photo taken February 9, 2009 • title thanks to Karen

Again, I am just so blown away by y’all!  My burly, badass, ex-bullridin’ buddy is hanging out with me today and we went through all the entries, giggling and practically rolling on the floor.  I urge you skim through the comments if you need a few chuckles today.  Karen Hanson, you da winner!  Classic. And ALL of you are second-runner-up.  Thanks, one and all!!

• • • This photo was taken four months ago, but we might have a repeat of the scene in the next few days – the forecast is calling highs in the 40’s and possibly even snow.  I’m praying that it skirts my house; I’m not ready for my garden to die just as it’s getting going!  I might have to borrow all of Mike’s chickens and have them sit on my little plants.

But in the meantime, we will play: leave your title, caption, or commentary for this photo in the comment section of this post and be in the running for a very cool prize: an unmatched pair of pronghorn antelope horns.  If I were to come back as an animal, I’d love to be a pronghorn.  They have the greatest faces.

The horns are strange and wonderful.  You can use them as decoration, of course, or you can pass them off to your canine friend ~ they are a favorite chew toy around here.  The upper part of the horn is solid, and you can saw it into rounds, drill two small holes in the center of each round, and polish them up to make fantastic buttons.  How many people have antelope horn buttons closing their cloaks?  Enjoy!

Hello out there!!!

It’s been a while! A long long long long while.

Last fall, I decided I wasn’t going to do a Charlie calendar this year….. which felt very weird but life simply did not have room for it.

And then, in January, I checked my email for the first time in months and there were so many messages asking if there would be a calendar, and sharing what a consistently special part of people’s lives it has become, and I was like, how can I make this work????

And I found a way!!

And so……

Back by popular demand, the 2025 Charlie calendar is here to wild up your walls.

Since this calendar is debuting a month into the new year, it includes a full twelve months you can use: from February 2025 through January 2026. So you still get a full year of Charlie to enjoy.

I’m not available to ship orders myself this year, so I’m having the calendar printed and shipped via Lulu. See the calendar and order it, if you so desire, right HERE.

Wishing you a magical new year………..

five years ago: A Spoonful Of Sugar
six years ago: Pewter, Sterling, & Gold
seven years ago: Talkin’ To Fairies And Sparrows
eight years ago: Jack Frost
nine years ago: Upside Down, Boy You Turn Me
ten years ago: Blue Sky Horizons
eleven years ago: Mmmm Good
twelve years ago: Leaving His Mark

For 18 months after Charlie’s death, my only desire was to grieve. I celebrate how deeply I let myself experience my grief and how completely I prioritized myself during this time. I took a sabbatical, and only did what I felt like doing. At first it was mostly crying in bed.

After a couple of weeks of self-medicating with every substance I could get my hands on, I desperately wanted to feel close to Charlie again, physically close to him.

So, I dusted off my grandmother’s spinning wheel, had new bobbins 3D printed to fit the vintage wheel, and taught myself to spin. My goal was to eventually spin the bags of Charlie’s wool I’d saved every year when he shed his winter underfur.

I practiced with sheep’s wool. I spun for five or six hours a day, listening to the same three songs on repeat the entire time. In my remaining waking hours, I devoured spinning videos on youtube and read spinning forums. I still haven’t spun Charlie’s wool…. but now I know I can. And I have so much yarn!

At some point, I started hiking daily with the dogs, often to the bottom of a secluded canyon where I’d spin on a spindle while sunbathing all day long.

I created such a luxurious cocoon to be so sad within. So much good food that I made from scratch from the finest ingredients. So many baths. So many books. So much time spent outside in the wilderness.

And then after 18 months, I realized I no longer desired my grief to be my priority or the defining feature of my life, and I didn’t want it to become a crutch.

That’s when I shared my birthday self portrait on instagram. I wasn’t ready to write anything, but I knew that picture was worth a thousand words, that it would show that I was ok, that I was coming back into life again.

When I took that photo, I still didn’t know who I was without Charlie. I didn’t know what I wanted for my next season of life, and I didn’t fully want to know—thinking about it felt like the last big goodbye. Taking this picture felt like my first step into that abyss, the abyss of Next. And I do love a good abyss.

It’s been 18 months since that first step, and what an abyss it has been. Love, magic, adventure. Returning to parts of myself placed on pause for Charlie, discovering parts of myself I hadn’t yet met. Stories for other days.

In the meantime, I have Charlie’s 2024 calendar for you. He’s with me every day. CLICK HERE if you’d like to spend another year with him, too.

And tell me a little about your last three years in the comments, if you please….

three years ago: Light Of My Life
four years ago: Waving Tails
five years ago: If Eyes Could Say What
six years ago: Wakin’ Up Is Hard To Do
seven years ago: See Creature
eight years ago: Solid Gold
nine years ago: Mesmereyes
ten years ago: Autumn Bouquet
eleven years ago: Into The Sun
twelve years ago: Hide And Seek Sagebrush

My web magician and I have set up some really cool code for The Daily Coyote. Starting tomorrow and forevermore, the top post of this site will feature a photo of Charlie from our vast archives, which will change with every visit the blog.

I didn’t want the daily pictures to end, or for Charlie’s blog to become static. With this new feature, there will always be a surprise from Charlie when you visit The Daily Coyote. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

I’ll be back to post more stories about Charlie and never-before-seen pictures from deep within the treasure chest of my hard drives, but such posts will be unscheduled and at random.

Since my written posts are mixed in with pictures around here, I’ve put my last long written posts about Charlie HERE so they are easy to find.

one year ago: Solid Gold
two years ago: Puff Daddy
three years ago: Winterland
four years ago: Confetti Eyes
five years ago: A Grand Adventure
six years ago: Grand Vista
seven years ago: Just Beauty
eight years ago: Sun Dumpling
nine years ago: Chillin’ In The Cow Camp Cabin
ten years ago: Napball
eleven years ago: Summer Is For Gazing
twelve years ago: Velvet

photo taken October 2020

one year ago: Solid Gold
two years ago: Snow Rove
three years ago: Winterland
four years ago: Is It Called Macaroni If It’s In His Mouth?
five years ago: Snuggly
six years ago: Nest Of Light
seven years ago: Just Beauty
eight years ago: Feeling Fall
nine years ago: Pile Of Play
ten years ago: Octopus Meadow
eleven years ago: Eli These Days
twelve years ago: How Cute Can A Baby Be

photo taken October 2020

one year ago: Colorblock
two years ago: Snow Rove
three years ago: First Snow
four years ago: Frosty Morning
five years ago: Strollin’ Strollin’ Strollin’
six years ago: Nest Of Light
seven years ago: Morning Blend
eight years ago: Feeling Fall
nine years ago: Stare N’ Shake
ten years ago: Love Two Love
eleven years ago: Heart Seizure
twelve years ago: How Cute Can A Baby Be