Breathe

Coffee in a Kavarna go-cup (Dancing Goats blend with an extra shot of espresso and real half-n-half--we were out of coffee this am), "Racing to the Red Light" by James McMurtry on iTunes. I sit here with yet one more thing gone wrong (this time a piece of technology failed--not critical but intrinsic to the daily functioning of the house) and think how very lucky we are. The past week has brought many trials, and they have all been so well staggered that even the most serious could be faced with calm if not serenity. I think on the recent trials of two of our very good friends, and I see mine for the little that they are. Perspective.

However, little does not mean nothing. The most distressing and looking to be long-term concern is the illness of Jester, the beloved deerhound. Last Friday morning I took him to the vet. He was almost unable to rise from his bed in the morning and there was a pool of blood under it. The vets still don't know what caused the problem--words like snake bite, cancer, and anal-gland abscess fly though the air with as much meaning as so many dust motes. Whatever. From the anus to the knee he had a mass of dead tissue that finally split open and revealed itself. He went through one surgery and suture. It split open almost immediately. Saturday we had to transfer him to a large emergency veterinary hospital. He has had to have the wound debrided daily--twice under general anesthetic and twice sedated.

Finally this morning they say it is looking better and they can start thinking about the major reconstructive surgery he is going to have the end of this week or early next week. I hope to be going up to see him this afternoon if I can get away. For now he's on injectable morphine and anti-inflammatories so I at least know he's not in too much pain.

In the meantime I plan for the BMAC--also next week. I thought seriously this morning about canceling the show (and taking the huge financial hit both from the cancellation fees and loss of income), but on top of the enormous veterinary bills, I just can't justify it. Instead I am going to ask a friend with a larger vehicle (as I will be in Philadelphia with the mini-van) if he can help Dave pick up the dog from the emergency veterinary hospital (on the north side of the city in Sandy Springs) to transport him down to our vet where they will board him for a week while I'm gone. Jester is 130 lbs of lean muscle and bone. He is the size of an adult human on four legs. He is likely to have drainage tubes in his wound and other care requirements that I just can't drop on top of Dave in addition to the rest of the pets, the household and the child while I'm gone. Oy. But the vet staff loves him and he'll have a bed in the corner of his own room--no kennel (he's too big for all their kennels)--so I know he'll be well taken care of.

So that's the big thing. I'm not even going to list all the other things that lined up one after another to cause me (thankfully) mostly difficulty and not pain. And these things, as I indicated previously, have been very considerate in their timing: each thing that has gone sideways, broken or vomited in our bed in the past week has waited to do so until the previous one was at least under control. I still have margin. I look forward to the day I don't need to be using it, but at least I still have it.

Today I ship two orders and fire the first load of the final summer order. Everything that comes in from now on will be done at the end of August--after the BMAC and the Montana trip--in the twilight of the summer. Creedence Clearwater Revival sings "Someday Never Comes" in the background as I close. Ain't it the truth.

PS--Immediately after posting the above, I got an email from the printer with my proof for the info cards. After I spent last week doing a camera-ready version (because they so badly hosed up the first version I sent) they sent me an email this morning requesting I approve... the exact same proof they sent last week. I still haven't fixed the thing that broke an hour ago. They begin to pile up.