Puzzling Times

Look at all those pills!  

Seven hundred, fifty of them, unless one dropped on the floor and dog ate it.

Yup, those are the pills that help us through January. 

All different shapes and sizes and colors.  

Hard to tell which one to take when!

Actually, I've already almost selected several, just to put them back in the pile. 

Yesterday I started working with the "elixir to the dead days of January." 

I was seated at a card table, pulling out dark blues and light blues only to realize I'd have to turn the table around.

Dah!

The blue pills/pieces at my end of the table were the sky in that image of a Scottish castle on the outside of the box. 

Lot easier to turn the table around that move all those pieces to the other end. 

While contemplating those blue puzzle pieces, my text jingle suddenly went off. 

Twas a message from Debbie.  

She was making biscuits and gravy and hash browns, and would we like to come and join them. 

Bill was working out in the woods, so I texted her back that once he returned, we'd be over with a package of neighbor-grown bacon. 

So, I left my January pills on the card table, pulled on my boots WITH Yak Tracks and headed for the woods. 

Bill was at the far end of the place, so I actually enjoyed a pretty decent walk, even though the left Yak Track fell off twice. 

We later drove to Willie and Debbie's and enjoyed a brunch which had grown from biscuits and gravy and hash browns to a full spread, including ham and bacon.

Midway through the meal and while taking another biscuit and smothering it with butter and jelly, I announced to all that this would be my meal for the day.  

After all, it was Jan. 1, and isn't that the day when we're supposed to go on that day-long diet so we can eat like pigs on Jan. 2?

I held off from stuffing my mouth pretty well for the rest of the day, grabbing just a few chips and a couple of pieces of candy while slouching on the couch and watching the Rose Bowl, a national dog show and a program about dogs around the world. 

Which brings to mind one of our doggies.  

Liam.

He's a pretty good and trustworthy boy in his third year of life.  No running to the road, always staying within a certain perimeter and every day checking out that perimeter several times a day in between squirrel encounters.

All that said, Liam still tests my patience, and that's usually when I'm already to go to town.  

Our dogs always stay in the garage whenever I leave.  

And, Kiwi and Foster always come when called.  

Not Liam. 

Liam remains fixed in place wherever he happens to be when he hears me calling. 

Sometimes, he's in plain view; sometimes, not. 

Regardless of where he is, Liam always expects me to walk directly to him.  

No exceptions.

Then, and only then, he'll look me directly in the eye, slowly get up and trot along with me to the garage.

One day before Christmas, I was in a particular hurry to get to town.  

Liam must have known that.  He had planted himself as far away and out of sight as he could be, staying within his perimeter.

Calling him, I searched all around the house.  I looked in the south woods where the dogs often play.  I even looked to the field along the lane. 

No sign.  No sound.  

Maybe he went into the barn, I thought, and maybe the radio is playing too loud for him to hear me calling. 

So, I walked toward the barn.  

Just before entering the open doors, I looked to my left, down the lane and spotted two black triangles just above a snow berm which had been plowed after a recent snowfall.

Yup, those were definitely Liam's ears and they remained in place all the time it took me to walk down the lane. 

Once I stood within a foot of Liam and his triangle ears, he calmly got up and trotted to the garage.

So, on Christmas Day, when I opened a present from Annie  and found two books entitled Find Momo inside, those two black triangles above distant berm immediately came to mind. 

I can say with confidence that, after dealing with Liam's daily fetish for making Mom "find me if you can," I can locate Momo pretty easily on the pages in that book. 

Like the puzzle pills, though, I'm gonna take my time looking for this Border Collie which travels the world with his master.  

I think there are six books where we can turn the pages, pretty much ignoring the scene and just look for that Border Collie. 

If I could only find a way to market Liam's daily disappearances around the Lovestead, maybe I wouldn't get so exasperated every time I want to go to town. 

Anywho, the LONG month of January is here, and from what I can see on the calendar, it's just as long as usual. 

And, its start yesterday, reminded us why we always wish it would move by faster.  

Suddenly, with sheets of ice petrifying all the more pretty much everywhere we want to walk, and with snow taking on a cement consistency, the outside world is looking pretty dull. 

The plus side?  It's not slop. 

Still, the message on pretty much any trip outside is that it will be a LONG time before the natural world wakes up and starts flourishing with life and color again. 

All that said, it's nice to have those puzzle pills on the card table and those occasional moments of sitting by the wood stove looking for a Border Collie.   

The inside reconnaissance sure beats chasing one down while skidding on the ice or slogging through deep snow. 

Yup, these are definitely puzzling times for many reasons and with the prospects of  pacing myself while finding Momo over the next several days, January might seem just a little shorter. 

Happy Wednesday.