It is with heavy heart that I write to let you all know that our friend and ‘chief of staff’, Quido has been put to sleep. Quido’s health has declined over recent months and over the last few days, got to the point where he often couldn’t stand up on his own and we decided that it was time to give him peace. Quido has a bit of a story behind him as all dogs do….

It starts off with his name- he is the namesake of another Siberian Husky who I unfortunately had to personally euthanize while working as a bomb dog handler in Korea. The original Quido was elderly as well, and loved by everyone in the kennel. Our Vet Tech would actually bring his son in on the weekends and let him stay in Quido’s run with him while he worked. He would come and check on them and Paulie would be on Quido’s back, Quido walking circles around his run, giving him a ride, or he would also often find the two of them asleep, Paulie laying on Quido’s side asleep. I argued to keep Quido around,but wasn’t able to convince the power that be and he had to be put down. When it came down to it, our Vet Tech couldn’t bring himself to do it and asked me to.

Years later, we wanted a dog when our daughter, Saskia, was just six months old. Someone was giving a 2 year old Siberian Husky away and as soon as I saw him, I remembered Quido…our Quido took on the name and was called that ever since. From the very beginning, he proved himself to be a good family dog. He loved to lay near Saskia and one night fell asleep near where she lay on her blanket. She rolled over a few times and we were alerted by his howls of agony to find she had reached up and grabbed him by the ear with both hands and was pulling. He never snipped at her, never tried to pull away, just cried until I peeled her chubby little hands from his ear. He was much more careful about sleeping around her after that. He had his moments though…like the time we came home to find him gone from the basement…he’d jumped up on the dryer, broke the window out, cleaned every bit of class from the window pane, pulled the screen out and crawled to freedom without so much as a scratch!

With the move here to Meadowood, he proved to be the perfect B&B dog, with some exceptions- he did on one occasion help himself to a glass of wine a guest sat down on the porch, but I like to think he was merely doing a quality check…he killed a neighbors pet chicken when he carried it home through the woods…still not sure if he meant to kill it or if he just carried it too hard…we had a weekday guest bring her infant with and Quido spent his time doting over the baby- he was always fascinated by babies…loved to be around them, patient and gentle he stood watch. With four legged guests he was also patient. He got along with all of them. I think he helped Charlie to learn how to act as well…Charlie was always apprehensive around other dogs but over time came to be more tolerant like Quido. Right after Charlie came to us, Quido took him on a tour of the area for about 5 hours…poor Charlie could barely walk at the end of that jaunt…

All in all though, Quido was a good friend and a great dog. He was always a focal point and a topic of conversation for guests, prompting many of you to bring back gifts and treats for him and Charlie. We still have a painting of a Siberian Husky that someone couldn’t resist getting. It hangs near the dining room to this day.

For twelve years, he’s been a friend, companion, source of aggravation and laughter, greeter of guests and leader of hikes…he has always been a member of this family and there will be a large hole in our lives with his passing. He certainly has enriched our lives by being a part of our family and being a part of Saskia and Zachary’s childhood. He taught many lessons about relaxing, stopping to smell the roses and exploring the world around us. Now he’ll teach us a final lesson, one we never quite get the hang of….how to say goodbye to a friend.

We love you Quido and we miss you terribly. You’ll never be forgotten.

Well, got on the water with Pat from Maryland yesterday for the first fishing trip of the season. Temps were in the upper 50’s, lower 60’s, water is up and running. We started the first trip of the season with a strike on the very first cast, a rock bass and then continued through the day to hit six smallies and a walleye. All in all it was a good day to fish, with overcast skies and a little rain for us.

Looking forward to 4 more trips this week, including two days with Mr. Lefty Kreh!

It’s been a long winter here at the Meadowood but slowly the world appears to be coming back to life…we’ve seen a clutch of salamander eggs in the overflow from the spring and the birds are starting to make their way back after their winter travels. I personally am looking forward to the first bike ride of the year, which may come today.

Lots of things going on in life for us, Kristin is publishing an e-book this month: The Ninth Curse which will also eventually go into print and hit the bookstores!

