Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to bring you kind of a difficult post. You may remember me from such similarly-themed posts as “Snow Upon Snow”, among at least a few others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
I was really waiting super-patiently to go on my walk. I got to go, of course.
So, anyway, the guy I live with has been talking about getting rid of some things for quite a while. The new recycling container started him on this adventure, I guess.
A few days ago he offered some of his wife’s Christmas ornaments to one of our neighbors, and he brought two boxes to their house. One box was a fancy heavy-duty cardboard box that used to have telephone equipment in it, and back in those days they would just throw away those boxes, so he took one home, and his wife made it into an ornament box, complete with handles and compartments and stuff.
He told his neighbors they could have the box, but yesterday, their kids returned both boxes, and the guy I live with was suddenly very glad they didn’t take the box.
“It is just a box”, he said, “but still…”
He’s going to offer the rest of the ornaments to some other neighbors, who said they were interested. (The guy I live with did save the first ornaments his wife bought, from Smith and Hawken, and these are in an even fancier box she made.)
And he decided to get rid of a bunch of old photographs that were downstairs in a shoebox. He had never looked at these before.
He shredded most of them, but saved a few.
He posted pictures of the two marionettes his wife made, on Facebook, but I’m going to show them here, too.
She carved all the wood and made all the costumes.
Then there were pictures of dogs and cats.
This is Flurry, the first purebred border collie who lived here. This was taken when he was little.
And this is Pooka, the second purebred border collie who lived here. The guy I live with said Pooka always had a worried look on his face. Like he was thinking of something far away and very sad.
When the guy I live with met his wife (she wasn’t his wife yet, but they got married four months after they met), he had cats. I know this is hard to believe, especially for me.
This is Mister Pipo. He always had something to say, according to the guy I live with. His name was pronounced peepo.
This is New Kitty. The guy I live with said that was a very original name.
And here are two cats in a basket.
You know how people always say, like with the pictures, “You might want to look at those some day”; the guy I live with is so not one of those people. He doesn’t save wood and bricks and stuff just because he “might use them some day”, though there are lots of people like that, and they’re usually the ones who say silly stuff like this. Or “they might be worth something some day”.
He gave away most of his library after his wife died, and doesn’t miss them. He gave away about two thousand LPs, and doesn’t miss those either. (He sold the valuable ones, first.) And he gave away almost all of his books on gardening and botany. And all the old maps.
But then he came upon this, which he had never seen before. (Except in real life, forty-one years ago.) I could tell how this made him feel just by his reaction to it.
He is definitely going to keep this picture, and find a nice frame for it.
That’s the news for today. We haven’t done much gardening, because it’s kind of cold, though if you count filling bird feeders, then, yes, there has been some work in the garden.
I’ll leave you with a very atmospheric picture of me on my evening walk.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
This post truly touched my heart. Both the ornaments and the bride are beautiful.
Thanks. The guy I live with said when he saw that picture of his wife it kind of hit him like a freight train.
We still have the Japanese marionette.
This certainly is kind of a difficult post, and could be quite a difficult post, but the guy you live with seems to be doing reasonably well with what you wrote about. I do not think that I could give away important Christmas ornaments, but of course, I tend to hold onto items like that. It is nice that others can enjoy them now.
Thanks. The guy I live with is keeping some of the ornaments, for now, anyway. There may come a time when those can be given away, too.
Hi, Mani. I always enjoy your posts. This one is particularly touching. Also, the marionettes are simply stunning. Happy trails to you and the guy you live with.
Thanks. The guy I live with said it was about time to do another one of “those” posts, especially since he decided to get rid of the pictures.
We totally understand why this post was difficult. Grief is just love that has nowhere to go. Hopefully a newly framed wedding photo will help the man you live with enjoy the good times they spent together. By the way, her marionettes are spectacular! The costumes alone blew me away.
Thanks. The guy I live with said his wife would spend hours at the work bench in the garage, chiseling away at wood, and then working on the costumes, etc. Not for any reason other than she wanted to do it.
Mee-yow those Marionettess ae spectaculur Mani an Guy!!!! Beeuteefull…
Flurry sure was a reel cutie an Pooka was a reel seereuss Poochie but hansum two.
Mistur Pipo an New Kitty were beeuteefull….so many lovelee 4 leggedss an memoreess….is that Mister Pipo an New Kitty inn THE box?
Mee-yow Guy yore Lady Wife was so beeuteefull…….shee iss still with you inn spirit an inn yore heart…..
May her memoress bee fore a blessin……
Have a good wlakiess Mani! Love yore Blue Collur!
***nose bopss*** BellaDharma an ***wavess*** BellaSita Mum
Thanks. That is Mister Pipo and New Kitty in the basket. It was Pooka’s mustache that made him look so serious. The guy I live with said when Pooka was little he had “piglet lips”, all speckled pink and black, just like Chess, the purebred border collie who lived here before me, did, too. They both grew out of their piglet lips, though the guy I live with called Chess Piglet Lips for a very long time.
Mew mew mew ‘Piglet Lipss’ iss a cute nickyname!!
Chess soundss like hee was akewl Poochie; just like you Mani!
The guy I live with’s wife didn’t like the name “Piglet Lips”, but the guy I live with did.
Mew mew mew Piglet lipss was sure uneek Mani an Guy 😉
It was kind of different. I didn’t have piglet lips when I was little.
It is difficult to go through things – all those memories. I have a hard time getting rid of things, not because they will be valuable some day, but because those things are where my memories are stored. They are my hard drive. If I get rid of them, I feel like I am giving part of myself away and that I will never have those memories again.
It seems to me that dogs and cats have it simpler. Less attachment in some ways. You all seem to be more in the present than wandering through the past and worrying about the future like a human. Sometimes, I just sit here and try to meditate like a cat. I don’t know if I come close. But, it is instructive.
Yes, we are mostly present, but we still think of things like the last time we got a biscuit, which is always a longer time ago than humans think.
The guy I live with said this giving stuff away business isn’t worth the emotional effort. Our neighbors took a bunch of ornaments, but nobody else seems to want any.
So everything can just go back where it was, in a recessed corner of the upstairs closet, and just sit there.
This post seemed sad at first, melancholy as things so often are this time of year as we look back. But then the wonderful amazement again at the beautiful art created by your guy’s wife. She was so beautiful and added beauty everywhere she went.
You and the other dogs, and the cats add beauty too. Thank you
Thanks. We didn’t post pictures of the cakes the guy I live with’s wife made, though they were posted on Facebook. Like a lot of people, she went through phases of doing things.
She left the phone company shortly after she and the guy I live with were married, since he had a job that could support them both, and so she did stuff at home. After she died, a very good friend said his wife was the happiest person she had ever known, so there’s that to think of.
Still, that wedding picture was very hard for him to look at for the first time.
It certainly is true that things can be melancholy at this time of year, especially for people who have lost loved ones. I have the feeling I’m going to have to do another post about this, fairly soon.