Spring has Sprung

A week and a half ago, I was out in the yard and discovered, much to my surprise and delight, that one of my daffodils had decided to make an early appearance. Normally, daffodil bulbs don't bloom until February or March, so I was quite intrigued by the December arrival. When my friend Sue came over that week, I made her come out in the yard to see the daffodil. She commented that it was a sign of hope from the Universe. I said, "Are you sure the Universe isn't trying to tell me that it's ok to be impatient?" We had a good laugh about that, as I have been known to be a bit impatient and I liked the idea that the daffodil might be encouraging that particular trait of mine.

A week later, I noticed a second daffodil had arrived. Having ONE was a big enough surprise, but to have TWO daffodils make an early appearance made me think the Universe was trying to get my attention. I looked up the meaning of daffodils and found that they are a sign of new beginnings, rebirth and hope. They can also be a sign of faith, honesty, truth and forgiveness. I found another website that says they are the symbol of unrequited love and "you're the only one for me." I wondered what these daffodils were trying to tell me, as there were so many possibilities.

Today, on Christmas day, a THIRD daffodil sprung up. I was stunned. I have had daffodil bulbs in my yard for fifteen years and I have never had one come up in December, let alone three. I think someone is definitely trying to get a message to me, although I am not entirely sure what the message is.

The interesting thing is, my admiration of daffodils has never been a casual thing. I have been fascinated with them since I was a little girl. They were my favorite flower, from as far back as I can remember. I don't know why, I was just crazy about them. When my parents let me pick out wallpaper for my childhood bedroom, I picked out daffodil wallpaper and I even had a bright yellow comforter and canopy cover to match. You could say I was obsessed with daffodils and I always have been. Even today, while my tastes have moved away from garish wallpaper, I do still have a variety of daffodil pictures adorning my walls.

The two things I remember most from my childhood were my intense love of daffodils and german shepherds. It was as if I was born having an unquenchable thirst for both, yet all my yearning for them never panned out. Throughout my childhood, we never had daffodils in our yard (But I remember getting in big trouble once for picking some out of someone else's yard on the way home from school). And while I begged and begged for a german shepherd, my parent's response was always, "You can have one, when you have your own house."

Fifteen years ago when I bought my house, the first thing I did was plant a bunch of daffodil bulbs. Two months later, I saw Lucky on the news and knew she was supposed to be mine. A month later, I won the lottery at the SPCA and finally had the german shepherd I had always wanted.

A couple months after that, the daffodil bulbs I had planted in October finally bloomed and for the first time in my life, I had my own daffodils. It was as if my life was complete at that moment . . . my childhood dreams had been realized . . . I finally had a german shepherd and I had daffodils to boot! Unfortunately for me, Lucky had a different kind of interest in the daffodils. As soon as they bloomed, I would catch her with her mouth closed tightly over one of the daffodils in the yard. When I would say, "What are you doing?" she would freeze and pretend she didn't know I was talking to her. After a minute of being "frozen" she would gently remove her mouth from the daffodil, leaving it slobbery but not totally ruined. I always had to supervise her in the yard, reminding her to leave the daffodils alone. I don't know if she was jealous of the attention they got from me or what, but she was definitely obsessed with the daffodils, although not in the same way I was.

So, I find it extra curious that these three daffodils would show up in December this year, given that they have always held a special place in my heart, as did Lucky. Maybe it's Lucky letting me know she's still around. Even though the weather has been cold and wet, I have found myself spending a lot more time in the yard and it is hard not to smile when I see them. While I am not entirely sure what the message is that I am supposed to be getting from their early arrival, they have brought me a lot of joy the last week and a half. I suppose for tonight, that is enough of a message.

Preparing Animals for the Holidays

This time every year, I feel compelled to write a plea to animal guardians, to consider their animals during the holiday season. This is a crazy time of year, not just for us but for our animals as well. For animals who live in our homes, it can be very confusing. WE know what's going on, but they don't always understand and it can make the holidays even more stressful for them. This is especially true for animals that are new to our home, but it still applies to animals who have been with us a while and have been through a few holidays seasons.

You may experience all sorts of frustrating experiences, such as your dog deciding to "water" the christmas tree, or your cat who removes half the ornaments from the tree while you are away at work. They may unwrap gifts that have been placed under the tree, or chew through a string of lights. This behavior is typically telling you that the holidays are stressful for them too and chances are, they don't understand what all the hoopla is about.

