"Molly and Me" - a Year Later

Molly Malone (1997-2008)

I started this blog on November 10, 2007 with a post about my dog Molly and about my own first steps of moving forward to a life after full time work. And, now I'm noting the first anniversary of my blog and, sadly, Molly is no longer here to celebrate with me. Both of the veterinarians we've seen recently remarked on how unusual it is to see an 11 1/2 year old Newfoundland. And, if it weren't for her loss of mobility, she'd still be with us. She was a real sweetie - gentle, very enamored with people (and with people food). She always followed one or the other of us around the house and would plop herself down to be within 6 or 8 feet once we settled down somewhere. It's going to be tough to get used to being around here without our constant companion.

I wish I had some digital pictures of Molly as a puppy. She was SO darned cute. But, we only have pictures on paper from that period. Here are a few of our memories of her.

Found a cool spot in the garden at our Manzanita house

Camping with our friend Susan

Her standard sprawl in her favorite spot at the beach house

Getting some attention from Aileen one Christmas

and always a beggar

Under the "Labels" section to the right (below the archives), there is a category for Molly. If you're a dog lover, you can click on her name in that list, and see other pictures of her from some of my previous posts during the past year. I guess I'll have to retire that label now.

Meanwhile, the Dark Days Eat Local Challenge has begun, as of yesterdat. So, I'll be back to blogging about our local eating efforts once we get over this hump. It's been kind of a rough week.