Five years, but Always

Five Years, but Always

December 5, 2015


Five years ago this morning, beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler, you put your fourth paw back into Heaven, from whence you came on July 19, 1998. Your matchless loving soul was on loan to this earth for twelve years, four and a half months. I didn't fully appreciate how strong our love and bond was/is until time passed and you and God showed me how strongly you both were working in my heart, soul and life.

First you found Good Boy for me (and me for him) and gave us almost four years together. Miracles happened so many times, and continue without ever abating, stronger and more powerfully loving than ever.

You and God then added Good Boy to your number, and together, you found Rocco also known as Happy Dog, to walk straight into my heart with his loving, playful old soul to fortify my faith in all that you taught me about blindness never being a death sentence ... and then you added age and other infirmity to that, showing me that sarcoma might concentrate our time into eighteen days, but that that very distillation would let me weep again, in a healing way that made a new chapter in life with Sweet Prince, a time of caring and love that has been so good for us both.

I understand better now that you always loved me, from all the time of my earthly life and yours, and for all eternity. That's how God's love is: it has no beginning and no end. It is for us to be part of and immersed in, needing only to learn more about how to share that love.

As the morning dawns of this fifth anniversary of your earthly time regaining heavenly forever, dear Littlefoot, cherished child of my soul, we are still, and always, a team with our Father God. Thank you for your quiet ways, your unconditional love through it all, and for giving me the sure knowledge that you will welcome me again when my walk returns to eternity.

Whatever God has planned for us, we are His children and His creation, and we trust Him without question. Wiggles, you are always loved by me beyond all description, and I know it is that way with you, too. Thank you, God, for entrusting this dear, loving dog to me!

Think you'd be a good person for a cattle dog?

Think you'd be a good person for a cattle dog? Please put yourself in the cattle dog's place and consider ... March 6, 2015 By Julie Kay Smithson, cattle dog lover and mommy to Wiggles Blue Heeler, Good Boy, Rocco, and now Sweet Prince (and 6-day foster to Max). Perhaps my inspiration -- condensed into the above seven brief paragraphs -- will be utilized to save more wonderful cattle dog lives! Would you be content to spend hours on end separated from your person, with nothing to do but languish in boredom and/or anxiety? So many of us are consigned to that existence, unfortunately, by good people that don't understand our inherent needs. If you are not able to provide me with daily physical & emotional attention, please reconsider me. I know you love me, but please love me with your head as well as your heart. Just as I have special needs, so do you, and we must be able to meet on common ground. Unless I'm that rare cattle dog that chooses to be a "couch potato," please don't expect such a sedentary lifestyle to agree with me. I am intelligent and able to make decisions in my type of dog breed -- HERDING -- that may make me too much of a challenge for you. Please think this fact through before you commit to opening your home to me. I may herd my toys, or I may seek to herd your children! It is vitally important to me that you understand the gravity of this, because many times, such a mismatch may cost me my life. I know you don't want that for me. Please consider learning new activities with me like herding sheep, goats or cattle, running agility courses, and nosework and tracking activities -- there are many opportunities for people and their dogs to learn these activities together. We’ll both have fun, make new friends, and enjoy mental and physical challenges as a team! Should you get overweight and out of shape, all because your human family -- though they mean well -- just can't budget the time and energy it takes to keep you active and engaged, both physically and emotionally? Ideally, my exercise should be at least a couple of hours each day, moderate at least, and preferably with you! Also, my overall health means I need RGNF (really great, nutritious food) regular veterinary care, dental care, toenail trimming, etc., so I may be in the best possible shape. Just as "we are what we eat," so, too, I will receive the greatest benefits from the top-quality food. Your human must make sure you are properly socialized, taking care to take your feelings about herding into consideration? It's preprogrammed into your DNA to want your world "grouped" and "gathered," and you have a strong protective instinct toward your flock (your people). It requires patience and firmness -- but not cruelty -- on the part of your person to teach you to be social and well-behaved in the company of others. Teaching me with positive reinforcement is vital, because cattle dogs give their whole hearts to their people and would give their lives, too. That glint in your eye, when someone comes into your space, can be a real asset, but it can also mean the possibility exists that someone may innocently get bitten. Your people need to respect you as a cattle dog, and also appreciate what a nice dog you are to others, given the proper introductions! Do your people understand that you may enjoy a long life, and that someday (like them) you will grow older and less able to fit into their picture of a "perfect pet"? They need to take you into their hearts and homes for all your life, because you can live fifteen years, and the changes in their lives shouldn't compromise your need for a great family to love. The ages and activity levels of all members of your new family should be a good fit with yours. It isn't realistic to expect more of you than you are capable of. Patience, love, patience, firmness, patience, rules, patience, and plenty of activity, all go to making a happy and tired cattle dog at the end of each day!

