Runaway train

I think I've started and re-started this post three times by now and time keeps getting away from me every attempt I make to try to finish it.  As with the end of the year every year now (it seems like), the days start to drop away quicker and quicker.

One thing that seems to be pervasive this fall is bandaging and wrapping animals.  This time it isn't the horses (thank god) but it is poor Bowie.  He had surgery last week to remove a benign tumor on his back leg.  The tumor was constantly irritated because he would not leave it alone and we thought it best to remove it.  He had five stitches and the entire affair was bandaged and we plopped a cone on him for good measure.  Over the weekend, through walking and his best attempts, he managed to pop ALL of his stitches and reopen the entire incision.  After another vet visit, the doctor told us because the skin was already quite stretched, they wouldn't be able to restitch or even staple the skin back together and we would be treating the open wound instead.  He is now on a daily regimen of antibiotics, hydrotherapy, and topical medication / wrapping.  Luckily for all of us, the wound is healing up much quicker than I would have thought.  The open wound started out the size of an egg but since then, the exterior edges have started to come together and is now 75% of the size it was.

I can't tell you how many rolls of vet wrap I've purchased or indeed, how much time I've spent bathing wounds this year, but if this is the extent of the medical malfunctions the rest of the year has to throw at me, I'm happy with it, particularly as we started off the year with multiple broken bones (did that just happen in 2024?).

With Bowie at home ALL day now, it means more walks for the two of us and more time running between the house and the office.  And as we roll faster and faster toward the official holiday celebrating gratitude (that's how I treat it), I try to remember that these are the bright lights in the part of the year where darkness seems to last so much longer.  That a minor inconvenience is just that - and only temporary.  

I've had a lot more thoughts tumbling around in my head - about the state of the country, the anxiety that seems to be running rampant amongst those who I hold nearest and dearest, and the number of early Black Friday sales that I'm seeing this year.  But before I run out of time, I'm going to press publish and float this post out there to let you all know that we are here, we are fine, and I am grateful to each and one of you this season.