Loyalty--Thy Name is Sunny

It's been a year now since we found Sunny and her little pup Lucky starving and nearly dead at an abandoned farmstead near our place. Lucky didn't make it through the winter- even with all the love and attention of three doting children and the vet care we could give him. Poor little pup just couldn't recover from whatever journey had brought them to our home.

Sunny responded to Mike with the most fawning, obsessive love I've ever seen in any living creature. Mike was the one who found and rescued them and one cannot underestimate the gratitude of a mother towards those who offer care to their young in need. She shadows every footstep that Mike makes and when he drives the tractor she maddeningly stays as close as possible to the tractor door- looking up at Mike even as he drives up and down long fields. Makes for a worn out dog some days. Yesterday, Sunny braved flying logs as we built up the wood pile for winter. "Move ya dumb dog!" But that might mean not being as close as possible to Mike. Loyalty- thy name is Sunny.

Pheasant season opened at 9 am yesterday- the first hunting season we've had with Sunny. She's everything a good yellow lab could be- ahead flushing out birds, obedient, and eager- so I hear.

She is also a great daily lesson in remembering that really good things sometimes come to us unexpectedly. I would say that Sunny came to us unbidden- but I realize that in our hearts we wanted and were waiting for her. A happy one-year anniversary to celebrate.