Our Love Never Fades, Always Grows

Our Love Never Fades, Always Grows September 2, 2014 By Good Boy's Mommy aka Always Wiggles' Mommy Even though this blogger format has changed and made it less user-friendly for me to post (thus thwarting several posts I've attempted to post over the past eight plus months), the love Wiggles Blue Heeler and I have is something that time only proves to strengthen. I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much that such love would grow stronger and more comforting as time went on ... but it was, and it is, and it has. Good Boy continues to thrive with God's and Wiggles' guidance from Heaven, and so do I. Thanks beyond all words to them both for these blessings! Prayers that I can get this effort to post!

Why I Joined Facebook

Why I joined Facebook


January 26, 2014


By Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights (at) earthlink (dot) net


I joined Facebook when beloved Wiggles' health began failing, and no matter the number of tests (biopsies, ultrasounds, bloodwork, etc.), the vets could never agree whether it was cancer or not, or if it was in his kidneys or liver.
I joined Facebook to learn about these things from others that had loved these children of their hearts, but who had had to face the inevitable: earthly death -- whether ours or theirs -- is a fact of life.
Wiggles stayed as long as he could, plus two more blessed days for me when he was stoically enduring the unseen presence as it choked off his ability to urinate or defecate.
Sweet Wiggles let me know when it was time to help him put his fourth paw back into Heaven, and he & God graced that morning, a Sunday, the fifth of December, 2010, with an all-pervading sense of calm that let me be brave for him and give him respite from his worn-out earthly body.
There is NEVER a day or night that I do not think of him, love him beyond all description, and cherish every moment of the twelve-plus years he gave me.
Until Wiggles, I had never known unconditional, forever, "I will NEVER leave you" love. That he got God's ear immediately & sought help in finding just the right canine soul to merge with my own grieving one, was another of the countless ways in which his love was, and IS, manifest.
My joining Facebook continues to be one major way I -- forever Wiggles' Mommy -- can thank him for all he brought into my heart, a heart that continues to grow in love, thanks to God and to him, by letting me learn to love Good Boy!

Your last night shackled to your earthly trappings

Your last night shackled to your earthly trappings - Three years ago, this was a Saturday evening, and beloved you had given me two days more than I thought possible. I was on the phone with the vet's office at this time, letting them know that it wouldn't be much longer, that I would be calling them sometime during the night or early the next morning. My best friend in all this world ... we were losing our efforts to keep whatever was choking off your innards. This photo is from October 24, 2004, and is of another chapter in our lives, when the inherited progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) was taking your eyesight.

Wiggles, you know I love you forever, and miss you every single day and night, even as I thank you for saving Good Boy's life by your efforts to find him for me, and vice-versa. No one will ever be 'you' ... and I've felt you pouring peace into me all day, making this evening bearable, and actually a relief, because I knew that three of your dear paws were already in Heaven, and you told me when it was time for me to help you put the fourth there.

Thank you so much for being my sweet and dear buddy for all those years, and in spirit, forever and ever! I may answer to "Good Boy's Mommy" nowadays, but you know that I am ALWAYS and FOREVER "Wiggles' Mommy"!

Today is Your Birthday, Sweet Wiggles Blue Heeler!

Today is Your Birthday, Sweet Wiggles Blue Heeler!


July 19th, 2013


By Julie Kay Smithson aka Wiggles' Mommy-Me!


On this day in 1998, in the morning, you and your littermates were born somewhere in Holmes County, Ohio. According to Weather Underground historical weather data for that date in Millersburg, Ohio, the morning, a Sunday, began at 60 degrees, rose to 84, and there was .11 of an inch rainfall, so it was a typical mid-July summer day. I pray you weren't terribly hot, that your mother and littermates were somewhere cool, because you and I never handled heat or humidity well. 

We didn't meet until Tuesday, September 22nd, when you, your littermates and another litter of blue heeler puppies were brought to the Farm Science Review near London, Ohio. You were nine weeks and three days young, sweet one, and you and I traded hearts that day, never regretting for an instant, the decision!

September 22, 1998. Our first day together!

For more than a dozen years, through thick and thin, in sickness and in health, we were there for each other, living under the same humble-but-happy roof, the best of all friends.

July 19, 2000. Your second birthday!

April 2001

We traveled together, played and slept together, and aged together.

May 2001, trip to Montana.



May 2001, trip to Montana.

In your sixth year, inherited progressive retinal atrophy (PRA) took your physical sight, but you saw with your heart, and taught me to see with mine. If I thought we were close before, it was as nothing compared with the bond we forged when you taught me to be your seeing eye person! What blessings we knew and experienced!

June 17, 2004

October 20, 2004

When your dear body began to show signs that something was wrong (a growth of some kind in either your liver or kidney; a year & nine months of various tests never confirmed what or where, but it kept growing nonetheless), you still did your best to be my best friend ... and you succeeded, sweet heart!

It didn't matter if the unseen growth pressed on you until some urine began to leak when you'd lie down. What a small thing, in the grand blessing of your life! The only thing that ever mattered was that we loved each other -- still do, and always will!

