• Personal,  Pets

    How a New Puppy Has Brought Me Joy

    Yvie, my new puppy dog

    Many of you know this last spring was a tough one for me and my family. My sister passed away from pancreatic cancer and my mother-in-law passed away from a stroke (we think). When that happened, I started searching for dogs to adopt online. I couldn’t help myself. I yearned for some spark of joy in my life. And our kids had been wanting a new pet for over a year. During the pandemic, we lost a dog and two cats. We were ready for a new addition. But the…

  • Books

    Spencer Quinn’s Mystery Makes Me Laugh, and Sleep Well

    One of my nightly rituals is reading in bed before I fall asleep. It’s my favorite time to read. The house is quiet, the work’s done for the day, the daily chores are taken care of. But too often, I find myself reading dark novels, I mean really dark novels, that stress me out and make me worry. This hasn’t been good for my psyche. If I try to sleep while feeling anxious or sad, I toss and turn. My mind races. Those dark novels are better read during the…

  • Personal,  Pets

    Was My Sweet Puppy Sent by a Dog From Heaven?

    Olive, My Dog, Was My Sweet Puppy Sent by a Dog From Heaven? Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2019/06/06/dog #dog #pets #Dingo #Olive #Arrow

    My friend once told me my dog Olive was sent to me by my dog Arrow. Arrow passed away about a month before Olive came into our lives. My friend speculated that Arrow knew I was upset about his passing and he wanted to console me with another mixed breed dog. Olive was a wiggly puppy, abandoned by the side of the road on New Year’s Day and found by a kind soul in the Seattle area. She was skinny and filthy and had fleas. But with a good bath…

  • Pets

    Zeke the Dog: My Very Own Direwolf

    Zeke, Zeke the Dog: My Very Own Direwolf, Karen Hugg, https://karenhugg.com/2019/05/21/zeke/ #dogs #Zeke #blackdogs #direwolf #BelgianShepherd

    I thought I'd do a quickie post about my dog Zeke. He's big and black with pointy ears and pointy nose, a Belgian Shepherd mix who stands as high as my mid-thigh. He has a direwolf nickname because he looks as imposing and wild as one.