The Curse of November


November storms

In the song the Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald there is a stanza about the gales of November. People on the shores of Lake Superior talk of the Witch of November. Something bad is always going to happen in November. Marc and I actually used the word divorce in November. Though it would be December before I move out and April 1st before it was final. When he died in early November a few years after our divorce I tried not to know the date.

But I was already predisposed to hate November. Mom first spoke to me about her breast surgery in November though she said she didn't want to ruin the holidays and would wait until January. Too late. She had already ruined November for me.  And while she didn't die from cancer until a few decades later she did it on Thanksgiving ruining December as well. My sister has already been warned about putting off surgery.

In the old TV show Northern Exposure about Alaska the mayor goes about in late October and early November and asks everyone if they expect to die during the coming winter. Graves have to be dug in anticipation. You might not be able to see the ground past the first part of November, and if you can see it chances are it may be too frozen to dig.

I wanted Magique to wait until spring. Hell, I wanted her to wait forever. Raised in part on a farm and having ranching friends I knew we seldom get what we ask for. But I was so determined to have my way I had not pre-dug a grave like I did for Mardi Gras.

Magique on her heated doormat on her deck

Let me count the dogs. Magique was a puppy when she first went to see our local vet. The vet who had cared for Mardi Gras when she was a puppy and my two adult German Shepherds, Mariah and Maddy, I moved into the valley with. The cats - Mouse, Party, Ghost, Willow, Scrappy, The Darkness. Mine. Phoebe, Murphy, Leo felines I took care off. The half hearted joke one November was, "We have to stop meeting like this."
In profile

But I am glad I knew them all. Only Maddy went way before her time. Mariah lived till she was 14, and Mardi Gras would have been 17 in two more weeks. Magique was 15 years and 9 months. All rather amazing for large breed dogs. But knowing them for so long makes it harder to say goodbye.

Wait for me on the other side of the rainbow bridge.

Comments

  1. Ien in the KootenaysNovember 20, 2018 at 2:48 PM

    Oh, so sorry to hear that. Wishing you strength!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Terry RoweNovember 20, 2018 at 6:04 PM

    So sorry for your loss - it's so hard to lose a companion who is so much a part of your life.

    ReplyDelete

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