March 7, 2008

On December 5th, 2010, just after seven in the morning, I took you to the vet's to offer you the help I promised, so you would not suffer anymore. You told me, at five that morning, that it was time, and somehow, I stayed calm during that drive east as the eastern sky lightened on a cold, dry day flanked by days before and after that were not safe to drive. God smiled on us and gave us so much, so many blessings!

December 5, 2010

You kissed me one last earthly time, and you know that I longed to step with you into Heaven, but God had other plans for me. I stayed here behind as He and you worked to find a special, terrified blind blue heeler 200 miles south in Kentucky, that needed life & a home as much as I needed someone to care for & help. No, Good Boy isn't you, but no one could ever be.

You and God work with Good Boy and I each and every day, and we love you both so much, for your help and guidance! I miss your earthly self, and always will, but know that your heart & soul are with me forever, as mine are with you.

Something special from the child of your soul

Something special from the child of your soul



May 18, 2013



This inspiration was given to Julie Kay Smithson today, to be shared with others that know this precious kind of love.

Beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler, Julie Kay Smithson and Good Boy ACD

I'm your dog and have something I'd like to convey to your heart & soul.

I know that your life is harried and busy. I appreciate always that you work hard so I'll have good food to eat, fresh water to drink, timely vet visits, walks and playtimes.

Look down at me now ... See the way I look at you? The grey hairs are starting to ring my soft muzzle. You smile at me and I can feel your love. What do you see when you look at me? Do you see a spirit, a soul that loves you as no other in the world ever could? Please, just a moment of your time, now ... a moment that we will both treasure forever.

I am aging much faster than you; the number of heartbeats I have in life are much fewer, so I do my best to make them count, for I truly love you with all my heart. I share your joys and grieve when you are sad. My whole being lives to make you happy, sweet person-parent, friend and protector of me!

As our earthly time together wings by, fleeting, we have communication that comes when you reach out with your heart and let your love flow through your fingertips, because I may not be able to "see" or "hear" you.

Believe me; I know your love when you let it flow into a kind touch that lingers, knowing that we will have forever in Heaven, but only a few brief eyeblinks of time here on earth.

God knows our love; He created it, gifted it to us and shares it with us forever!

Together forever!

It's Spring Again, Wiggles, My Love

It's Spring Again, Wiggles, My Love

April 18, 2008, Wiggles with the giant Dutch hyacinths.



April 27, 2013



By Julie Kay Smithson aka Wiggles Mommy aka Good Boy's Mommy

July 19, 2009 (your eleventh birthday and your party on the lawn with our friends). I had poison ivy, but no one minded. The weather was so lovely -- like it is today! -- and we had a wonderful birthday party!

It's spring again, Wiggles, my love, and you know I'm outside, sitting beside a flower bed, digging out the encroaching grass and weeds or separating daylilies, removing for replanting some that have strayed into the yard. It's sixty-five sunny degrees with a 3-mph whisper of a southeast breeze and low humidity, the perfect kind of day for such pleasures. The rainy weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow will be just right for newly-planted daylilies to 'set in' in their new home. Good Boy is here now, but I can feel your presence so keenly. Whereas he is lying in one place, or sniffing a little in the grass, you were/are forever near, ready at the softest call -- or often with no sound at all -- to come and bestow a sweet kiss on my cheek or hand.


Tears don't flow as often these days, but I miss you so very much. Thank you and God for sending Good Boy to me; he's very dear, though still bearing the emotional scars that keep him from giving me his whole heart. I know the feeling, because, while he and I are friends, I've not given him the whole of my heart, either. For the most part, our life together is peaceful, just not in the way yours and mine was, dear Wiggles. I understand that Good Boy did not know me, our home and yard since puppyhood, as you did. The surety that you and God continue your devotion to us is so important and so gratefully accepted.


These times of our lives are to be realized, savored and treasured, and though I cannot 'see' you, in the physical sense, you are no less present in my life, for today and always. I love you, Sweetest One, Many Kisses, he of the great heart and most gentle soul! Good Boy will live out his life here, loved and cared for by us -- for you and God are ever-present to guide and comfort us -- and you will always be the standard to which I aspire, a truly gentle soul.

If I had a nickel ...

If I had a nickel ...

Wiggles Blue Heeler, summer of 2001

March 20, 2013


By Wiggles' Mommy


If I had a nickel for every time beloved Wiggles crosses my mind, my wealth would be substantial. Several times each day -- and night -- the child of my soul comes softly to give me pause. Photos of him, as well as of Good Boy, adorn our home.

The above photo of Wiggles from the summer of 2001, when he was a youngster at age three, was a recent find while going through boxes of photos from cleaning out the folks' home. The cleaning was done two years ago, but in the busyness of life, I'd not had time to actually go through the photos until just a few days ago. Imagine my joy to come across this photo in which Wiggles eyesight was excellent, he had his 'yello-o ball' in his mouth and was so eager to play!

Last night's episode of NCIS featured a black lab whose owner/handler had been murdered. I didn't know until the every end of the episode that this dog would be shot (acting, of course), and survive, and that the soldier's widow would realize her dream of having her beloved husband's dog somehow be retired to live his life with her. Until Gibbs released this dog and it flew to the widow, whose sad tears became a flood of happy ones, there I sat, simply enjoying another great episode of my favorite television show.

