This Is My 2021 Christmas Card - a Christmas Karal - Who Wishes Everyone a Peaceful Week, Calm, Grace, and the Love of Family. May Joy Find Your Heart.

I lost Glamis last Easter. It was not expected, it came fast, and it was heart-breaking. I wasn't in the market for another dog and quickly grew appreciation for a de-dogged home, including hairlessness. I boxed all dog materials in the garage and moved on with my life...one lived online because of Covid, one watching Chitunga soar on his own, and one hopeful something would give. I'm not sure why this particular face, this dog, broke through the "I'm not getting another dog barrier," but I knew it was going to be her as soon as I saw her. I kept going back online, memorizing her biography, and figuring out a way to get to Harrison/Rye in NY to visit her at PetRescue. It was, in fact, the first time they had in-person visits since the pandemic. 

I drove the hour trip, met the foster dad, played with her, and wondered, "Is this the dog I thought she'd be?" She was a frantic little girl, more concerned with everything around her than me. BUT she kept coming back to sit and perch her surveillance from my side. I knew she needed work, but I was sold. Driving home, she stared at me from the rearview mirror and then quickly fell asleep. 

It was only a matter of days before she did as Glamis always did and made the bay window her nook. I knew when the time came, I'd put up lights, and I'd be able to display a Christmas Karal. Pulling in my driveway last night, I had to take a photo. Yes, a Christmas Karal, indeed. A pain in the ass, so much energy, a passion for love bites and jumping, and we are working on that. She gets better each and every day - this dog who was adopted and returned 4 times in her first year of life because she had way too much love to give families in their small NYC apartments. 

Now, she has routines: morning Yoga, walks, more toys than a creature needs, and lying in the window to watch the neighbors and middle school kids walk by. She doesn't bark. She just nods her approval. She saves the barking for when she wants to go to bed, and she thinks I need to go upstairs with her. 

Anyway, this is my Christmas card this year - a Christmas Karal. Perhaps next year I'll add music outside the window so everyone who walks by can look at her posing and sing along. 

Fa la la la la la la la la. 

Now, I'm off to do some shopping. God help me.