As for me, well, I am coming down the home stretch in my first year of the Paramedic course I’m in and am about to certify EMT-Intermediate soon. Starting to put applications in everywhere and still volunteering at two rescue squads at the moment.

My brother, Tom, has been staying with us the last few months while he underwent knee replacement and is getting ready to head back up to Maryland and get back to life there.

Fishing season is just around the corner; I’m starting to book trips now- the spawn is about to come into play, so if you are up for a trip, schedule now!

Well, I know I’m bad about writing, but I promise to try and put some updates in a little more frequently…have a great day and visit the site (and us!) often!

Ok, so I know that isn’t how the song goes OK? But…the new “MOON RIVER” suite is completed! FINALLY! There were some changes to the original plan; we did not put a whirlpool tub in due to maintenance and health concerns (plus the fact that we will eventually put a hot tub in for all guests to use) and we did not build a wall to make two separate rooms. I was against doing this (rather, not doing it…) but I think we may go with it.

Anyway, it took one heck of a lot of work and there is still some trim and touch-up items to go, but we have the firsts guests in and they are loving it! I’ll post pictures as soon as we have it made up and are able to get some of the suite ready to go!.

Ok, now that I have your attention…

I have MC’d the Floyd County 4th of July Celebration for the Merchants and Businessmens Association for the past 3 years and was asked to coordinate the event this year. While sitting here, racking my brain for inspiration on how to make the event a blow out success, my mind wandered back to 1983 when I was in the 82d Airborne Division and there was a female vocalist that was just tearing up the charts. Her name was Sylvia and the song she really slammed me with was ‘Nobody’: “You say nobody’s after you, the fact is what you say is true…”

Anyway, as I was sitting there thinking about Floyd County and the wholesome, down to earth, true American Community that we live in, it occurred to me that our community is reflected in the image that Sylvia portrayed in her music. She was never a glamor girl; she was the honest to goodness girl-next-door that charmed us out of our shoes rather than shocking us into looking her way. She didn’t need to be provocative, she just needed to be herself in order to command rapt attention. So, I started searching for her- I wondered what had happened to her in the twenty-five years give or take and I found her space on the web. Feeling nostalgic, I emailed her and described our little community and how it would knock our citizens off their feet to have a homegrown gal like her come and sing just one song at our celebration. I knew that there was no way that it would possibly work, but for some reason I was determined to write to her anyway. I figured that the best I would get was a cold email in return telling me that she didn’t have time or interest in our little burg and that would be the end of it.

And then, today, the phone rang.

When I answered it, a voice introduced herself as Sylvia ***** and told me that she was calling me back regarding an email that I had sent back on the 6th of March. I could recognize the voice, but couldn’t place it and was trying to remember the email that I sent when it finally hit me who I was talking to- it was Sylvia herself, calling from Nashville!

I literally almost fell down. I could not believe that not only was I getting a phone call, but a personal phone call from Sylvia herself! As I knew would be the case, it wasn’t possible for her to appear on the 4th for us and that came as no surprise- I didn’t really expect that she would be able to make it on such short notice and surely there was no way that she could possibly appear for free- it just wouldn’t be fair to the paying venues and I know that if she did, she would be inundated with requests for the same. What touched me though is that she actually took time from her day to personally call me to thank me for being interested in her and tell me that she was touched by my email! In a day where people that have spent a second in the spotlight- let alone the time that Sylvia has basked in its rays- expect the world to kiss their feet, this American as apple pie girl-next-door responded to me- personally!

She restores my faith- there really are those gems in the world that are what they appear to be and not just pretenders that try to make you think they are kind and sweet and honest only to show their ugly side when the spotlight is off of them.

Sylvia, if you read this, I thank you for being what you appeared to be all along- genuine.

Take a look at the sidebar on the right for two of Sylvia’s CD’s or click one of the links below. My favorite is “Where In The World” and Kristin’s favorite is “A Cradle In Bethlehem” either one is a great choice but you’ll want them both!