Then ... the dam burst. My tears not only surfaced, but for about five minutes, I sobbed uncontrollably. There was Good Boy, lying in his bed on the other side of the living room, sweet n shy as always. I sank onto the floor from the couch and crawled over to him, putting my head down next to his muzzle and stroking his face while sobbing so hard that I was trembling. He stayed put, seeming to know that he was needed.

Good Boy, March 3, 2013

I wonder how much Good Boy knows about the miracle that God and beloved Wiggles brought to the two of us, finding us for each other and saving our lives a little over two years ago? Tonight it felt like he knew more than ever that his mommy has been through heartbreak that still revisits from time to time.

Wiggles, thank you and God so much for your eternal love and devotion. Thank you for this blessing of Good Boy that is a continuance of your presence in our home via another cattle dog / blue heeler who has learned to see with his heart and love me.

Our dear friend, Leonard Wood of Melbourne, Australia, blended a photo that our neighbor friend took of Wiggles and me on April 1, 2007, with a photo taken by neighbor Jeff of me & Good Boy on April 18, 2011.

Blended photo of Wiggles, me and Good Boy.

This photo made it possible for me to find joy in Christmas of 2011; Wiggles returned to Heaven on December 5, 2010, and Good Boy and I got together on March 2, 2011, so these two dear, sweet blue heelers had never met, but they both have great hearts and more than one thing in common: both are blue heelers (Australian cattle dogs), both lost their sight to inherited progressive retinal atrophy, or PRA, both are meek and kind, and both needed/need me to be not only a mommy, but also a 'seeing eye person.'

If I had a nickel for each time my thoughts go to beloved Wiggles ... but now God and he have made sure that Good Boy is here for me to love, and that I'm here for him to love.

Thanks for all the miracles that continue to happen in our lives, bonding us together forever!

Why I pick up Thorn Locust Seed Pods

Why I pick up Thorn Locust Seed Pods

September 21, 2012


By Julie Kay Smithson

While there are perhaps a dozen thorn locust trees in my rural west-central Ohio neighborhood, only one directly impacts my September yardwork. It is located two yards over in an empty lot, and when its prolific annual seed pod production is ready to fall to earth -- depending on the prevailing winds -- the pods fall in my yard, flowerbeds, or the street out front. On days when the weather is changeable, the pods rattle down in all three!

Photo Caption: October 7, 2008, beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler and some of the thorn locust seed pods gathered that autumn day.

Photo Caption: Good Boy ACD (Australian Cattle Dog) with a few of the thorn locust seed pods)

Good Boy is a petite cattle dog whose nose and ears are very keen, but he relies on me to be his vision, so keeping his world as hazard-free as possible is my blessing (as it was when beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler trod these same places). The seed pods number enough to have filled seventeen large lawn/leaf bags (crammed full) last year; they're not as numerous this year, but this week alone, I've filled four such bags!

Photo Caption: Thorn Locust Seed Pods, which can grow as large as sixteen inches in length and can be almost straight (uncommon) to corkscrew-shaped.

This is great exercise, especially considering that the curvy, twisty, hook-on-end pods are a nightmare to rake, so most of the pod pickup is done by hand -- a lot of bending and twisting, and surely a great cardiac workout! The time involved is usually 60-90 minutes, the results, a green-again lawn and/or a fresh sweep of asphalt, and last, but not least, a happy Good Boy! The photo of him represents the few pods that fell in the past five hours with no wind at all. 

 

 

Photo Caption: Not something desired for a bracelet, thorn locust seed pod.

Happy autumn, we welcome its arrival!

Always a blessing, always blessing

Always a blessing, always blessing


God brought you into my life, Wiggles, for many reasons, all of them good and kind and miraculous, not all yet known, but all so much appreciated.

So often, people will call me or Good Boy "lucky." They'll praise me for saving Good Boy, as though I had anything to do with it! At those times, I'm quick to explain to them that God and you are the ones deserving of credit, and that it's all about blessings.

When you and I met, Wiggles, and traded hearts, I learned about love, trust, faith, and hope in ways heretofore unknown. You were a joyful, yet quiet, soul, your eyes filled with love for me through both the first six years of normal eyesight, and the second six years, when you saw with your heart. You brought home to me the knowledge that love is so much more powerful and all-encompassing than I'd ever known. There is so much that I miss about your physical presence, but also so much that you gave me to celebrate, including the blessing of Good Boy.

This lil pup -- he's a senior cattle dog / blue heeler of unknown vintage, but shedding years of dread and trading it for trust and the surety of having a real home -- is alive and thriving thanks to you and God. That blessing is one I share; you knew it wasn't my time to grieve to death. You found just the right furry soul to pair me with, though I was not able to give Good Boy much at first but the roof over his head, food and water and much-needed veterinary care. You know that neither he nor I realized the breadth and depth of our blessings for the first six months; it was more than a year before we really got to a place where we were able to feel the happiness coming through where before there had been ... unsurety. We've both been so tired, so filled with a riot of feelings ranging from dread to hope and from sadness to happiness.

