Doggie Daze

By: Paul S Cilwa	Occurred: 12/20/2020	Page Views: 833
Hashtags: #Coronavirus #Maui
It's not beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
Estimated reading time: 2 minute(s) (399 words)

It's just five days before Chriostmas, and I have to say I'm not really feeling it. To me, Christmas is a secular holiday rather than a religious one; a time of being with family and following old, comfortable rituals. But my family, other than my husband and our dogs, is over a thousand miles away on the United States mainland. And bring a tree into our cabin, besides being impossible due to lack of space, would really be redundant since we have trees surrounding us, just feet away. Plus, my box of Christmas decorations is still in my daughter's Arizona garage. And who would see them, anyway?

But it occurs to me, one reason people love Christmas (and other holidays) is that they provide a welcome break into the humdrum tedium of their daily lives. And Keith's and my lives are anything but tedious. We are, after all, living in paradise. And if we ever forget that, we only have to look at our dogs making the most of every day to be reminded.

Because, let's face it, this is the kind of visitor we get.

Ella, our Golden, and Lilly, our cattle dog mix, have free reign over our property. It's 28 acres, but except when chasing cows or pigs away from our cabin, they stay pretty close to home…or to us, when we wander around.

As we wander, we encounter many natural local wonders. For example, I just noticed for the first time, this lava boulder that is being split by a baby tree that somehow found a root-hold.

And then there are the frequent showers of winter (Maui's rainy season) which are, themselves, quite beautiful. And, sometimes, really enthusiastic!)

But they always clear—since we arrived last March, we've never had a full day of rain, except for last summer's hurricane. And you can't have a stunning sunset without clouds to accent it!

When people in civilization say, "I've just got to go somewhere!" what they mean is going to some other place—a mall, a movie, a bar—that is also inside. But not!