with them to do their business. Both Rosie and Xena could be out by themselves for several moments and wouldn't pee until I went out. Little dogs are closer and involve you more in their routine.

Rosie didn't, and Xena doesn't, pester me at meals. However, neither think it is okay for me to have a snack between meals without sharing. I think it is a little undignified when I find myself palming the odd bit of cheese or sausage when I go in to the living room and then eat it behind the newspaper. It is embarrassing to be intimidated by the appetite of a little dog. We once had a little poodle that slept with Naomi when she was very young. I swear this dog [Daisy] could hear a salt shaker, administering to a piece of left over chicken. She would come roaring down stairs before I could get a biteful of anything.

Some people in my family are so ungenerous, as to say, it is all my fault, because I spoil the little creatures. Perhaps, it is not a mistake I made with the Labradors, Golden Retrievers, or Setters that graced our household. But these little dogs, they sit on your lap and gaze into your eyes. Who can resist sharing an ort or two with these wistful animals. {An ort is a bit of leftover food. I'll save you the trouble of looking it up. Only the crossword puzzle addicts are likely to have run across the word}.

This blog was going to be about Christmas Time. It is indeed a time for celebration! Long before the Christian Era, the ancients celebrated this time of the year as the return of the light; especially in temperate regions of the Northern hemisphere. It is very appropriate, as celebration, lights up the darkest part of the year, as it heralds in, the returning Sun.

This year, it is especially appropriate to celebrate. We are coming out of a long period of darkness. For eons we couldn't remember our origins. We forgot we were an integral part of Source. We tried an experiment, living separately without Unconditional Love, the experiment is over. We don't want to do it anymore. It is time to celebrate our Oneness and our Oneness with all creation. All is Love. We know that.

Let us celebrate our awakening at this glorious time.

Merry Christmas every one!

Love and Peace, Gregg