When we go for walks, we walk in the same places where you and I walked, and even though the seasons and years pass, your presence is still strong and steadying, letting me know that it's all right to smile, to hug and pat and love Good Boy. The love we have for each other is safe, secure, and stronger than ever. Good Boy has joined us, sharing a place that you and God helped make for him, blessing us.

So, whenever someone that doesn't know, mentions 'luck' or focuses their gratitude for Good Boy's saving, on me, I tell them about how you and God love me so much that that love reached out and took Good Boy in, too!

Thank you for all you've done and continue to do, sweet Wiggles! You are always the child of my soul, still teaching me about love and faithfulness. You and God are a perfect pair!

So much love,

Your mommy-me, Julie

Neighbors, no matter what

Neighbors, no matter what

 

 

 

 

August 17, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the blessing of Facebook, a dear Oregon friend shared one of Stephanie Falck's photos of the 500-ton, 17-semi truck hay donation.

 

 

 

Here in Ohio, thirty years ago, a dear Amish friend -- himself a farmer with Limousin beef cattle -- had a bumper crop of top-notch alfalfa hay. That same summer, farmers in the Carolinas experienced a terrible drought. Jonas shipped a railcar load of hay to those farmers, with the stipulation that the recipients only know it came from "a friend."

 

 

 

This is how neighbors are. It does not matter the distance from their driveway to yours. It might be a half-hour from your kitchen table to theirs, or it could take two or three days' travel to put your feet under their table -- you're still neighbors.

 

 

 

During this summer of drought, wildfires and other trials & tribulations, please know that people all over our great country (and beyond) hold you close in prayer. We are grateful beyond words for the kindness that is inherent in good people to simply do good things. Recognition is not sought. Heroes don't view themselves thusly. Anyone would do it, they say.

 

 

 

God is alive and well in the hearts of such people -- the donors, transporters and recipients of such kindnesses. Let's let that take center stage in our lives and push the 'gristle' to the back of our plates. Good still prevails in the face of adversity!

 

 

