Althea and Ti Amo will be going home to Santa Fe. I will miss them so much!
Yesterday was Althea’s birthday, and we celebrated by having massages at the famed Fairmont Princess, in their spa. What elegance! What wonderful relaxation. Afterward, we went to the White Chocolate Grill (which lives up to its name), and enjoyed a late lunch. The conversation was even better, because we have so many things in common, and just enough differences to make things really interesting! Althea is truly remarkable. She survived a devastating divorce, and built a business. She literally has friends all over the world, and she travels as far as Sri Lanka, to do her healing work. She wept at the destruction there, from the tsunami last year. And yet she is mischievous and full of laughter, and her visit was a much-needed break for me, because I tend to be way too serious about everything!
And Ti Amo? Well, he’s a famous dog, you know. He’s been on the cover of COSMO GIRL. He sounds like a squeak toy when he barks, and joins in to help when Sadie and Bernice decide they have to raise the alarm about something. It cracks me up. None of them are really sure what they’re barking at, but they plunge right in anyway. After all, they are dogs.
Dogs. How I love them. They are really great big hearts, covered in fur. They can teach us so much about unconditional love, and celebrating the ordinary miracles of everyday life. When I come home, whether I’ve been on the other side of the country or just to the mailbox out on the main road, I get a lively welcome-back party.
Bernice, along with Waldo, the one-eyed dog who belonged to my friend, Josanne, before he went on to the next life, is featured in all the Clare and Tony books. When you read “One Last Look”, you’re meeting real dogs, not fictional ones. Sadie appeared in “Springwater Wedding”, and wants me always to keep in mind that she’s a famous dog, too. She’s doing great on her diet, by the way.
Now, to work on mine.
