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.