20-20 vision

I have been a little quiet over the festive period and into the New Year. It was Lenny’s first Christmas and New Year (or is it lower case – new year?). Dad had a stinker of a cold so we were somewhat restricted as to our ability to travel. We have also been taking some time to reflect upon the last year and to wonder what is ahead now. Not in a resolution style as I take each day as it confronts me, but more like trying to get some clarity over the things we can control.

We tried to make it as normal as possible over Christmas with walks in the fields and lanes, along with seeing people we should see more often. For various reasons the festive period is tinged with sadness and reflection for dad especially. Readers may recall that my grandpa Chas went to the Rainbow Bridge on 28th December 2017, and that the uncle who I never met, Uncle David, had already passed away many years ago on 8th December 1974. It is a time for families and friends to try and get together and enjoy their company if they can. Lenny and I went to visit our grandparents in Sussex for a day between Christmas and New Year and he seemed to enjoy himself. In fact he settled faster than me soon after we had arrived which was a bonus as we were a little worried he may be agitated with the new surroundings. We needn’t have held any such fears. We were going to see our other nanny, however with Dads cold, we thought it better to shelve the trip until he was better. As it was, he was able to visit her in her new home on New Years Eve and checked that we would be able to go and see her soon, so that is a bonus and something to look forward to.

There are many things going on in my house at the moment that it is good to have the stability and routine of waking up, first breakfast, walk, second breakfast, snooze, treat training, snooze, run around the garden, play bitey face with Lenny, snooze, dinner, snooze, get tickles and sleep. I do seem to snooze quite a bit. Lenny has settled into the routine well, although his routine also includes performing dental lobotomies on one of my old stuffed toys. When I look at Lenny tearing into the fluffy and now deceased gingerbread toy, it does make me wonder how different and, yet how similar, Lenny and I are. Same basic breed albeit he is giraffe legged and I am a hooligan apparently. Both rescues and both full of energy. However we differ in that my energy is relentless when it comes to hunting a creature in the fields or lanes, whereas Lenny will scent it and then if he cannot get to it, he will move on. We are dissimilar in that I will walk straight through the muddiest, filthy puddle on a walk and Lenny will carefully try to avoid it. When I sleep it’s almost as if I have one eye open permanently, whereas Lenny will go out like the proverbial light. Often it is apparently like “waking the dead” when trying to rouse him from his slumber. I took some 18 months to settle when I first arrived here and Lenny seems to have taken around 6 months.

I cannot foretell the future, however I can say with some certainty that Lenny and I will continue to enjoy living and having fun together. We will continue to run around the garden, chase squirrels and dig holes where we aren’t supposed to. We will continue to get tickles and enjoy snoozing in our 6 beds. For my part, I will continue to try and be a good big brother and guardian for Lenny so he can feel loved and safe.