From Riches to Rags

We started our family vacation in Truro, Cape Cod staying at our friend Susan's summer cottage.  The cottage was designed by Anna when she renovated and the final result is pretty much spectacular.  The attention to even the smallest detail is remarkable.  We were bathed in beauty every single moment.  From the door knobs, to the sugar bowl, to the blankets, to the furniture, to the art on the walls, to the pebbly oceanfront beach,  - you name it - gorgeous.

Contrast that with a full week later...in Greenville. Maine.   Ten of us are staying in a log cabin built over 200 years ago, clearly owned by a hoarder with a cleaning disorder.  Squirrels and mice are evident inside the cabin.  Overgrown gardens and trash are scattered outside.  Inside, Rotten floor boards are covered with throw rugs, magazines from over twenty years ago are shoved on a crooked bookshelf alongside a scattered array of things like cleaning supplies, paint sticks, and random junk.  Mouse poop on the large dining room table.  Mouse poop in the bowls left by the sink, and a little red squirrel in the house, nibbling away at things in the kitchen.  In other words, not a comfortable nor beautiful place to be.

There is a beautiful lake here, but the amenities that surround are simply put, dirty and gross.  Sure there are life jackets and floating toys, but you have to be brave enough to walk into a dirty, spider webbed shack and snatch them from a dirty pile of things.  Sure there are kayaks and canoes, but you have to be willing to schlep through the woods and haul them out and then clean the spiders and dirt off of them.  Sure there are lawn chairs, but you have to be willing to sit on dirty crooked seats with missing arms.  Sure there is a dock to swim off of, but you have to be willing to figure out how to climb up from the lake afterwards because the ladder that makes lake access easy is nowhere.

We love our family vacations with the family, and we've had amazing trips in the past.  Beautiful locations in beautiful houses.  Clearly you can't have that all the time.  So we are making the best of  this trip by spending nearly all of our time AWAY from the cabin.   And it's supposed to rain the rest of the week!!  It's only Monday!!  

Summer Hijacked

OH - there is nothing more precious to me than summer.  And this summer certainly has been a strange one.   It began for me with a five day class and getting a puppy.
I'd like to say my summer was hijacked.
We were hijacked.  BY A PUPPY.
We picked Thea from a rescue shelter and we've had her a month already.   The experience continues to be extraordinarily difficult for me.   The amount of care a puppy needs far outweighs my need for summer freedom with NO ATTACHMENTS.  So the scales have tipped again in the caretaking direction and I honestly feel a lot of ambivalence and irritation.
The truth is - children are not good caretakers of puppies.  Grown ups are.  So even though my boys are fabulous at loving her and playing with her, they are not the most attentive to all of her needs.  Like making sure she goes out and does not pee or poop in the house.  Like making sure she doesn't chew the hell out of everything in the house....shoes, furniture, rugs, socks...you name it.  Like making sure they play with her to the point of romping and running versus sitting and petting her and teaching her adorable dog tricks.    Like making sure gets out of her crate every couple of hours.
I've been tormenting myself  because I am not enjoying having a puppy.  Oh, sure there are moments.  Cute puppy moments, happy puppy moments.  But these are fleeting moments while the care and attention necessary is constant.    Thea happens to be a bit of a fearful puppy, and so we have to carefully introduce her to people, things, and places so as to not "trigger" her into more fear.   That's hard to do.  Also, I realized (through having a puppy) that I myself am a little afraid of dogs.   So when she growls (as I suppose puppies do) it freaks me out.  Not such a great way to feel when I need to be the master of the dog.  We are not quite sure how she will be temperamentally - and we cannot have a dog that is aggressive or snappy....so we are working with her.  And I am working with my head.  Trying to make this a good enough experience for all of us.  Trying to train her well.  While also trying to enjoy my summer.  Doesn't look that promising from my negative viewpoint.   I'm working on it.  

Cool New Shades

Kuba got new shades

Lake Love

The boys have been swimming daily.  One of their favorite spots is the lake.  The beach is not more than 2 miles from home.  Their comfort with and their love for the lake is super obvious in this photo.  Why don't we all just lay down in it and have the waves wash over us?  Seaweed and all.  That's their thinking alright.    

Puppy Training Continues

It's more than 3 weeks now and we are still heavily steeped in puppyville.   It's not easy.  Not one speck of it is easy.  We are vigilant, tired, and endlessly watching her or working with her.  And all with no idea who she will be as a bigger pup or how she will be as a grown dog for that matter.   It's beautiful to look at these photo's but honestly there are times I think I would rather stick a fork in my eye than be so consumed with puppy life.  Just when you think things are calming down around here we go and get a puppy.  Whose great idea was this anyway??!!

Paradox

I look at these beautiful photos of the kids and Thea and I cannot help but think about the gorgeousness of the moments.  And then I remember the reality right now.    And it's a paradox, right?  Because side by side of this beauty is the other truth,  that having a puppy in our lives is sooooo hard!  I'm not quite sure what makes it so difficult for me, but perhaps it's the fact that I've been taking care of my parents for so long now that adding one more thing to our lives that takes an ENORMOUS amount, IF NOT ALL OF OUR TIME,  takes me over the edge.   I was the one who encouraged a puppy vs an older dog.   But what was I thinking???     Who knew the amount of diligence and attention, and training a puppy needs??  I wish, oh wish, I had known!  So this  experiment of  puppy is taking place right now...July 2018, here at our home.    More details to follow.  But in the meantime, enjoy the beauty of a new puppy and our boys.