Life is messy.

Reflections at Panmure Basin

“It’s all messy: 

The hair.  

The bed.  

The words.  

The heart.  

Life.” 

~ William Leal

Life is short.  

And messy. Very messy.

One of the images from our rambles last week

Thoughts have crept unbidden into my mind this last week.

Early morning rambles do that.

It’s the solitude.

No one else around.

Just the hound and I.

And that glorious red glow in the sky.

We like it like that.

It leaves room to think.

To ponder on the loss I’m feeling.

Loved ones, be it family or friends, leave holes that aren’t easily filled.

We even got to ramble with the oldest lemming and two of his charges
Chase and the rather gorgeous Walter

The hound knows when my heart is sore.

So much is read in those soulful eyes.

Every move she makes is aimed to please.

She nudges my hand as we walk.

Drops the rugby ball for me to kick.

Another image from my rambles this last week

No matter how ineffectual the kick, 

she pounces on the ball with gusto.

Her enthusiasm and waggling bum can’t help but elicit a smile.

Our ramble this morning though was about to get messy.

Courtesy of a discarded fully inflated soccer ball.

Her delight on finding this treasure was infectious.

How could I not grin?

Chase and the hound whuispering sweet nothings
in each other's ears.

No Labrador’s mouth though is large enough to carry TWO balls.

Unless you’re Chase the Chocolate Labrador 

who quite comfortably fits 3 to 4  tennis balls in his mouth.

Even HE though would struggle with a rugby ball AND a soccer ball.

It’s just not possible.

So she worked out a plan.

Chase with only 2 balls in his mouth

She carried one ball a few hundred metres, dropped it, 

then went back for the other.

Our ramble back to the car was slower than the ramble from it.

Walter ... he might be old but there's nothing wrong with his attitude

Neither ball was left behind though.

BOTH came home with her.

It was a lesson in ingenuity,

but farcical in the extreme.

Mornings like this make any messy moments in life more bearable.

No matter how sad I might feel,

no matter the voids loved ones leave,

I can’t help but feel that my life is blessed.

“A good life is when you smile often, dream big, 

laugh a lot and realise how blessed you are for what you have.” 

~ anon.