MONDAY, OCTOBER 15
I wore Fiona’s fluffy white bathrobe downstairs, made a pot of tea, brought Saffi’s soft, golden blanket to the edge of the couch. She lay down at my feet, and I wrote. It’s been our daily routine. What a treat to have lived here.
It was a perfectly clear day when Saffi and I headed out for her morning walk. A bit cold. The change in season visible in details. The grasses so green when we arrived are a bit browner now, leaves of all sizes have fallen onto the lawn and along the road. We are usually alone on these morning walks, never passing or seeing anyone else. Maybe a car. Depending on the tides, if they are high, I can hear the water lapping against the stone wall. When we reach the causeway, the birds talk to one another, and swoop along the water and rocky beaches searching for crabs.
Chloe and I never felt afraid here. The silence, broken only occasionally by humans and animals, is comforting. When Saffi goes out for her first pee in the morning, around the back of the house, I stand outside, and listen to the bees so busy in the bramble and berry bushes. But otherwise it is quiet. We haven’t wanted for a thing, well…maybe better Internet service.
We went to Skibbereen to use the internet. Chloe submitted her application to Langara College. I booked Hazel’s tickets to join us for a month over Christmas. We shopped for Fiona’s return, rushed back to walk Saffi. Our last time on the Union Trail walk. It made us feel very sad. No more seeing Joey or Mia, the other golden retrievers. The trail has become so familiar, every twist and turn. We’ll miss every detail that, day by day, has been written into our memories.
