Birthdays, Pens and Portals...

Today is Ozzy's 10th birthday.  Ten years.  How is that possible?  There have been so many changes since that wintry cold Sunday in Edinburgh when he came to live with us.  I can see him clearly in my mind, this tiny little creature, all fluffy blacks and whites, shaking and scared...until I picked him up and cuddled him, and just like that, he was mine.  I still pick him up the same way and he still snuggles into my neck.  

Where has the time gone?  Wasn't he just a puppy the other day?  I won't go into how it tears at my heart to see the gray around his eyes, see the signs of age in his face; how hard it is to swallow around the lump in my throat.  But we don't need to go there, not today.

Happy Birthday, sweet boy...and just look at your handsome 10 year old self:

 

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I was reading a post on Lynn's site (Paperback Writer) the other day about the 2013 Handwriting Contest, sponsored by Fahrney Pens.  You have to write a story, haiku, poem, whatever, that relates to handwriting or pens in some way, but you have to actually write it.  By hand.  The winner gets a totally cool pen worth over $300.  I used to love writing and had a pretty good hand, though nowadays it's far easier and faster to type.  Still.  I was intrigued.  Yesterday I wrote my haiku and sent it off.  It doesn't matter if I win or not, it was the fun of it, and the act of holding the pen and writing the words.

My handwriting used to be much better, but I'm out of practice.  Here's what I wrote:

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Late yesterday, walking back from my hike to the mail box, the clouds, the sky, the winds high in the atmosphere, were making the most incredible display of shapes and colors.  I tried to hurry the boys along so I could get my camera, but as is usually the case, the minute I hurry, they lag.  By the time we got home and I snagged the camera, it was already too late to take a picture of a bizarre cotton ball effect in one section of clouds, though I did get these...

But then.

I was closing the blinds as it was getting dark, when this most beautiful vision of cloud and sun appeared on the horizon.  It was so amazing, I almost forgot to take a photo.  I think this is one of my favorite shots of all time.

I'm calling it Portal.  Can you get what I mean by that?

Our world is so fantastic.  I wish everyone could see it...