 

~~~

 

 

 

Julie Kay Smithson is a property rights / natural resources researcher in west-central Ohio's Amish and Mennonite farming country. She lives with Good Boy, a blue heeler who depends on her to be his 'seeing eye person' -- and the sweetest memories of Wiggles Blue Heeler, who was at her side for more than a dozen years of rural living.

Now it's your Birthday

You and me, dear heart, on your eleventh birthday, July 19th, 2009. I had a birthday party for you on the lawn, and you were so happy! You knew it was your special day, and you were a most gracious host to your visitors.

July 19, 2012


Fourteen years ago this day, you were born, and though I didn't yet know you (we didn't meet until Tuesday, September 22nd, 1998), God had been working for a long time to put you and me on the same earthly life path. As are all His miracles, this one meant that all things that had happened to me to bring me to that day at the Farm Science Review, had to happen, and I'm glad they happened.

Our first Christmas together, 1998.

You loved me the first time you saw me, sweet Wiggles Blue Heeler, and I loved you. The bond between us strengthened over time and through adversity. For more than a dozen years, we were a team. We shared so much, so many travels, some trials, losses, gains -- but through it all, no one could have ever been so quietly devoted to another as you were to me.

Us at the A Canal Headgates, Klamath Falls, Oregon, August 2001.

My gratitude to you continues, stronger than ever, and certain I am that we are still together, though different (because earthly bodies wear out, as mine will, too).

January 28, 2006. Ours was such a precious, quiet but joyful love and life! No matter what, we were there for each other, through thick & thin.



Happy Birthday, sweet Littlefoot! I am Always your mommy, your best friend, and you are always the child of my soul.

A New Post Is Coming Soon ... It's Percolating

A New Post Is Coming Soon ... It's Percolating

June 24, 2012


By Julie Kay Smithson, always Wiggles' Mommy (and now Good Boy's mommy, too) propertyrights@earthlink.net


For the past few weeks, a new post has been in the formative stages in my heart and mind. It's not quite ready, but will be soon. Beloved Wiggles, you are faithfully with me always, and reminders of you abound all around, but most of all, in my heart and soul.

It is so clear, so undeniable, that you and God arranged for Good Boy's path in life to merge with my own, and he and I are most grateful. Though your earthly body simply wore out -- and I know you're here in a perfect way now, right here with me at all times in all places -- I still long for you in that visible, tangible form that spent all those blessed years with his mommy-me. You understand that, Wiggles, and so does Good Boy as he keeps just enough space between us for you to stay beside your mommy, even as he has become more comfortable here and knows it's his home for the rest of his earthly life.

Good Boy and I are a team born of desperation, loneliness, great need and all the ingredients that you and God put together and mixed, but we could not exist without either you or our Heavenly Father. Thank you more than there are words to describe, on this day, and every day: I love you more than ever, sweet Many Kisses, Little Boo, Punky Brewster, Wigglety Woo!

Saturday, May 5th, at home

Saturday, May 5th, at home

 

 

May 5, 2012

 

 

By Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net

 

 

 

May 22, 2008. Lovely & fragrant iris!

 

 

Wow!!! Just saw two male Baltimore Orioles! Hadn't seen one since I was a youngster in the late 1950s, but these two were unmistakable, & if there are 2 males, surely there are 2 females somewhere nearby! How beautiful these birds are, strikingly marked with orange, black, yellow & white! Ah!!! I looked at Google Images, & found some photos. This one is from MacGardens "A gardener's world from the hill on Ball Road ... About (from 2008): This blog is meant to capture my observations as an itinerant gardener on 7 acres of stony hillside in mid-Maryland (Frederick County to be precise). We have a mixture of fields, overgrown orchard, & natural forest which has grown up over the last 30 years. In addition we spend a fair amount of time tending to perennials around the yard & a 5000 sq.ft. vegetable garden. Retirement has given me time to photograph the surroundings & to observe the healthy bird population that visits our mulberry & cherry trees. I continue to be fascinated by the things which have always been here (apparently) & are newly observed (like the orchard orioles this past year) and the things which are harvests from many years in one place (like the large clumps of daffodils in the woods that were planted decades ago & then forgotten until recently). Both my wife Beth & our offspring share our passion for gardening & nature, & I'm sure that our new granddaughter will be another convert. I began this blog two years ago & then got sidetracked. I hope this time to follow through with some of the photos & discoveries that the new year will bring. For a gardener at least, every year is a new beginning!" http://macgardens.org/?page_id=30

 

C.B. "Sully" Sullenberger has asked, "What do you think makes a good leader?" Here is my response: My belief, carefully formed from 6 decades of living, is that the best "leaders" are those that give God the glory, those that are humble in their gifts/skills/talents, those that do not seek to 'get rich quick' from sharing their knowledge, those that do not hold wisdom hostage, & those who are keenly aware that much can be learned each & ev'ry day, i.e., they do not 'know it all.' Sully and/or friends, you are free to disagree, because either of us could be right ... or wrong ... or most likely, some of both!

 

 

Hmmm ... no one drove by to see the workings going on in the yard this afternoon, but the result is: OVDM (one very dirty me). However, much weeding has been done, 2 bales of compressed sphagnum peat moss incorporated into flower beds ... and yours truly grew to resemble the little fellow from the Peanuts comic strip who had the cloud of dirt encircling him! Ah, but Good Boy still loves me!!! Perks to working in the flower beds: birds serenade you, the feral cats leave the birds alone, the iris put forth their heady fragrances -- each distinctive, from the 'grape' iris that actually smell like purple grapes to the more delicate perfumes of the reddish bearded and the violet & gold bearded iris -- and the workout is done with the breezes of spring to keep the brow dry! There's nothing like such measured & deliberate cardiovascular exercise to bring an appreciation to flowers that can come no other way. Thank you, God, for giving me this love of the soil & the miracles You call on it to bring forth! What a blessing!

 

 

