Miss Maudie

Maude

May 15, 1995 to January 8, 2010

I would like to tell you all about this sweet, nutty girl who romped through our days for nearly 15 years, but how do you put so much vitality and verve into a written narrative? It has been clear for months now that Maude was slowing down... She kept her amazing spirit despite a growing list of aches and pains, but the last few weeks were difficult. Her little stubby tail had not wagged since before Christmas. We made the very difficult decision to ease our faithful companion's pain, and yesterday we had the veterinarian visit the house. Her lumpy plaid bed is empty now.

The brilliant sunshine glittering off the snow outside the windows makes my heart ache. What a beautiful day for a long walk. Maude would have loved to be outside on a day like this, but perhaps she is running in more beautiful fields now. I hope so.

"To sit with a dog on a hillside

on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden,

where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace."

~Milan Kundera

The Birthday Girl

Today is our Maude's fourteenth birthday. This photo was taken last weekend as she ran with Haiku down to a little lake near our home. If anyone is interested, here is a link to a query on my blog for "Maude" with a lot more photos of our cute old girl: Maude

photo by Haiku, May 2009

Sunday Stroll - Birch Song

In the summer, one imagines that the wind is singing through the leaves in the trees. Yet in the barren, leafless days of winter, I still hear the wind in the trees. As I stepped out the front door of the house, I was immediately aware of three things: the sun was so bright I could hardly keep my eyes open, the cold air found every bit of skin I hadn't covered with snow gear, and the birch trees on the back hill were singing as the winter wind gave them a voice.

As I made my way to the birches to the southeast, I heard other songs. Last autumn's corn stalks chanted softly in their native tongue.

The tiny creeklet that runs down from the stand of birch trees to join our creek before they both tumble south, was humming merrily.

I climbed up hill, dodging the thorny brambles that in the summer are loaded with wild roses and crimson berries. My graceless scramble up the steep hill in winter boots sent a little rabbit bounding away too quickly for me to photograph.

And then I was there, atop the hill, amid the birches and all around me was their song. In the early spring, little yellow violets bloom in this grove, their season so short that some years I miss it.

I moved back down the hill, with Miss Maudie leaps and bounds ahead of me, into the snow-filled marsh.

I followed the creek north toward the butterfly garden where these two dapper gents allowed me to take a couple of (not very good) photographs before they scurried up and over the back hill.

Maybe they will take a walk in the birch woods later too . It is a silvery place today, with the song of wind and birches trickling down from overhead and the winter sunlight streaming in through the branches.

Sunday Stroll

After three months of winter weather, it becomes difficult to find something new to photograph. Summer is one long pageant of change; new blooms, new colors, something fresh each day. The changes in winter are slower and more subtle. The garden rests quietly and is apparently much more patient than the gardener.

The icicles on the garage attest to the wild wind that blows here.

Miss Maudie seemed to enjoy her romp in the deep snow, despite the extra effort involved in moving from one place to the next.

Why do the hills seem steeper in winter? Maude and I would both like to know! Whatever the answer, we wouldn't miss this chance to tromp up and down the hills together, under those moody skies, and then lay down together in the living room to rest from our efforts.

Playing in the Snow

While the deep freeze has my neighbors and I grumbling, there is someone in the neighborhood who is enjoying the season. Our nearly-fourteen year old German Wirehaired Pointer forgets her age as soon as she moves through the front door of our house. There is something in the air here, in the wild wind that blows, that courses like youth through Miss Maudie's stiff joints no matter what the thermometer shows.

Haiku took these photos as she and Maudie met the boys at the bus stop on Wednesday in sub-zero (F) temperatures. I love these photos of our old girl.

photos by Haiku, January 14, 2009

Sunday Stroll - November Color

Once the leaves fall, we tend to think of November as the gray month in our region. We see gray skies, gray weather, graying fields. But on this cold Sunday afternoon, Maudie and I found plenty of lingering color.

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Blue

Indigo

Violet

These Canada Geese flew energetically toward the south as Maude and I moved briskly back into the cozy house, were a woodfire warmed the air. I like the second goose, who seems to fly to the beat of her own wings.

...

Happy Birthday, Maudie!

Naughty Maudie, our German Wirehaired Pointer, is thirteen years old today. Here are a few pictures from her first year. You can find several more recent photos and posts about her here.

"The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too." ~Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

March Forth

Even at nearly 13 year old, very old for a German Wire Haired Pointer, when Miss Maudie sees a new trail, she wants to follow it just to see where it leads. Surging forward, leaping into fresh streams, trying something new.... it seems to me what the month of March is all about. A year or two ago, I heard that this date, March 4th, is the only day of the year whose name (when spoken) is a directive: March Forth, the calendar tells. Eagerly, knowing spring is just ahead, I comply. Of course Maudie's gift for rushing ahead without over-thinking things, puts my own to shame! *grin*

Happy March, dear readers!

photos by Haiku,from her Sunday walk in the woods with Maudie, March 2008, 1) Maudie entering the trial ahead 2) Maudie racing ahead, ears flying!

A Christmas Wish...

Naughty Maudie wishes you a very nice Christmas!

Love and best wishes from the rest

of the Quiet County House Clan too!

photo by Aisling, December 25, 2007

In the Garden with Maude

"To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring - it was peace." ~Milan Kundera

photos by Aisling, July 17, 2007

Dreaming by the window....

My friend Nan asked to see more of Maude on my blog. I have a fantastic picture of her on top of a hill, with a blue sky above her, but can I find it? Nope. Not yet anyway. In the meantime, I snapped this one of her on Thursday. She was dreaming by the window until I called her name. Despite the old saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks, at the advanced age of 12, Maude has learned a new one: country line-dancing in my new front garden. Maybe that is what she was dreaming about, when I woke her to take this photo!

photo of Maude dreaming by the window by Aisling, May 17, 2007

Miss Maudie...

Today is our German Wirehair Pointer's twelfth birthday. When Maude is running across the back hill - ears flying, jowls flapping - there is no hint of her age. When she runs, she is a puppy again: chasing anything that hops, flies or scurries. Though she is a purebred, she doesn't "put on airs." She is plain-folk: mutt-like in her simplicity and humble need for a good scratching behind the ear, or maybe if she's lucky, on her mud-splattered belly. She is sweet, silly and naughty with equal verve. We are, by turns, amused, amazed, or exasperated by her antics. Through it all, we love her.

Happy Birthday, Naughty Maudie!

photo by Haiku, April 12, 2005... Maude in a sleepy, mellow mood