So far, my daughter’s New Zealand trip is off to a good start. She took a flight from Cincinnati to Los Angeles yesterday, with no problems. The dog had a final vet visit there and has been cleared for international travel. As a parting gift, we now have a refrigerator magnet with a photo taken many years ago.

The photo left me feeling a bit melancholy. The willow hedge in the background got killed by climate change; and as for the dog, although she is healthy and energetic, she is older, and I don’t expect she will ever return to her puppyhood home. Traveling across borders with a pet is a complicated and time-consuming affair. New Zealand requires a quarantine of almost two weeks for an animal brought into the country.

Still, it’s good to have a memento. Those were happy times, and I believe there will be many more to come—even if they are different from what we might once have anticipated.