St. Paddy's Day Comes Quicker Every Year!

I was literally almost beside myself the other day when I noticed the calendar.  How can this be?  Saint Patrick's Day is almost here?!  Really?!  I felt like we JUST had St. Patrick's day 2 month's ago, and now it is again time to parade the green and pinch your loved ones!  How does this festive holiday sneak up on me so quickly and suddenly?  I think there are a couple of reasons.  The first is obvious to everyone:  Unlike Thanksgiving and Christmas, we don't start seeing the adds on TV six months in advance.  Instead of the July 4th we seem to celebrate the 4th of Christmas.  I think this is when the evil advertisers start working the holiday into our subconscious.  So.....whether we do it or not, we have plenty of time to prepare for Christmas.
The second reason this holiday kind of creeps up is only obvious to me.  Now I'm not one of those grieving types of people.  And I really don't mean any offense to you if you are!  But even when I remember the date of something bad happening I try not to let that "date" be defined by the incident.  I like to believe that something good can really happen and help soften the blows of the not so easy happenings in life.  With that being said, my first furry friend of 15 years died on St. Patrick's Day 3 years ago.  Yes, there were family dogs in my life before Tijuana Jane Plyler Olds, but she was my dog.  My first.  Or maybe it was something like she was the first furry friend that ever owned me.  This dog from day one was a complete mess.  Her beginnings were very humble.  She was found, along with her mother, brothers and sisters, at a local trash dump where she was hiding under a large Folgers coffee can.  Very often in life we let where we come from define us, but not this furry creature.  She considered herself "top shelf" goods from day one.  She was one of a kind.  If she liked you, you knew it.  And if she didn't, you knew it too.  This furry "top shelf" queen carried herself through life with grand sights in her canine eyes. 

Not the best quality, but Tijuana Jane Plyler Olds sunning on the deck.

And a good life she had.  From camping expeditions, kayaking trips, etc.  She was the dog about town.  And I have to give her a little credit for helping me fall in love with a fellow that would end up being my husband.  Tijuana Jane Plyler Olds had an excellent life of 15 years.  And one thing she always did was make sure that the days were about her.  All fifteen years worth.  So I shouldn't have been shocked that on St. Patrick's day she could no longer go on.  You see, up until that time St. Paddy's had been one of my favorite, redneck, no-obligations holidays.  A holiday just to have fun and be goofy!  Somehow in her furry old brain I do believe there was the final thought, "She's always loved this holiday so much.  But now I'm gonna make it my holiday!"  And she did. 

Tijuana Jane Plyler Olds was never one to be left behind.  Even when she was too old for running all day she insisted on loading up in the TravelAll Harvester with the rest of the ranch animals and going for a ride.

Maybe one day when I have the nerve I can tell you more, but not now.   So as I look at the calendar I realize that St. Paddy's day is upon me again aka Tijuana Jane Plyler Olds Day.  This year I hope to celebrate and remember the good times!