Holly’s Red Heart

We all have probably had conversations with friends about ‘favorites’.  What’s your favorite ‘fill in the blank’?  Followed by a list of favorites and stories on how it came to be, where it was bought, why you like it so much, etc.  Then sometimes a shift occurs leading to a new favorite that takes you by storm and is a part of your life as often as you can make it.

Holly is having one of those moments.  At DeeAn’s house is a small sized dog toy shaped in the size of a heart, red with soft furry covering and tightly stitched.  Keltie and Holly play tug, chase and keep away.  Whoever has the heart owns the floor.  And if they are not playing, you can generally find the toy hanging from Holly’s mouth.   I have seen her standing over the water dish holding Heart in her mouth, only to turn away and leave, apparently not thirsty enough to spare setting Heart down.  We wonder how Heart has lasted this long, no other toy does.  It’s a good life when your favorite toy is a strong heart!

The Harvey House continues to be busy with projects and improvements.  The dogs are getting accustom to having people come and go, working on something or another.  The tiler (for the shower stall floor) is doing his project after his full time work hours so there have been after work and/or week-end hours.  We are quite flexible that way and the dogs don’t mind it one bit, especially Holly.  Steve (the tiler) brings his daughter, Aurora, for her ‘dog fix’.   She’s a sweet girl, mild-mannered, with a perpetual grin from ear to ear when sitting with dogs nearby.  It’s hard to say who is happier – Aurora or Holly.  After a few minutes of adrenaline burning off and plenty of reminders/corrections – Holly does settle in and become a civil playmate for Aurora, even sharing her red Heart periodically.  Aurora is not quite as enamored with the soggy, slimy red Heart as Holly which means it gets immediately tossed to the ground, making Holly even happier if that is possible.  If you want to be distracted from the world news, envision these two playing together sharing moments with Holly’s favorite red soggy Heart!  And for the full affect, imagine the quiet giggle of a shy young girl and the happy panting of a 3 year old golden retriever!   I think I have found a new favorite in life!