Recovering Slowly

First things first: an Olga update! She is still unsteady but seemingly improving. She walks with her head tilted to one side, which is funny to see and is apparently very characteristic of vestibular disease. This morning when she woke up she licked my face enthusiastically, as usual, and we did our standard back-scratching, bed-stretching routine. (She gets scratched and stretches, not me.) But she wouldn't stand up or climb down from the bed on her own, so I put her on the floor and she ambled out to her dog bowls, and there she scrabbled around a bit, trying to get her footing. She came out to the living room and laid on the rug, and I brought her the remains of last night's dinner, which she didn't eat in its entirety. She ate more of it this morning.

So, she's eating -- if in smaller amounts -- and she's moving around. She's able to go to the back garden on her own and seems interested in sniffing and exploring as usual. She still drinks water from plant saucers and the bird bath. I cancelled her dog walker again today. I'll try to come home at lunch.

Now she's lying on her bed under her pink blanket watching me type.

I sat with her on the couch yesterday morning and read "Bleak House" before going in to work around 11 a.m. It was kind of nice to have a leisurely morning, though I've course I'd have enjoyed it more in the absence of vestibular disease.

Dave is election-obsessed. Last night, when I paused a TV show to get something from the kitchen, he started playing a speech by Harris on his phone and I actually groaned. And she's my candidate! I told him I just can't stand to hear any of it any more. I can't imagine what the poor people in Pennsylvania and other must-win swing states must be enduring.

(Photos: The steeple of St. Andrew's church on Finchley Road, with some colorful sumac; maple leaves found on a recent walk home from work.)