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!