It is my prayer that you each had a wonderful day, one that brings you to your bed with the nicest kind of tired, and that you are given pause to consider the multitude of blessings all 'round. It is a humbling thing, but one that brings such serenity of the heart and soul. I missed Wiggles Blue Heeler today; Good Boy stayed inside and enjoyed the air conditioning -- but so admired them both, each a sweetheart in his own way. Wiggles would have lain beside me as I worked, or perhaps breathed in the fragrance of the flowers he so loved. Good Boy is not at that point in his life -- perhaps that is not a place he will know, but we still expect miracles! -- though he is glad to have me nearby, and to enjoy our times together in the same room. So, I love them both, and both have special places in my heart.

 

Wiggles Blue Heeler with Red Flag daylilies, July 8th, 2007.

 

Read to me, Mom, Please?

Read to me, Mom, Please?


May 8, 2008


By Julie Kay Smithson, Wiggles' mommy-me forever
 
"Okay, Wiggles! Once upon a time there was this lady whose very nice, loving pet died of old age. She was heartbroken (blue heart) and looking for another angel dog like Too. She searched high & low, all over Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, & Pennsylvania -- & the weeks went by, from July to September.

She was so sad, but one day she decided to attend the Farm Science Review, a neat farm show near London, Ohio, & near her home in the country.

What to her wondering eyes should appear but 14 Australian Blue Heeler puppies in a nice outdoor pen with a tarp for shade & some nice pully-pully toys like socks to play with!

There were two litters, & all looked healthy & happy, but this one particular puppy really got the lady's attention. He was one of the two biggest puppies & he was lying in the shade, apparently oblivious to two of his fellow puppies, who were playing tug o' war with a sock -- but he was actually watching them out of the corner of his eye! When the two tuggers tired of their game & dropped the sock, trundling away in search of other entertainment, this special pup got up & ever-so-casually GOT THE SOCK!

Well, the lady reached in & picked him up, & he fixed her with the age-old mongoose-to-the-cobra look.

What could she do? She put him back, with her stomach in knots, & went on to walk the entire Review grounds. She was thinking about the grumpy-grouchy, very food-aggressive old Siberian husky at her home, scared to death that, if she brought home this puppy, he'd "have it for dinner."

She walked & she walked, kind of in a daze, until 7 hours later, when she came walking back up the same street toward the place with the Blue Heeler puppies. Over half of them were gone, but even from a distance, she could clearly see one pup, reared up on its hind legs, looking intently: IN THE DIRECTION WHERE HE'D LAST SEEN HER!

She quickened her pace, lest someone in the crowd see him & take him before she could get to him! Oh, he was so tired, & more than a little dusty from the thousands of feet that had trod past him that day & the many reaching hands that had [tried to pick him up]. When the lady got into his field of vision, he began wiggling & smiling at her, SO HAPPY that she was back! She reached down and picked him up & he sighed, wrapt himself around her neck like a muff & WENT STRAIGHT TO SLEEP!

What could she do? She asked the sellers if she could take him home, on the condition that she could bring him back if the crotchety husky wouldn't accept him. Long story short, all worked out fine. It's almost ten years later, & the lady & her BLUE HEART HEALER, Wiggles Blue Heeler, are still best of friends and buddies!"

March 25, 2012

Beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler, my precious soul-child, I never tired of reading to you, singing to you, and loving you, and you never tired of loving me and listening to me, and you always looked straight into my eyes and heart, all those years, including the years that your physical eyesight let you down and you saw entirely with your heart. We still commune, you and I; we share our love with Good Boy now, stronger than ever.

I miss you so much, sweetest one, Wiggles!

I miss you so much, sweetest one, Wiggles!


March 6, 2012


By AWM (Always Wiggles' Mommy) propertyrights@earthlink.net


An old country song says something about only missing someone twice: once a day, all day long, and once a night, from dusk 'til dawn. I know how that feels now, dearest Littlefoot! Yes, Good Boy is doing fine and we're okay and having good times, but that does not diminish how much I miss you. Oh, if only there were a way I could just touch you again, hug your dear self, know you'd be there on the other side of the bed each morning ...

You ARE with me still, now and forever, just in a different form, so my missing you is the missing of your physical self, but dear, sweet Wiggles, I wouldn't ask you to be here one second longer than you were. You stayed so much longer than I knew, and when you gave me that last forty-eight hours, you had already gifted me with months that were precious to me, though you were so sick. Whatever was growing inside you (whether it was or was not cancer doesn't matter), was something you held at bay for so long, and you did it so bravely. You were mortified when you leaked urine or vomited, and you used your big green play ball and 'roughed it up' so ferociously in order to keep things from shutting down your ability to eat, urinate and poop ... though I didn't know it at the time.

Oh, how much you are loved, Wiggles, Many Kisses, my Sweetest One!

This photo I took of you the evening of December 1st, 2010, just a little more than three days before you put your fourth foot into Heaven. You loved me so much -- you Love Me So Much, now and forever! -- that you gave it all you had, trying to stay as long as you could.

If I could tell you again, whispering in one of your dear silken ears, how much you are loved, I would do so in a heartbeat, but you know ... you always knew ...  you will always know!

Here's another photo from that same evening, as you sought to do something, anything, so you could stay longer with your mommy-me.

You, sweet Wiggles Blue Heeler, on your/our first Christmas together, in 1998. You always only had eyes for me, and me, for you!

Always, you know ... not for just an hour

not for just a day

not for just a year

but always

Always!

Christmas 2011

Christmas 2011

Left to Right: Beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler (July 19, 1998 – December 5, 2010), yours truly, and Good Boy, rescued on March 2, 2011.

This photo blending of me, Good Boy and beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler was done by friend Len Wood of Melbourne, Australia (who also has blue heelers, and had one gal, Tramp, aka Trampy, for fourteen years, so knows how I feel about Wiggles). Len kindly did this very special color image, as well as a black-and-white one. Friend and neighbor Marlene Wade took the original photo of Wiggles and me on April 1, 2007. Friend and neighbor Jeff Caskey took the original photo of Good Boy and I on April 18, 2011. Len used the 2007 photo and background and cropped Good Boy out of the other photo and into this one, weaving Good Boy in so it looks for all the world like we’re all there together, at the same time – and in many ways, we are!

