First Post

This is a little intimidating ... a first post on my first blog. Better I suppose than a last post for a last blog.

I guess maybe I will start with why I called it "Going to the Dogs".

Now that I am sixty-seven I sometimes feels as if my life has gone to the dogs. Certainly my body is rapidly heading downhill. I bruise easily, break bones now, and have a weird baby finger on my right hand because of an accident on Thanksgiving weekend, 2006. That story deserves a whole post.

But really, I chose the title because I have started to board dogs singly or in pairs. I am not running a kennel; it is way too homelike to be a kennel (puppies and other needy dogs get to sleep on my bed with me). I do it to make money of course, but I also do it because I like dogs and my own dog loves company.

My dog's name is Kenya. I brought her home from the SPCA about a month after I returned from Kenya the country in March, 2006. I figured it was time to settle down and a dog would tether me to Canada.

I care deeply about Kenya, the two year old flat coat retriever and border collie mix who is my best friend, but I also care greatly about her namesake, Kenya, the country, which is in turmoil right now. It too has gone to the dogs.

My posts will likely be about the misadventures and learning experiences of boarding dogs, the situation in Kenya, and also about living up here on a secluded lake in the Gatineau Hills. Because I was a teacher for nearly thirty years, I will probably write occasionally about education. Because I am a mother and a grandmother, my family may also find their way into some posts. And, because I am interested in politics, literature, film, and art, I may sometimes write about them as well.

I can't predict beyond that, but I am looking forward to sharing ideas with others who might be interested in them. Journaling is a very private kind of writing and is a bit like shouting down a deserted alleyway. I hope that these words will reach some people a least sometimes.