Prelude to a New Canine Family Member

There is a flurry of activity as the travel dog bed is placed in the back of the jeep with a fresh clean cover lovingly tuck around it. The doggie travel bag is packed with leashes and harness, water bowl, a few toys, a stuffed animal, raw hide knots, doggie chicken treats, poo pick up bags and a brand new collar with brand new tags.

Sandwiches are made for the humans and bottles of water, both packed into the mini-cooler with ice. Chips, granola bars, cheese crackers placed in a cloth bag by the cooler. The trip will be 3 ½ hours one way and we don’t want to stop for food on the way there and we will have a frightened and excited new dog with us on the way back. No time them for leisurely dining either.

Everything ready and the house put to bed, I am tired yet I toss and turn, nervous, excited, wondering. Knowing that the wheel turns one more turn, the kaleidoscope shifts and the mosaic of our lives will be changed forever again. This time, this change, by a choice I made one late night when I should have been sleeping, a good change through a choice for life. Not a change or modification in life or routine due to the death of an animal companion or a hospital sick bed revelation promise, not an opportunity to confront my biggest fear, but a choice for a big, slobbery, lick your face, living, breathing, joyful life. A choice to honor the cycle of life, death and yes, re-birth. Am I ready, for this? I don’t know. We will see soon.

The alarm clock sounds and I jump from bed, more excited and nervous to great the day than I have been for a long time, except for last weekends Smack Fest, an all day heavy Metal event we got to go and cover for the radio station we volunteer at. I go about in a rush of excitement getting the birds their breakfast, comb my hair, do my make up, get dressed, grab coffee and an everything bagel, load the sandwiches, snacks, water, doggie bag, and my book bag complete with phone numbers and directions and away we go.

Last stop before we leave town is for gas. Gas pumped, last minute snacks purchased and seat belts buckled, my excitement and nervousness is off the charts. I fiddle in my seat and take a deep breath and realize I have a 3½-hour car ride ahead of me. No quick 20-minute jaunt of excitement, no area to pace in for all that time. I breathe in deeply once, twice, three times trying to calm and center myself. I start the trip chattering away about inconsequential things but realize it does not calm me. I grow quiet as I contemplate the changes that are now occurring in our household and our life and hope that I have made the right decision for our household, for our Senior citizen, Silver, for our life. I know I the right thing is being done by Freya. She will come to a home full of love and understanding and patience and experience. I breathe in and out and feel the beauty of the universe flowing through me, as I feel suspended between my past and my future. Freya, we are coming to get you. We are coming to take you home.

Well, WE DID IT!!!!!!

Well, we did it. Actually I did it and my husband agreed it was a good idea. I was looking through ads on Pet Finders and came across the sweetest faced 2-year-old female White German Shepherd. I couldn’t help asking some questions. Long story short, she will be coming to our house this weekend. I am excited and nervous and impatient.

I still have the same questions in the back of my mind in regard to Silver. How will he act and interact? I hope that she will make him happy, having another dog companion in the house. She seems so sweet and gentle and I think she will be good for Silver.

I had really been thinking that we might just let Silver live out the rest of his life as an only dog. Give our selves time to grieve and heal when he passed and then maybe look for another canine companion down the road. I really did.

One late night, when I should have been sleeping, I found myself on Pet Finders, just looking at German Shepherds available for adoption. Don’t know why, but I do that some times. I, of course, found many that I loved and that might possibly fit into our particular household. Knowing how my husband is feeling in regard to Silver’s aging, I didn’t entertain the idea of adoption right now, UNTIL I clicked on her link.

There was just SOMETHING about her face, her stance, and her eyes that wormed its way into my heart like she had been there all along. I was HOOKED! I couldn’t NOT adopt her into our home, our lives and hearts. HAD to forward the pictures to my husband. He agreed that she had SUCH A CUTE FACE! I think he suspected what was next.

After a few days of discussion regarding Silver and finances and responsibility to our new adoptee and our own hearts and emotions, we agreed that she would be a PERFECT match to our home and our life so I began the adoption process through NE GSD rescue and All Paws. We will drive down to NH, 3 ½ hours from our home, on Saturday, to meet the pet transport coming up from down south.

