My mom calls January the dark month. I never really understood why. Us dogs don't really know the difference between light and dark. We love the cold and snow. It feels good on our dry skin. My sisters and I sit on the deck just to cool ourselves off. It is invigorating, even in the dark.
I came to understand the meaning of "the dark month" during our visit to the nursing home in January. On that dark and cold January night, there was not much activity. Many of my friends were readying themselves for an evening slumber as we entered each room. It appeared that they didn't feel quite up to my loving therapy. I didn't see the delighted expression in their eyes when they pet me. They moved at a slower than normal pace. I witnessed a weary forced-effort when they talked to me. This is not how I want our visits to be. What happened to the joyful and love-filled visits? It was at that point my mom decided to move our scheduled visits up earlier in the day.
February 2 was our first visit of the afternoon during the "dark season". We visited many people that day and met some new friends. We were there to support some old friends too. We swept through the memory care unit on the way out. My friends appeared to be back. We really like this time because people were up, alert, and really wanting to pet and chat with me. We learned some new stories. Some stories were happy and some were sad. It takes a dog a long time to process these stories. I hope to share some of them in future blogs. We like this time and plan to keep it for a while.
