Noticing

It's always the little things that startle me.  Right now, with Murphy, the changes are nuanced, subtle.  How it takes her just slightly longer to rise off her bed.  That she stands on the top of the back porch, barking for me to walk down the stairs with her.  That she stands, waits, then waits a tish more until she gets her balance.  

Because it is the little things, it takes awhile for me to notice.  But, recently I have been focused on watching her, realizing the little things are piling up.  There seem to be more tiny changes.  I mull over and over whether I need to talk with the vet, or fret whether these small changes are infused with larger meaning.

Then, just when I think she is outside, and I have one ear cocked, listening for her bark that she wants help up the stairs, she wanders into the study.  She climbed the back stairs herself.  Fourteen years of surprises, she isn't stopping yet!  

Murphy's day.