Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

My oldest son married the love of his life on Friday.  The love of his life is smart, amazing, talented, funny, and simply stunning.  Without a doubt, she is his person and he is her person. I am so happy for the both of them.  The wedding was held at a beautiful farm, with an old barn that had been converted into a bar, a concrete slab that served as a dance floor, two other barns that held spots to sit and converse or play pool, a tent where dinner was served, and a shaded grassy space where chairs were set up for the actual ceremony to take place. The afternoon/evening was warm and a bit humid, but not so much of either that it was uncomfortable being outside. As soon as I saw Funny Delightful Son the tears welled. I hugged him tightly and he whispered, "Stop. You're going to make me cry."  The greatest honor I had was walking my son up the aisle to await the young woman who would become his wife. When I sat and watched him, the moment he saw her walking towards h...

The vet called early this morning to check on Sunny. I hadn't even gotten out of bed yet since all three of the boys hadn't awakened at their usual time of six-ish, which is what I use as my alarm clock. We were all still snoozing when my phone rang. I was surprised to see it was nearly 7 am. He asked if there was any improvement. When we had gotten up around 4:30 to go outside, Sunny was noticeably limping, but he managed the steps and even jumped onto the couch, which is what he does when doesn't want to return to his crate. We agreed I'd watch him closely through the rest of the weekend and see where things are on Monday. So far today, Sunny has done a lot of sleeping, far more than he usually does. That tells me he's in pain and the rest is what he needs. He did spend several hours outside while I did yard work, mostly just laying on the back porch or in the garage, so he did have some activity today. Just very subdued activity. So subdued the downtime for me is...