January is always a time for reflections....

It's that time of year again.  Winter.  After all of the running around in Dec, all of the getting ready for the Christmas celebrations, the holiday concerts, the birthday celebration and of course coming full steam into New Year's Eve, it is suddenly as if someone flipped a switch to put us into slow motion.  Winter.  The jolly days are behind us and a time of reflections and planning for the upcoming year is here.

I can't say that 2010 was a bad year.  It wasn't.  It was hectic, it was at times, nerve wracking, it was eye opening and at times very painful. It was a year of changes for us, a time of new experiences, crossing off a thing or two off the bucket list,  travels cross country as well as a year of moving forward.  We tackled, we toiled and we ultimately accomplished a good deal.  In reflecting upon it now I have to say that over all, 2010 was a good year.

It's January now. Things are quiet as we await an oncoming snow storm and I find myself reflecting on the big storm of 2010 that left us without power or telephones for 10 days.  Those 10 days were a gift from God, as we were given a small space in time to be in our own little world without interruption or concerns past the most primal....heat, food, shelter and each other.  I caught up on a lot of reading in those 10 days and shoveled a lot of snow too. :))  Candlelight dinners lost their romance for a small time and my appreciation of spring was never so strong!

What will 2011 hold in store for us?  We are settled into a new home, and have plans for trips as far as Iowa and Oklahoma this Spring. We have had to scale back a bit on how many dogs we carry this season, limiting to the existing string we have.  But that is ok.  Perhaps slowing down and scaling back a bit is what we need this year.  It will give us time for the "home life"and give wings to the dreams we harbored when we first saw the house.  It will allow our home to become our center....something we have been missing for quite some time until now.

2011 has already given blossom to an old relationship with a rocky past new beginnings with a bright future of fun and love ahead.  A partnership within this relationship has been formed. Where once there was only diversity and strife now come the dreams and a whisper of the promise of success. Hoping for success towards hard earned titles on a puppy that has returned.   This puppy holds the key of bringing sisters together in a run for the roses and the steps and points earned on that journey have only just begun.

In my reflections for 2011 I see that  as the weather warms, the storms subside, and the snow melts, that 2011 will bring more time for sitting on the front porch, sipping lemonade and watching the fireflies!!!

She is home,if only for a little while....

Not sure how or where we get instructions on navigating motherhood  We just do it..  I'm told that there aren't any instructions or guidelines and one just has to follow their heart.  When she came into the world I was just a young woman myself, barely able to manage my own life.  But she brought with her such a beautiful and infectious JOY that the tales of the horrid trials and tribulations seemed so far away and unfathomable.

Years passed, life moved on.  Growing pains and growing up for both of us was both a lesson in frustration  as well as the kind of bliss only mothers can experience.  Over all it is a kind of total happiness that is so all encompassing. 

She has grown now and is venturing forth into the world on her own terms.  Still so much to experience for her and still so many lessons await her in life. She is in the process of finding herself and is on her way to coming into her own.  But for now she is home. I'm enjoying every precious minute as we share a week in time. 
She's home, if only for a little while.......

I love Fall.  Anyone who knows me well knows that this is my favorite time of year.  As  fast as  the trees have burst into color, it seems that Fall has come and gone already.  Now we settle into the late Autumn rush as the holidaze approach and all of my beloved leaves have fallen from their branches.

I don't really know what it is about the Fall that makes my heart so happy.  Most people see the season as the beginning of the end, already dreading the dark of winter that is just around the corner.  But I see it as nature's last blaze of glory, her final bloom before she goes to sleep to renew herself for her eventual rebirth.

There are still a few golden leaves that are clinging to their branches in a final act of defiance to the coming of winter but these are few and far between now.  The landscape is beginning to take on a different look, of woods open now to the light, and the ground covered in a carpet of color now spent. 

It wont be long before winter settles upon us. Winter will cover us with her icy, blue cold beauty so different from the blazing warmth of my beloved Fall.  I wish that she could stay just a little longer.....but she is already almost gone.

I love Fall. and I already miss her.

New to Blogging!

Blogging seems to be a wave to stay.  I have enjoyed reading the blogs of several of my friends over the years but untiIl now haven't started a blog of my own.  Thought I'd step into the new age and open a place where I can share some of the happy moments, the sad moments and the funny moments that life here at Wild Mtn can bring.

Let me introduce myself...I'm Helen Riggle and together with my husband Brian, we are "Wild Mtn ".  Wild Mtn is our kennel prefix, and Dual quality Brittanys are our passion.  The dogs are what brought us together in marriage, and the dogs are our very center of life.  To some this may not seem normal or healthy, but to many, many of our friends this is just as normal as life an be.

It's time for me to wrap up the computer work this morning and scoot off to work.  But stay tuned, in my next post I'll introduce you all to the Wild Mtn Gang .and I'll begin to share some of the reflections of life here at WILD MTN!!!!