Losing A Pet Is Sometimes Like Those Glaucoma Tests With The Puff Of Air. You Know What's Coming, But It Still Shocks You A Bit When It Does.

It's a sad day at the High house.  Our guinea pig, Spike, passed away overnight.  He went peacefully, it appears.  Just closed his eyes and fell asleep one last time inside the blue plastic cave he had in his cage.  We knew this time would come - likely sooner than later.  We weren't positive, but Spike had to be about seven or eight years old.  Which in guinea pig years is the equivalent to making it on a Smuckers jar during the weekly segments with Willard Scott on the Today show.  He was an old pig.

We noticed he'd lost weight recently.  And become a little finicky about his food.  It reminded us of how our Bassets were toward the end.  You recognize the signs of a body slowing down its run.  His nails were really long too - our nail trim experiences were exhausting for all of us and I think Geoff and I both believed, without speaking it, that at this point in his life one more session with the clippers would have only hastened Spike's end.  So we passed on the maintenance and I think he appreciated the decision.

Spike was kind of a nervous pig, so he didn't spend a lot of time out of his cage - it was his happy place.   But last night we took him out and held him while we sat on the couch for awhile.  He actually seemed happy with the situation.  And looking back on it, I guess it was a pretty nice final evening - watching the Colbert Report and being held by people who love you.  You will be missed, sweet Spike.  Thanks for being our pig.

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

- Anatole France

I'm wearing this.

In typical fashion, life serves up sad and fun all at the same time.  While we're missing our sweet Spike, we'll also be enjoying Homecoming weekend.  The black will conveniently represent school colors and mourning depending on the setting.

gratitude:  animals, peaceful endings, white seeds (because Spike loved them), fur

thanks and love.