Paw Prints

Today I received a card in the mail from Deer Creek Veterinary clinic.  When I saw the envelope, I thought it was either a condolence card or a letter telling me that her ashes were available for pick up.

I opened the envelope and it was a card.  But when I opened it, I saw an ink paw print of Trinity's.  I was overwhelmed.  I can't explain it.  It's just pure grief.  I've never seen something and cried and been brought back to that raw moment of death so quickly.

I remembered burying my face in her shoulder fur.  Holding her head, and the whole front of her body in my arms.  The doctor injecting a pinkish liquid into her hind leg.  The inability to ask if "that" was the stuff that would make her heart stop.  For some reason, I thought there was a pre-injection.  Then realizing that it was happening.  Not being able to watch the plunger run out of liquid.  Burying my head in her fur.  Hearing her say, "Her heart's still beating.  I gave her enough for a 200 lb. dog.  She has a very strong heart."

I wondered if I should pull away to let her know it was okay to go.  I decided not to.  She was smart enough to know when to go.  It hurt to hear that she had a strong heart.  That physically her body could have kept on going.  I didn't want it to stop.   I sobbed into to her fur and cried "Trinity.  I love you.  I love you Trinity" over and over again.  It was like a bad funeral.

"She's gone," the vet said.  I still held her for a few minutes until I could feel that she was really gone.  It was surreal.  I stood up and wiped my eyes.  The rest of the afternoon, I tried to be happy.  I even took Mira and Kahlan to the lake, with Jon.  I laughed and smiled as Kahlan bounded through the wake after a stick and swam for the first time.  I sympathized with Mira who retrieved the stick, but really wanted to go back to shore.  I could have good dog memories for a short time before the grief would come to haunt me and remind me of all the things that I didn't do with my best friend.

Now...Mira is my best friend.  She has been with Trinity and I since she was one and a half.  She's a little over five now.  Kahlan is Trinity's daughter.  I am having trouble bonding to her.  Because really all I want is Trinity and Mira.  Any variation, it's hard to imagine.

Crystal Creek's Rain

A fun photo of Rain

A plush coat, not mommy's long coat

Tiny Town, CO Part II

I enjoyed walking around the outer perimeter of Tiny town taking these pictures through the fence. Unfortunately, it is only open on Saturdays and Sundays during the months of May and September.

Trinity in front of the main sign. We walked around taking lots of pictures. People probably wondered if she was the new 24 hour surveillance the way she was sniffing around.

There is a life size train located in the parking lot for Tiny town. I thought you train lovers might like a picture of it, and Trinity is my favorite model:)

A blurry picture of me and Trinity that shows how much fun we had. I think Trinity was mainly just happy to be out of the car and I was happy that even though I couldn't find the trail-head, I found something equally interesting to photograph.

In the Backyard

My grandfather built this shed when he moved to the property in the late 1940's. My Dad and his family lived in it until my grandfather finished building the main house. I never knew this, but before the main house was built, Dad said the family would take a 20-30 gallon trash can over to "Beaver creek" and fill it up for their drinking water. The can sat in the little house and served as their potable water for the week.

Trinity returning from her morning patrol in the back of the property

Trinity looks inside the back door, hoping to escape the mid-day humidity.

A picture of the house from the south side of my parent's property.

Trinity in the Morning

She wakes up early in the morning. Eats her breakfast.

Rolls around in the wet grass. Scares up some game...

Waits for her Pappaw (my Dad) to come outside for his morning coffee

Sometimes tries to get in a lick of his coffee cup, but mostly just sits at a distance and admires him:)

Storm Damage

Last Wednesday evening, a strong thunderstorm moved through the area in the middle of the night. It wrenched the branch off of this tree. Dad was kind of bummed, because he was almost finished cleaning up the yard from several other trees he'd taken down due to disease. On Thursday he began working on the removal of this branch. Trinity accompanied him. This tree had it in for him. When he was working on the tree on Thursday, removing one of the smaller limbs another branch smacked him in the face and whacked Trinity a good one too. She decided working so closely with Dad on this one was too risky. On Friday when he went to remove the main branch, Trinity hung back. Probably a good thing. While chain sawing the main branch off, it flipped around and smacked Dad in the face again, as well as the shoulder and his arm. He had a nasty cut on his face, but really his main concern was his arm. We took him to urgent care to make sure it wasn't broken. Thankfully it wasn't, and thankfully nothing worse happened.

"Home" in Ohio

Considering the length of the drive (20 some hours), Trinity really did quite well. She has bonded with my Dad (shown together in the house picture), her "Pappaw". She follows him everywhere. I think she likes his industrious nature and feels some primordial connection with him.

Trinity running around with her new favorite toy, the big orange ball, that she popped in less than 5 seconds. That's okay, that's the way she likes the ball. Makes it easier to carry around, and we can still throw it for her and it rolls (kind of).

Dad and Trinity in the morning sitting on the back patio of my childhood home. Believe it or not, my grandfather built this house! My Dad and his family grew up on this same property that I grew up on. Dad has finished a lot of projects that Pappaw started, such as a new family room, adding a 3/4 bath, remodeling a bathroom, Adding several garages...but it's still cool to say that I grew up in the house my "Pappaw" built.

More pictures of Trinity with the beloved ball. She loves my parents huge fenced and wooded back yard. She chases the squirrels up the trees, sniffs around in the bushes, helps Dad carry firewood. The list could go on for miles. She's such a happy puppy here:)

Trinity on Boulder Creek Trail

 

 

 

 

Went hiking with Trinity this afternoon on the Boulder Creek trail in Boulder Canyon. We parked at the Elephant Butte area and hiked a short distance up the trail before it started to rain on us. Didn't appear to be a passing phenomenom so we turned around. But not before I captured some othe these photos of my beautiful Shepherd. This was also my first attempt at having her stand. I tried to stack her like she would be stacked at a conformation match. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be. She did fantastic staying in the pose, but I didn't quite capture her angles in my imperfect stack. I'll keep practicing because this dog strikes beautiful poses in the back yard on a regular basis.

Muddy Trinity

Trinity is staying at Jon's house, awaiting her first breeding to Sampson. If I didn't know how much she liked getting dirty, I'd think Jon spray painted my dog! Reminds me of me actually. As a kid, I never could go out to play without coming home with a muddy mess. Thanks for the picture Jon.

Dogs at Play

 

Trinity and Sam

 

Here's a winter photo of Trinity with her boyfriend Sampson.

Trinity Digs for China

 

This photo was taken during one of the Blizzards of December. I don't recall exactly which one. Lately I've been re-visiting some winter photos in Picasa. I am amazed at some of the results just by applying various filters or cropping out dead space in the photos.

Christmas for cowgirls on the wide open range!

A bit belated in the posting process considering Spring has already arrived, but I love the cloud formations and the patterns in the snow and any picture with my dog in it:)

Trinity and her blanky

 

 

 

As you can see, Trinity loves the blanket that my parents sent her for Christmas. Mostly, she likes to delicately rip it apart and swallow small delectible sections at a time. But tonight, she was lying so close to it that I could help but wrap her up in it. She didn't seem to mind. Maybe she was just wondering what I would taste like in small, delectible sections:)

Trinity in South St. Vrain Canyon

 

Dog Daze

Somehow...I always knew this is what Trinity did while I was at work :)