If you think about it from their perspective, this is what they see:

- People coming and going, with no one sticking to the regular schedules and routines

- Packages being brought into the house, that they aren't supposed to get into

- Trees being dragged into the house, that get a lot of our attention, especially during the decorating process

- Lots of food being prepared in the kitchen, that they don't necessarily share get samples of

- People coming over, sometimes spending the night, often displacing them from their usual hang out spots

They often get yelled at or spoken to in a firm voice. We say things like:

- Get out of those packages, those aren't for you

- Get out of the tree, you are going to break the ornaments

- Stop drinking the water from the tree stand - you have a water bowl

- Don't you dare pee on that tree

- Go in the other room, Aunt Gertrude is allergic to dogs/cats

- You can't lay in the kitchen when I am cooking

It's all very confusing to them and they often don't end up enjoying the holiday season very much. I think the holidays could be much more enjoyable for everyone if we just talked to our animals and explained what was going on. If we can manage their expectations, they can be a part of the celebrations, instead of adding another element of stress to it.

Many people talk about how their animals behave strangely during the holidays and most of the time, I believe it is because they don't understand what is going on. Their regular routine is changed up and they often feel ill at ease because of it.

Imagine if your spouse brought home bags of "goodies" but told you that you couldn't touch them. Wouldn't that make you extra curious about what was in those bags? What if a bunch of people showed up and decided to spend the night without telling you ahead of time? Wouldn't that potentially put your nose out of joint? Especially if those people set up camp in your bedroom and you didn't know where you were supposed to sleep?

If you put yourself in your animals shoes for a moment, you can better understand how it feels from their perspective. Here are some tips:

If you are bringing a christmas tree into the house, explain to them that it is for decoration. Let them know you are making sure it has plenty of water so they don't feel the need to water it themselves. :-) Explain to them that the things hanging on the tree are not for them to play with or eat. Then make sure they know where the things are that they CAN play with and eat.

If you are going to have a house full of people, let your animals know. Tell them . . . this many people are coming and this is how long they are staying.

If you want your animal to do anything different, please let them know. If your animal is going to have to sleep somewhere where they aren't used to sleeping, tell them that and explain why. Let them know how long this new arrangement will last.

If your animal is used to having quiet time to rest in the house and you know that isn't going to be easy when you have a house full of people, tell them where they can go to be "alone" if that's what they need. Give them a specific room in the house they can go to if they need to "get away from it all."

Include them in the celebration in whatever way you can. Whether that is feeding them at the same time the rest of you all are sitting down to eat so they feel they are having a special meal too, or giving them something to unwrap when the rest of you are unwrapping your gifts, let them know they are part of what is going on too.

I believe the holidays can be happier for all of us - 2-legged and 4-legged alike, if we can set everyone's expectations for how things are going to be different for a few days or weeks. Your animals will thank you - in their own special way!

Reiki and Chemotherapy

Sometimes people think you either need to go "all western" or "all eastern" in your approach to medical care but I have seen the positive effects of using a combination of both eastern and western medicine and it makes me think they can complement each other in many cases. I don't actually think there is a right or wrong way to approach health care. I think what is probably most important is that we do what feels right to US and trust our own instincts.

Earlier this fall, I started giving reiki treatments to a dog who was going through chemotherapy. Her name is Kaya and she is an absolute sweetheart. She is a big, beautiful mix breed dog, with golden retriever, german shepherd and maybe another breed too. She had a large cancerous tumor removed from her hip and the vet recommended chemotherapy. Kaya's mom agreed to do the chemotherapy but decided she wanted to include reiki in Kaya's health regiment as well because she wanted to give Kaya the best chance at recovery. Kaya's mom and I were both hopeful that the reiki would help and at the same time, we were unsure of what it would actually do. We knew we needed to just give it a try and see what the results were.

I have been going to see Kaya the day after each round of chemo, which she receives every three weeks, and so far we are really pleased with how she has been doing. She is still her normal happy self and she gives me such an enthusiastic greeting when I come to see her that I feel like I am "Queen for a Day." Kaya's vet is amazed that she has had none of the normal side effects from chemo. She hasn't lost her appetite, she is not lethargic, she hasn't had any G. I. issues. She is doing exceptionally well. There was one time that her liver enzymes were out of whack, so they decided to hold off on her treatment that week. Kaya's mom had me come and give her a reiki treatment and I focused much of the session on her liver. The next week, when she got her blood work done, everything was back in balance again and she was able to resume treatment.

I know one of the reasons many people opt not to go the chemo route, is because of the side effects and their concern that their animal's quality of life will diminish too much during the treatment. That is one of the reasons it's been so exciting for me to see how much the reiki treatments are helping Kaya through her chemotherapy treatments. It makes me wonder if other animals (and people) would have an easier time going through chemo if they received some energetic support to keep their bodies in balance. After seeing the way Kaya has responded, it certainly fills me with hope that it is a possibility.