I’m filled with the joy of Christmas and Jesus' Birthday, but have been working so hard that the thought of sending Christmas cards -- even though I've put return address labels and postage stamps on all the envelopes -- is just overwhelming. I sent 197 out last year (to my family, friends, subscribers to my research efforts, and friends via past chapters of my life: horses and trucks). This year, no way! There are 200 envelopes done, but getting the envelope addressing and card writing for each might as well be like me trying to go to the moon and back! This year, all family and friends will be receiving Christmas blessings via email. I love the traditional time spent with the cards, envelopes, photos, address book, etc., but must downsize to those few that don't use email, and closest family members.

Good Boy, December 10, 2011. My new dog friend and I with two of Santa’s elves at Champaign Feed/Pet, part of “Christmas In The Village” in Mechanicsburg, Ohio.

This has been a year during which change has been more keenly felt, and love and caring more appreciated than ever before. The prayers offered are cherished, the times spent together, tucked gently into my memory.

July 11, 2011. Sparkling Orange daylilies hold calm during a gust front precluding a summer thunderstorm. Our lives contain just such moments, treasured forever.

It’s a peaceful, quiet and happy time here this Christmas. My prayer is that your Christmas is also filled with peace and joy, the happiest of memories, and that you’ll make more memories with which to grace the home that is your heart. I am very grateful for your love and caring, this and every day!

Julie, Good Boy and the sweetest memories of Wiggles Blue Heeler

Wiggles Blue Heeler: Always and Forever

Wiggles Blue Heeler: Always and Forever

 

 

December 5th, 2011

 

 

Wiggles' mommy-me, Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net

 

 

There is never a doubt that beloved Wiggles Blue Heeler will be with me always and forever. Do you remember the song from the movie, "Pride of the Yankees," called "Always"? "I'll be loving you ... always! With a love that's true ... always. When the things you've planned ... need a helping hand ... I will understand ... always, always. Days may not be fair ... always. That's when I'll be there ... always! Not for just an hour ... not for just a day ... not for just a year ... but always ... always." Deanna Durbin sang it then, but I sang it to Wiggles many, many times over the years, and still do.

I watch God and Wiggles working in Good Boy, communicating and guiding as they also communicate with and guide me, and it warms my heart with a warmth that will never cool, never grow old, but is eternal. When Wiggles and I saw each other on September 22nd, 1998, it was as though we'd always been together, two halves of one soul, and we are still that way ... for always.

Wiggles always had a sweetness about him that permeated his core. He had no 'smell' at all, other than his clean sweetness. No doggy odor, ever. His sweet heart manifested itself in countless ways, and everything remains, including the way his fur felt, his sweet breath mingling with mine in all the nights and mornings when we slept, not snuggled, but each on our own pillow, and my hand often holding one of his feets/feeties/feetles gently. When he'd awaken, he'd slowly go 'belly up,' his dear face near my own, and I'd stroke his throat and tum-tum. How he loved that! Sometimes it took us up to a half-hour to get up, because we just so enjoyed those quiet times as soulmates.

This has been a day filled to overflowing with peace, like last December fifth. When I drove home, westbound, in the still coolness of that December dawn, my heart was filled with peace, and after I got home, a dear friend and her son stopped by to say goodbye to Wiggles, not knowing that he'd returned to Heaven. As they sat in our living room, Christine sitting in the chair Wiggles loved, her son, Max, sitting on the couch where I usually sit, and me, sitting on the other couch, right next to the place on it where Wiggles often slept, we all looked at each other in wonder, ALL of us feeling Wiggles' presence so strongly that I told Christine it felt like, walking through the house, like I was walking through cotton candy, so strong was Wiggles' presence and aura! We all basked and reveled in this miracle as the December sunshine poured into the living room! Even after they left, this miracle of Wiggles and his love permeated my soul and held me in joy, and though days to come held moments of intense grief and many tears -- many times when I could hardly breathe -- this day, one year ago, and again today, brought my baby, the child of my soul, for me to hold once again!

Thank you, Dearest Littlefoot, Wiggles Blue Heeler!

 

 

Thank you, Dearest Littlefoot, Wiggles Blue Heeler!

 

 

December 4th, 2011

 

 

From your mommy-me, Julie Kay Smithson propertyrights@earthlink.net

 

 

Dearest Littlefoot, Wee Gull, Many Kisses, my lil Booberry, and so many other terms of endearment, in a little less than eight hours, it will be one year since your return to Heaven, but you have never left me, not for one second! You've been here in my heart and soul, your love strong as ever, your loyalty to your mommy-me just as true.

 

I miss your barely-damp-finegrit-sandpaper kisses and always will, until the time that you can bestow them on me again, each and ev'ry one a blessing in and of itself.

 

Now I realize that you loved me so much that you and God brought Good Boy into my life (not just to save his life, but also to save my own), and for these miracles, I am so grateful to you. Would that I could hugabugga you again, one arm 'round your middle, the other arm 'round your chest, and kiss the top of your dear headbump, just above your precious Bentley mark -- but you know and receive my love just as you always have, and you continue to gift my heart and soul with your love.

 

Tonight I sat for a little while in your chair, the orange flowered one from Mom & Dad's house, and remembered how many times I'd gaze across their living room to see you sleeping in this chair -- sometimes curled up this way or that, sometimes 'belly up,' all four feets in the air in utter trust and relaxation.

 

You and I were soulmates from the start, and I know it's all right with you that I love and care for Good Boy, because he did not 'replace' you. After all, you and God sent me to bring him home! You know my love for you is as soul-filling as ever, and we are always a team. Now we work together to bring Good Boy happiness and a life free of the pain and fear he knew for so long. Thank you, my sweetest one, beloved WigglesBlue Heeler!