Montgomery Center, Lowell and Jay Drive

Took a great little drive before meeting up with everyone to hike. What colors. WOW!
Love the blood hounds.

Kachina 11/25/93 - 12/13/07

With great sadness, I write to tell you of the passing of my dear companion and friend of fourteen years, my beloved Kachina, who on Thursday traded this life in for another. She has been suffering from old age and sore joints for some time and has been having an especially hard time this last year even getting up. But she had a great strength and will to live and wanted nothing more than to please her master and for life to go on as usual.

Feeling a need to head north, I decided to make an escape from the city on Monday to get in some great skiing on the unbelievable amount of snow that has fallen at our house in VT (already over 130 inches). So, I took Kachina and Orlando, one of our cats, and left Nick with Ella and Nico. I felt a very strong pull to go and there was no telling me otherwise, just ask Nick. I knew that when we got that house, it would be where Kachina would rest. And when I visited the vet up there earlier this year, I knew that that would be the spot she would die. Intuition is never wrong. I just did not expect it now.

I woke up on Thursday morning to take her out for her morning walk, but things were far from usual. It appeared that she had had a stroke, unable to stand, and fell to the one side when I tried to help her. She was pretty confused and panting heavily. When I called to speak to our long time great vet on LI, he had taken a leave of absence and they weren't sure when and if he was coming back...I believe he had said something about possibly moving to VT the last time we saw him. Funny. So I then called the local VT vet who told me about peripheral vestibular syndrome which is commonly mistaken for a stroke. They told me her eyes would be darting back and forth if I looked closely. Sure enough they were. It would not kill her, but she would not be able to walk for perhaps three weeks and she would probably never be the same. This was the clincher, something she did not want to go through and she let me know it was time. They had an opening at three, could I make it? I hesitantly said yes and scheduled my date with destiny. I was with her at the end, holding her, kissing her face and telling her how much I loved her. I would see her again I said, on the other side.

It was such an honor to have been her master. She had the absolute best soul and demeanor of any dog I have ever known. She will be greatly missed.

Kachina turns 14!

Thursday was Kachina's birthday marking the beginning of her fifteenth year of life. God bless her. And me.

Pat & Bugsy

Pat is a former Rockette, mother of two grown men and a stroke survivor of eight years. I met her and Bugsy, her Great Dane, at the Crab Festival a couple of weeks ago. She claimed to have OCD about cleanliness, despite the clutter in the pink room. After all she was having a yard sale the following day.

Kachina

My Kachina in happier times at Smith Point Beach. She will turn fourteen in two months.

Roses, Dog and Cats

Had a great week out at the beach house with Nick and the girls.
Peaceful, beautiful white-trash world of Mastic Beach.

Kachina's Teeth

Smiles all around.