Dancing in Water and Words

A note on my faithful Tatonka. With some rough recovery, he has healed and is in the stage of rebuilding lost muscle. He is happy and getting strong with lots of love from the kids, food and of course the tennis ball. We are happy to have him.

Now this picture is representative of the stage Nobunaga is in at this time. Within the last 2 months he has experienced an onslaught of language, mimicry, communication, play, and recognition of the faces of his peers.

His gentle spirit is becoming much more playful. Here in the water he splashed, laughing and dancing, and then went on to the bank and back into the water in a circle. He repeated this a number of times and you can see the wonder on his face.

Nobunaga, particularly, is thrilled with the recovery of Tatonka, who by the way has become more of an indoor dog. Nobu has lots of hugs for him and pets, but mostly he can tell Tatonka to "Drop the ball." That way he can throw it. They have great fun at this, and as you can guess, Tatonka's love of the ball and Nobu's love of repetition, they can keep themselves occupied for quite a while.

The crowning moment was "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" sung over and over at home in preparation for the Christmas show. He was front and center and beaming he was so proud. He was singing happily when I saw one of the student aids, who is almost a 1-to-1 aid for him sitting right behind him, helping him with his hand movements. I never did ask her if she was singing also.

The day I am able to have a conversation with Bu is near.

Forever Faithful Tatonka

One day, about 8 years ago from today, he came into my life. We met at the Santa Monica farmers market. He was hanging out with his sisters all adorned in Christmas gear. A shiny ribbon around his neck and beautiful big loving eyes. We took a moment to meet each other and it was sealed. Tatonka was free to a good home, so he came home with me.

He is half yellow lab and half german shepard and was an angel from the start. Only once did he ever start to chew on a shoe. I think he was just carrying it when I scolded him with a sharp, "NO!" That was that and he never picked up another shoe. The first time he walked toward a curb, again a verbal warning and he came right back to me.

He has traveled quite a bit with me and is a love. All the kids love him. And him? He loves the tennis ball more than anything. A stick will do, or more like a twig at times. Tatonka can and enjoys cold water where he is breaking the thin layer of ice. Once while I was running with the dogs (I have another dog, Kira) he was bitten by a rattlesnake, but he is a tough dog and had immediate medical care. I thought I would lose him, but was so happy at how well he recovered.

Tonight he is in a nearby animal hospital. He had gone many days without really eating or drinking, was very lethargic and then started to look perky. The next day he was gone. That was a week ago tomorrow. Looked for him all over, but to no avail. Finally I was trying to accept the fact that he took The Walk. It saddened me to think of him alone in the cold, being that we have had freezing temperatures. Attila goes between anguish an anger.

Yesterday a neighbor called. Tatonka was still alive, but very weakened. This morning the Vet, who has been in the business for 30 some-odd years, gives Tatonka a small percentage to recover no matter how much money I had. So he is on IV's for the weekend and come Monday if there is no change in his condition, I will say good-bye to my dear friend. If he is better, then bloodwork and x-rays will be the next step.

I am not ready to lose this Faithful companion, but I am less ready to let him suffer.

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Pure magic, those first few flakes are, floating down to earth. Here we have just been enjoying days 1 and 2 of the snow. As Attila points out, "We had our 1st day of snow, and now we have our 2nd. Yah!"

Most of the gear I did get, but the boots I picked up for Nobu are too small. It is really hard to me to distinguish a 6 from a 9, but still his feet are continually growing and he is now a 10 at times. It is a good thing that regular boots were just fine for himfor now. He just wants to be outside. Attila has taken great care of little Bro and Sis. Athena is quite taken with the sensation of eating snow. Attila carefully guides her away from the yellow and pink snow. The boys are enjoy the snowball play. It has not yet turned into the fullblown snowball fight, but I have hope by next year, they will all understand the concept.

We have all the best snow toys such as the cardboard box at the top. What a great workout that is. There is no time for cold hands. The only thing better was the shovel ride. But you can only do 2 kids at a time as I only have 2 hands. We tried to build the mini snowman, and Attila demanded that it should have boobs. It all went to pieces after that, I think we ate her head. Nobu really loves the crunch, crunch of the snow and finding any pools to jump in and over. Athena wants to run and be chased, as she will stop running and turn around to give you the "I dare you to get me" look. Who could resist.

Last, but not least, we have snow cream. Snow cream rules! A definite plus to the whole White Wonderland. Starting with the top layer of clean snow packed down, we mix milk, half and half, fructose and a little raw sugar and dump the mixture on top, then mash it all together with a spoon. Of course we then eat the winter delight with said spoon. Nobu and Athena find it too cold, but Attila and I are great fans.

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...