I’ve been thinking a lot about my friends recently. With the pandemic, life is different now. No matter how many times I ask Richard, the answer is always the same: “we can’t go visit all your friends right now, Tashi”. It doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s dogs or humans, he says, “not right now”.

He has explained to me, and I (kind of) get it. But what I also get is that I am learning how important friends are. In fact, they may be one of the most important things out there (besides tennis balls, hiking, and food).

Does anyone else feel this way too?

I mean, I love my family to bits (even Dahlia) but let me tell you, we had one big life out there, going hither and thither, hiking with dog and people friends, going to Hospice House to visit staff, patients, and their families, going to cafes where we could sit outdoors and mingle with whoever came along, and even have friends over for dinner at our house.

I would get so excited when people came over to the house, I had to stuff something in my mouth so I wouldn’t bark and scare them away!

I know I must be patient. I know that this Time-of-Not-Seeing-Friends, like all things, will change. I will get to play with my dog friends again one day, and hang out with all my favorite people. In the meantime, I thought I would introduce you to some of my friends, as sort of a celebration of them. Just a few (I have so many, after all!) but this will give you an idea.

This is Molly. She’s not much of a swimmer, but she loves to steal the ball and tease me with it (yes, that’s my tennis ball in her mouth). She’s not really interested in the ball at all, but she knows she has my full attention when she has it in her mouth. When I go to her house, I immediately go to her toy box and take every toy out to play with. We run around like maniacs, but her mom doesn’t seem to mind. We’ve been on many a hike together, so many good memories!

 

Here’s Bear:

Bear is quite a noble dog, as you can see. He doesn’t need a leash, not even in the streets. Just follows his dad around like it’s no big deal. But he has a wild side too. Don’t let that calm demeanor fool you.

 

And here’s Sato:

I’ve known Sato since he was a little baby. Who would’ve thought he would be bigger than me when he grew up? He loves to play wild and rough, like me.

I have a couple of cat buddies too (really!)

Here’s Pipit (the cat, not the bird):

Pipit grew up at my house and then went home with his new papa. Lots of kittens grow up at my house; Caryn takes care of them when they are orphaned. I like Pipit. When we visit, he lets me spin him around with my nose while he lies on the ground. You gotta like a cat who will let you do that.

I should introduce you properly to my cat, Dahlia. She was the tiniest thing ever when Caryn brought her home.

then she grew bigger

and bigger…

and then she started taking care of all the baby kittens till they were adopted too. Dahlia is the only one that got to stay with us (so far).

Now I think she is trying to take care of me, which is very nice.

I’ll add just one more thing that I miss. My favorite outing besides hiking with friends, has always been to visit our Hospice House. I love the people there, especially Erin

And Amie

and also the people I comfort when they want me by their side.

There’s a special guy there named Duncan, who plays beautiful music. We make a pretty good team when we are there at the same time.

I know those wonderful connections will always be there, and we will come back together. In the meantime, I am getting lots of care and comfort from my people and cat, and I hope you are too ♥♥♥

AND…if you want to write and tell me about your friends, family, or pets, I would love to hear from you! Just click the “Submit Your Story” link on the top right, and send me your story ♥♥♥