Brand New World

Gerry’s new sapling, and tree house, on this the first day of snow.  He LOVED the snow falling softly, like today, our first snow.  He would run around like it was a “brand new world”.  Everything was new!  He made me feel like a child.  Now I have no excuse! 🙂

…but the cold weather is on and off, in and out.  I wish Mother Nature had been left to her own devices.  I was lucky to get my bird baths in, and my weeds pulled out with the crazy weather.  My students are INSANE because December is here and the commercials they hear on TV get them crazy pumped up!  I hope they won’t be to disappointed when they are told my gift to them is a 1/2 years subscription of “Scholastic News”: magazine and online subscription, but I know what I’ m doing!  They’ll love it.

When I was in RI for Thanksgiving, my father gave me a tree sapling from “Toby’s tree”.  Toby was a Maltese.  He was the first dog my family all decided on after we had moved into our new home in 1980. That Mother’s Day my father bought my mom a Japanese Red Maple Tree.  As it slowly grew, so did Toby.  He loved to lie under that tree and stare, fall asleep, and enjoy his life.  After many years, the tree sprang a volunteer, and my Dad put it in a warm/safe place.  It has been at least 8 more years SINCE then, that the slow growing maple has turned into a strong sapling.  David and I brought it to NY from RI this Thanksgiving and got it into the ground in the nick of time! We planted it next to Gerry’s spot and the new bird house, and when I got home yesterday, I noticed my neighbor had put solar Christmas lights on my Charlie Brown tree.  It’s precious! I can see it from so many windows of my house! My neighbors rock!

I still have two blankets that smell like Gerry.  One is a polar fleece that Caitlin bought him last fall, and the other is a sofa couch ‘protector’, that Truly smells like him.

I am lying here wrapped up in his polar fleece blanket, because it is comforting in many ways.  I’ve been singing this Cars song in my head for the past hour or so, and am going to try and find it on YouTube.  It’s all I can hear….