Muted

Winter Solstice is still a little over two weeks away. Today I noticed. There is darkness everywhere. All the colors are muted as if someone’s taken all the life out of them. Gretchen keeps having to reset her camera to either engage the flash or reposition us so we look a little less gray and a bit more cheery. Yet everywhere we look, the trees aren’t as green, the houses not as colorful, and the skies, obviously, not as blue.

It makes me want to take a long nap. But there’s work today so the nap must wait for me to arrive at the end of my day.

And it was a long day, today. Longer than we’ve had in awhile and longer for Gretchen than for me. Still, it was good to get back into the routine again and see all my friends — some of whom have been off on vacation or away on business trips.

I got my own walk this morning — solo, just Gretchen and me — but on our walk we ran into lots of friends. Rosie and Tyson, for instance, and then their neighbors — two little poodles with lots of energy. Since we weren’t officially working, Gretchen didn’t have her camera, but I took a picture with my memory. They all looked good in the dull colors of the morning,

And then we went to work. We picked up Woobie first, so she could hang out with me at the house for a bit. Woobie can make any dull day bright and festive. She’s always so happy to see us when we show up at her front door. She races out, spins around on the porch, and then zooms down the stairs waiting to be leashed up. I can’t help but be happy when I see Woobie!

Gretchen was kind of hoping to have me walk with Rosie and Tyson, but since Woobie came to hang out for awhile, she decided that walking two dogs would be a lot easier than walking four so Woobie and I curled up for a short nap while Gretchen took the siblings for a nice long walk down through the wooded park…

…and then up over the hill where they ran into some bright lights and sparkling colors…

Yep, it’s that time of year!

Next up, she got Gemma who can liven up even the grayest of days. Gemma bounces through the muted colors and brings a ray of sunshine to everyone’s life — including Perrito’s!

Oshi’s — not so much — but even he kind of got into dancing around the tennis courts after watching Gemma and Perrito play chase!

Before Gretchen got Saber, she picked up Woobie and me. While our nap was nice, it was nicer to get out and stretch our legs a bit. If there’s anyone who can brighten up a day, it’s Saber. Of course, we have to watch out for his “brightness” since he doesn’t have very good control of it!

I got to have a nap after we dropped off Woobie and then Saber and Gretchen went off to work at the pool. While I loved hanging out with my friends on this muted day, it was really nice to curl up in my warm bed and take another nap. There’s just something about this time of year that slows me down. Do you all feel the same?

Until tomorrow,

Rubin