Why now? Why THIS dog? I see hundreds weekly on cross posts on FB and my occasional late night foray on the Pet Finders site. I don’t know: Her face, her eyes the description about her sweetness. She was found wandering, starved and alone, on the streets of some town in Alabama. When her owners were located and contacted, they said, “Just keep her”. UNBELIEVABLE! In some of the pictures forwarded to me you can still see her ribs. Despite all that, her foster mom says she hasn’t met a person she doesn’t like. She loves and plays well with other dogs and is curious about cats and jumps when they hiss. I just can’t imagine letting your dog wander the streets for so long that her ribs are showing when animal control picks her up.

So despite all my questions in one of my previous blogs, or maybe because of them, we are bringing 2-year-old Freya home on Saturday. Of course I will blog about her 1^st days, how she acclimates not only to a Northern climate but also to our home. I bet she will LOVE snow when she sees it and I bet she blows her coat like CRAZY when gets her to get ready for winter. I wonder, will she sleep on the futon at the end of the bed with Silver or will she sleep on the futon next to my side of the bed? Will she like to run around and around our dining room, bird room, and my study loop? What will her favorite ball shape be? Will she be more my dog or my hubby’s dog? I KNOW she will love us all but I have found over the years that dogs pick one person in a household to be special friends with. Will she let the cats snuggle up with her after she gets use to them? Will Pucksley adopt her the way he has Silver? Silver is Pucksley’s dog as far as Pucksley is concerned. LOL!!! Will she like to nap on the doggie couch or prefer the floor or the doggie bed in the living room? Will she like to swim next summer? If she does, will she prefer the lake or the kiddie wading pool? What will her favorite toys be? What will her favorite treats be? Will she try to get in bed with us? How badly will she kick my butt on our daily runs? What will her favorite games be? Will she like hide-and-seek? Will she like to try agility training? Would she be good at search and rescue?

Can you tell I am excited and nervous and impatient? LOL!!!!

The Hand Made Bench

I take my laptop off of the light brown, hand made bench that my Great Grandfather made for me when I was a very young child. I am struck with a sense gratitude for this humble little bench. My Great Grandfather, my Poppy, made this bench for me when I could barely walk. He made it so I could sit up to things better, reach things easier, have a place to sit for tea parties and when flipped over, have a place to put my dolls and their blankets. My initials painted boldly on the bottom in his strong carpenter’s hand. This Bench went with me to private school and then back home again. During a time of personal upheaval and physical displacement, when so many possessions were lost, this little bench some how made it with me. Over the years it has masqueraded as a nightstand, an end table, a lamp stand and now a laptop stand beside my bed for those nights I want to work late in to the night and still want to be with hubby while he sleeps. The little bench reminds of that book by Shel Silverstein, “The Giving Tree”. Even though my Poppy has been passed since I was in High School, his gift lives on, a message of love in the form of the little bench that keeps on giving to me in so many forms. I still see his craftsmanship and love as he used his scroll saw to lovingly carve out the simple scroll pattern. I see his look of pure joy as he puts my initials on my bench and then puts my sisters on hers. They look identical but we each got our own. I remember with bittersweet pleasure the tea parties with food from his very own refrigerator and cupboards. I think of the delight we had playing in the “kitchen” he created for us from plywood, nails and paint. He made a stove with wooden knobs that actually turned, a refrigerator with a big door for the refrigerator and a smaller one for the “freezer”, a little table, with our benches, and small cupboards for our plastic dishes and china tea set.

Every time I look at the little bench, I am reminded of his great love for my sister and me, his willingness to give of his time, his creativity, his unending love and encouragement. He thought the sun rose and set on us. It showed through in absolutely everything he did for us.

As September turns into October and Halloween/Samhain approaches, the day that the spirits walk among us, I realize that because of the gift of the little bench, my Great Grandfather’s spirit always walks with me. I watch the leaves change color and fall to the ground. The seasons change but the love of my Poppy for me will never change, no matter which side of death he is on. I love you Poppy and even though you have walked in spirit for the last 27 years, I still miss you every time I look at me priceless little bench. The little bench isn’t just a little bench, it is a warm hug and smile from across time, living on to show me what love and compassion and caring for another living creature really looks and feels like. THANK YOU for that beautiful lesson Poppy. THANK YOUR for your life.