I'm Back....! For better or worse.

Well.....you've talked me into it!  Hi, everyone!  And thank you for the many sweet and loving emails inquiring about MM and me.  We couldn't be better!  I've simply been pre---or perhaps I should say,  "post-"occupied."  

It's been awhile, hasn't it? Seriously, I've missed you all.  But I needed a break to reconsider if my ramblings here were worth a hoot!  Or if I were simply too busy or too "whatever" to continue them.

In coming to the conclusion of "probably not" in both cases, I decided to pick up the traces and soldier on, returning to my bucolic roost rather than my political one--because I've learned that blogging about my natural world is --to me--like a capital letter at the beginning of the day.  It's something I seem to need to do just for myself.

The political world is a disaster and getting worse daily.  We're now in the "barbaric era" and getting more mean-spirited and Orwellian with each passing week.  The economic world is a lie.  Social justice seems to have hit insurrmountable obstacles.  The draconian stance of our country is horrifying.  The only thing that anchors me to a shred of joy....is my rural perch out here Just Off the One-Lane Road.  So, here I am!  Again.

Our lives since my last check-in are still on a roll.   MM and I were instrumental in starting a community association for the purpose of helping us know our neighbors and try to do "good things" for our community.  The effort has prompted us to start thinking about our bondedness as a community as well as our overall well-being.  So far we are beginning to realize a few fruits of our efforts, albeit slow going.  There are--as always-- a few critics (but far more supporters).  I've discovered that negativity is scientifically more natural to the human spirit than positive thinking. I'd wondered why it is that people often seem to gravitate toward tearing down, rather than building up.  Come to find out, after researching the Internet, negativity is a survival skill.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Puffballs on the day they arrived January 7, 2012 at 13 weeks of age

Here are two additions to our lives.  I call them puffballs, definitely a misnomer as they are anything but puffy, poofy!  These are now our guardians of the manor.  They begin every evening with a thorough bark-out of the pasture as they dash from hilltop to hilltop--all within our farm boundaries-- sounding thunderous and threatening way beyond their 6-months' age.  They outweigh the Border Collies by a goodly amount.  (And BTW, Jessie is doing wonderfully well.  At 12, she's a speedball.  More about her in an upcoming post.)

The photograph was taken the day they arrived as "puppies" at 13 weeks.  Their names reflect their Basque heritage:  Apala and Zurina.  They are a "replacement" (and we all know you can never "replace" the loss of a previous pet) for Torre.  You may recall that Torre's time was cut short by an ancient maple tree on a stormy night.

The Puffballs (so-tagged because of their fluffy/puffy coats) are sisters.  Huge, gentle giants celebrating life every day as they gambol with each other across the green fields, protecting us and our livestock from predators of one kind or another.  They are Great Pyrenees/Anatolian Shepherd crosses, and seem so far to possess the very best in Guard dog traits.  Loving to an unbelievable level, incredibly alert, smart, and--oddly--fun--at least with us, their masters.  But they already are wearing a don't-mess-with-us badge and we look forward to years of joy in our relationship with them.  I'll talk more about "training" a guard dog in an upcoming post.  For now....suffice it to say we are so lucky to have invited these girls into our lives.  In spite of the fact they both DID get into an offensive argument with PePe LaPew last night!  P.....U.....!!!  Skunks are important.  They do lots of good things.  But they don't suffer challenges by curious puppies very well.  Phew!!!

Tomorrow, I'll show you our new neighbor...