Trixee

I have taken many images of dogs waiting



They are always so patient and lovely



The other day I said to Lee, who has shopped with us right from the beginning,
" I need to get a picture of Trixee with her paws crossed
waiting at the door."
Trixee is a beautiful dog.
She doesn't have a lead instead
she lies waiting at the door, on the step
with her paws crossed over one another
and she smiles.
I love her.
She is gentle natured and very loved
I love patting her
I love talking to her
I just love her.

Lee rang to see if her bread was in
I knew something was up when I spoke to her on the phone
when she came in she said
"You wont be able to get that photo of Trixee I'm afraid"
Her voice so soft and slightly broken I could barely make out her words.
" Why Lee?"
" Because she died!"
and horribly it was true.
Trixee had died, at age 11
of a blood disorder
it happened so fast and was a terrible shock.

I hugged Lee across the counter
I held back my tears as I she told us the fate
of the family dog, the 4th member of the family, of Trixee.

I've heard it so many times
" Its crazy isn't it, it was just a dog"
but no, the lovely thing about pets
is the crossing of the animal/ human line
and when they are gone we grieve
and our emotions are equal
for 'All animals are equal'.



Lee sent me this image from her phone
and the message simply read,' My Baby girl.'

and today I write:

For Trixee . X

Memorial

I walk or ride to work.

This winter however
with the lingering effects
of the 'vegetarian swine flu' I have been fighting
I have not been
riding as much.

Everyday though I would pass a woman and her dog.
They would often be sitting on a public seat by the canal
or walking to the seat.
She would sit on the seat quite still
as if waiting for something,
her golden dog would sit patiently next to her.
We used to acknowledge each other quietly
and the noisy parrots talked amongst themselves in the trees above.



I didn't see her for a while
and then riding past one day I noticed something
and I thought, 'No, it couldn't be'
but it was..
there was a memorial for her.



For some reason
It has taken me a while to post these images
because I didn't really know the woman and her dog
I just knew they were there.

Helen I think I will always look for you on the seat
and therefor you will always be sitting there.

Kennebec Soup

On Saturday nights Tone, the general of the general store,
cooks dinner for anyone who is about.
Tonight Kerry, who has recently moved to Woodend
arrived with a bag of organic Kennebac potatoes,
she made soup while Tony cooked up a storm with produce from the shop.

Kerry's bag of potatoes are from Tom.
Tom grows organic potatoes just outside of Trentham.
"He also has eggs..." she says
"On the way to Tom's this morning
I saw a bird..
and on the way back I stopped.
It was a baby Kookaburra
and it was dead
and I picked it up
and I held it."

She went on to tell about once learning from an
ornithologist friend, that if you see a bird that has been hit
you should stop and check it as I may be stunned.
If you Keep it warm it will come too again.

"I thought it might be stunned," Kerry explained softly
"It had no blood on it, but then I noticed
it had lost a whole wing. It was dead
and I took it home and I just couldn't bury it
so I put it in my freezer."

When I read this post out to her
we all laughed a sad but happy laugh,
like kookaburras..

Counter Point.

"ABC its as easy as 123", sang small boy at counter
"You're obsessed with Michael Jackson aren't you", responded small boys mother
"Yeah, but he died", said small boy to me
"Yeah he died" , said I
"Yep, everyone dies- EVERYTHING in the whole world will die" , small boy declared
"Yep everything, the trees, the cows, the people, the flowers..", said I
" Oh..... O.K, Cool! Can I get some chocolate covered licorice?", small boy asks
"Yep", says I
"Well see ya then, tomorrow..", and out the door they went.



Organic chocolate covered licorice, Dark and Milk,
we alternate, sold by weight.