A week ago on Friday morning just before 7:30 am Ginger took her last breath and left us for her great quest for Universal Dictator. It took me a week to finally bring myself to write this.
with her passing, the end of era has come to the meadow. Ginger is the granddaughter of big Hallie. She was here with Trevor, Lad, Smoke, Anya, Sadie, Teddy, Ellie, Branwen, Skylight, lil Hallie, Mick, Rutherford through the years as they passed, were born and then passed also. She saw the arrival of the present young guys. She was our last link to what we call the golden era.
Ginger was super smart and many of her antics are recorded on this blog. She was mischievous, curious and a true strife stirring rabble rouser. She also had another side that rarely was shown here. She truly liked to try to figure out how something worked. She was also truly the one who took younger collies under her wing and showed them them ropes and taught them much. Yes, that included her mischief making. She was also a very loving collie with a great sense of humor. She made us laugh endlessly. In her later years she would get in the midst of the great wrestling matches of the younger collies breaking them up and then somehow reorganizing it so it was more of one group against another instead of the anarchy she saw. She kept us on our toes and was continuously moving on to another plot even before the last one she organized was done playing out.
she seemed to begin her decline when lil Hallie passed last January. Then when Rutherford passed this January she rapidly seemed to decline more. It was like she missed all the old gang. Yet, she would still give the younger collies what for, but the plots ended. She was doing what I have seen other old collies do, standing and looking across the yard like she was remembering the past. She seemed content but she also seemed to be looking for those she loved.
But, the day before she passed she gave all the collies one by one a good what for letting them know she was still the boss. Then she came in and they all slept with her in a circle. Cuddling up to her as she slipped away through the night and then as the end drew near they began to whine and cry and as she passed Shiloh cried out sadly. Apollo grabbed her neck fur and tried to pull her up… they tried to rouse her but she was gone.
for several days they looked for her when going out and coming in. Even though they had seen her go, they didn’t seem to want to let her go. It was a mood we all felt. The end of an era had come, with the echoes of all those glorious collies whom we were blessed with coming to life in our memories.
Time marches on and the era has come. It is wild, full of spirit and rampaging fun. It brings hope to me again, but there is the realization that we have lost something that will never return. I love you Ginger. Take over the universe. Goodbye to the golden era and the Sade realization that my golden era has ended also, as I head into my elderly years spending more time remembering what was then planning for the future…. For while this bunch of collies are the most over the top bunch who bring me great joy, they are probably my last bunch, which brings with it a deep sadness….. and the realization that the day I will eventually join my gone collies is coming closer…. Way too quickly. Till that day I will love this bunch till they too become dust… and sometime after that, hopefully, I will join them in a new adventure. Till then, we will squeeze love and fun out of every moment we can, although it will be tinged with a touch of sorrow.
Collies Of The Meadow 