Fall is here.  This morning when I woke up, there was that early morning fog that we often get in the fall here in the Puget Sound.  I think we got down into the 40’s last night, and my feet haven’t been warm all day.  Another telltale sign:  Tosca is blowing her coat again.  I’m not sure why, but she’s got an odd schedule for losing all that hair.  It seems like when the temperature drops, she starts dumping the coat in mammoth-sized clumps.

It’s a sad thing to see the end of summer….  but I do have a few reasons to look forward to the cooler seasons:

1. No more guilt about how bad my yard looks.
2. When I stay inside all day making “shinies,” I don’t have to feel like I’m missing the sunshine.
3. Halloween — my absolute favorite holiday.
4. Fires in the fireplace.
5. Hot toddies.
6. Snuggling on the couch with my girls.
7. ‘Tis the season for pumpkin pie!
8. No more shorts for a whole 6 months.
9. Bogs!  My favorite shoes are now back in play.
10. Snow????  Here’s hoping.

And to cap it all off (with whipped cream), Rio is doing fabulous!  She’s energetic and silly and playful.  She’s unstoppable!  She is engaging the Monkeytroops with ear nips, head butts and her signature “wwooo wwooo wwooo!”  I haven’t seen her feel this good in I don’t know how long.

I read back through some of my posts today, and was remembering how difficult the first few months were — her amp, her recovery, her Cushings, her UTIs.  She (and me, too) was definitely riding the roller coaster.  All that worrying was so exhausting.  But I also got to see just how much progress we’ve made, too, and that was the cool part of this blogging exercise.  Not just the progress as far as her health is concerned, but also the progress I’VE made in how I look at things.  For example, the list above!  Normally, the first sign of fall makes me seriously depressed.  The shorter days, the days without any noticeable daylight, the endless drizzle.  And let’s not even get into my aversion to the “holiday season.”  And yet, I’ve managed to find something worthy of looking forward to, instead of just putting on my bah-humbug pants and hiding.

So it must be true, from adversity arises strength.  Or as Washington Irving wrote in The Sketch Book,

“There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.” 

Yes, this year has had plenty of dark hours.  And not just due to Rio’s health.  I’ve got a long list of what’s been wrong with this year, but I’ve also learned that perspective is a good thing.  If I just look at all the stuff that has blind-sided us this year, I forget to look down and notice that my wiggly-butt little Woo-friend is smiling up at me asking me to play.  And I don’t want to miss a single second of that!!!

My favorite Woo