The morning was hectic. The dogs had a scuffle on Friday. Nala was unscathed, but Henry had an ear bite. I didn’t notice until Saturday. I washed his ear and put an antibiotic on it, but it wasn’t much better today so off we went to the emergency vet. He was checked, prodded and evaluated. We left with three medications, poor Henry in a cone and a mortgage for my house so I could pay the bill. Nala didn’t recognize Henry at first, but after she did, she tried to chew on the cone.

Today’s trip to the vet reminded me of a vet trip with Duke, the boxer we had for most of my childhood. Duke was a fierce dog. He was protective of us all, but mostly of us kids. The dog down the street and Duke did not get long. They ended up having a tremendous fight which had both dogs grabbing and biting each other’s neck. It also included rolling on the grass. When the fight ended, Duke had a huge bite on his neck. My mother wanted to take him to the vet’s. My father said it would heal naturally. The next day my father left for Maine, where he was working during the week. My mother took Duke to the vet’s where his injury was cleaned and sewn. He was given a shot and sent home with medication. By the time my father got home late Friday, Duke’s injury looked great and was healing. He took one look at Duke’s neck and said to my mother, “See, I told you nature would heal it.” She never said another word. My poor father had been duped yet again.

Sadly, I had decided I put Christmas away today except for the tree which would come down after Little Christmas. I had a plan. First I’d bring up every bin then decide what should go where. I’ll put the whats away and label the bins. I had done this years ago but got willy-nilly about the where’s for the what’s except for the tree ornaments. They have their own bins with tissue paper and small boxes. Each, especially the glass ornaments, is carefully wrapped and put away. I love my ornaments.

When I was a kid and back to school after Christmas, I’d get home one afternoon and find the living room had lost its magic. The tree was gone. The chair and TV had been moved back into place. The tree’s corner was dark. It was just a living room again. I never saw the tree being take down. My mother removed all the lights and ornaments while we were in school. I remember the tree was tossed sideways on the tops of the trash bins. Its icicles used to hang straight down. They blew in the wind. The tree was gone on trash day.

Winter has arrived. The real cold is now here. The high today will be 31°. Right now it is 29° and cloudy, but the forecast is for sun. I’m hoping the sun will hang around so I don’t mind the cold as much.

Henry has developed a few more phobias. He will not come in by the dog door except for the few times he comes in impatiently when I don’t hear him crying and whacking the cover. Mind you, he has been coming in that door for years. Next fright is the cord to my iPad. Because the cord is a little bit in the air, he won’t walk over it to get to the couch. I unplug it and hide the wire so he jumps on the couch, but if he is still on the couch when I plug it back in, he jumps off, over the cord of course. The last new phobia is his fear of the unknown hiding under the spread on my bed. Nala likes to get under the spread. Twice she has stood up to move to get comfy. Both times Henry jumped up and growled his I’m going to attack growl. I took the spread off Nala so Henry could see her, and I grabbed him and quieted him down. The other night I was moving my toes. Henry jumped up growled and got ready to attack whatever was under the spread. I saved my toes. I don’t move them anymore.

When I was a kid, a new year didn’t mean much. I never really understood the hoopla. My routines stayed the same. Nothing changed except the date and eventually, in the summer, my age. I’d be a year older. The memories of those years sort of run together, but I do have memory drawers with bright lights and decorations. They hold fast to the memories of important years, to life changing years. The drawers are labeled 1961, 1965, 1969, 1971 and 2004. I’ll save them for anther time.

Here I am in 2025. I was awake for the new year, but I was working on a puzzle so I missed it. I greeted the new year at 12:03. At this stage of my life, I am old by number of years so I greet each new year and all the adventures ahead of me. I do have a few memory drawers just waiting to be filled.