November

Amongst the many things Max has brought into our lives....poo bags, the experience of being bitten by a rabid beast, having our dinners suddenly kidnapped from your plate, impromptu surfing over the kitchen tiles thanks to covertly deposited puppy widdles....he has also brought us, and particularly me, more sunrises and sunsets in the past two months than I have seen my whole life. 

Walking in the morning in the dark, seeing the crimson streaks start to appear to the east, or a crisp blue morning that pretends to be the height of summer but gives you icy cold fingers. Then dusk in the forest, when the last rays light up Bennachie as a black silhouette to the west, and the forest makes spooky sounds, trees snapping, creaking together in the wind, when its lashing wind and rain. Max has brought wellies into my life again, walking and stomping gleefully in the mud, in the sea, weight loss (hoorah) and the priceless experience of walking in the wild in the morning and after work in all of this world's gloriously changeable weathers.

So, with all those priceless riches, I forgive him (the thankfully now abating) rabid biting, I forgive him the (thankfully much reduced) covert puppy widdles and (dare I say it, the increasingly few and far between) occasionally more potent smelling mishap. Oh, and he's always pleased to see me, a rare thing indeed.