Loss and Catch-Up

It has been a difficult few weeks in the ol’ Nicolas-Stegall household. Our sweet and far-too-young-to-depart Mochi went into stage 4 kidney failure, with her pancreas becoming affected. We braved the loss and let her go onto bigger and better things on October 1st.

I have to admit that although the decision was the right one – for her, not us and our selfish love of her presence – it was far more difficult than I could have ever imagined. A couple of days after we let her go, she invaded my dreams and broke my heart all over again. That gorgeous and regal face will no longer stare at me with the words “well, aren’t you going to share that sandwich?” hanging from her drooling mouth. No more rough play, growling rope tugs-of-war, or romps in the park with our happy-go-lucky girl.

Miso, although (it seemed) quite happy at first to have the attention of the Wife and I all to herself, has been moping around the last few days and we think the loss of her little sister has finally sunk in… The fact that the big knucklehead won’t be around for Miso to annoy any longer appears to have struck a chord with our selfish little Dachshund.

This weekend, we will all head out to west Texas to release Mochi’s ashes into the beautiful countryside, thanks to our friends at A Day Away Retreat, Ruby and Michael. We cannot thank them enough for their kindness and understanding in our loss.

On a completely separate-but-connected note, I’ve had trouble getting back into the writing habit.  My WIP is suffering for that, but I am feeling like it is time to dive back in and get it done. As our (fictional) friend, Paris, would say, “Man up and get it done.” So, I will.

I will slowly get back into the posting groove, as well.  I have a few subjects to discuss in the coming weeks so look forward to my regular ramblings resurfacing once more.

My DRP partner, John J. Smith, and I are also going to be going on a scouting trip in November in preparation for our full-on DRP road trip documentary adventure next April. Look for Tweets, blogs, photos and even some video from the road between November 9th and November 14th! Exciting stuff coming from Dark Red Press!

That’s it for now, my friends!

~Peace