Water Dog

Wilbur has tried his whole life to be a water dog, but he just never succeeds.  As soon as the water goes over his head he panics.  I have tried to give him swimming lessons, but he just flounders every time I let him go until he can find me and climb up on me.  Still he dreams of one day being a water dog and pushes himself further and further every day.

When we lived at the beach he would stand at the edge of the water until all the water would be sucked out and then he would take off into the ocean running out as far as he could until a wave would come.  He would then turn around and try and out run the wave.  He didn’t always succeed in out running the wave, and would be tumbled around until he landed in the sand.

Now that we have moved in land Wilbur has a river and a lake to play in.  I thought with his golden retriever and lab buddy he would be in the water every day.  He hasn’t been in the water once even though the three of them head to the river at least once a day.

I decided last week that I would take him with me fishing.  There is a lake on our property and it was a beautiful evening.  I figured since the water was chilly and he hadn’t been trying to swim it would be no problem fishing with him.

At first he just watched on the edge of the bank to see what was going to happen, but after they caught the first fish the threw it back he started pacing the the shore.  I could tell that he wanted a fish.  Earlier in the day we had observed the duck hunter’s dogs retrieving ducks for their owners and I could tell there was a part of him that thought this was what he was suppose to do.  He was suppose to get a fish and bring them back to us.

It didn’t take long before Wilbur set off on his mission to be a water dog and to get a fish.  He jumped into the water whole-heartily.  Splashing desperately to where the fish had sank, but then he could no longer reach the bottom.  He panicked for a second and turned around.

But then he tried again swimming out and desperately looking for the lost fish.  I didn’t want him to fail, so I scrambled to the car where I found one of his raw hide bones.  I threw it in the water near him and he grabbed it.  He swam back ashore and ran around with his prize.  I called him over and he handed over the bone.  Everyone who was there looked at me as though I lost mind.  I then explained “there is enough tragedy and pain in the this world.  There should be more triumph and love even if it’s a little silly.”

Sunset at the lake

The Fog

Sometimes it is is easy for life to feel like an endless wasteland of mundane motions.  Repetitive steps and touches that make us all feel normal… comfortable.  It is hard to find our way out of the comfort zone.  Once we are there it seems to be all we have ever known and even the slightest deviation can sometimes feel as if our whole world is toppling around us.

There is a fog around us all blocking the beauty of the unknown.  Sometimes we receive bright glimpses, but they vanish into the darkness just as quickly as they came and it leaves us confused.  I am no longer afraid of these dark unknown places, but rather see them as the adventure that is waiting for me on the other side of the fog.  The adventure that has always been waiting for me.

 

Sunset

Currituck Heritage Park, Corolla, NC

Rain Rain Go Away

Day 3 of rain and we are completely over it.  Wilbur who normally sleeps in, in the mornings; woke up this morning excited, butt wagging ready to head to work.  As soon as he arrived at the door and realized it was still raining he stopped, looked at me with this desperate sad expression and then hung his head low.  

I had to plead with him and then bribe him to come to the car.  Once we arrived at the shop he refused to leave the car. A little growl and a very intense look told me he was serious about staying in the car.  I blasted the heat for a few minutes so that it would be warm for him and then headed into work.  An hour later I went out to check on him.  He was curled up  in a tight ball in the back seat and still refusing to leave the car.  I moved the car over to be next to the door so that he would not have to get wet when he got out of the car.  He still refused to leave.  I covered him up with my jacket and headed back to work.

I know the rain makes me depressed.  I need my sunshine.  I don’t use alarm clocks to wake up in the morning.  As soon as there is light coming through the window I am awake and ready to go.  I prefer to be outside in the sun all day.  Wilbur is the same way.  He will spend his whole day outside sunbathing no matter how humid it is outside.  So, I don’t know why it surprised me that he depressed.  He is the one who is always cheering me up when I am feeling down; I guess I just never think that he can feel down too.  It is my turn to try and cheer him, but with all the rain I think it would just be best if we curl up on the couch together under a warm blanket and put a movie on.  We will keep each other warm as the temperatures drop below freezing.  Hopefully we will wake up tomorrow to a white world, and we can both run a play like we don’t have a care in world.

The World I Neglect

It is easy to be caught up in the routine of every day. It’s even easier to miss the beauty that surrounds us every day. I found that most of my life has been missed because I was stuck in the dense fog of routine. Lost in the mundane. At least that is what I thought, but truthfully I just didn’t have my eyes open to what was around me.

It wasn’t until Wilbur came into my life that I picked up a camera again. I had always loved taking pictures, but I always seemed to have an excuse for why I didn’t have time in my life. With this new dog in my life I found that I really wanted to take pictures again. I pulled out my DSLR and started snapping pictures of Wilbur.

It didn’t long for me to start to see the world differently through the lens. I started to see the beauty in everything that I walked by every day.

With Wilbur by my side we started to go on a new adventure every day.

Sunrise 1/14/13

Another beautiful sunrise this morning followed by a dreary, rainy day.

After watching the sun come up over the old barn I turned around to see a beautiful rainbow!

Despite the beautiful morning Wilbur decided it would just be best to stay on top of the pillow pile.

Friendship

When I was young I believed that everyone should be my friend and I believed everyone was trust worthy. As I got older I learnt a hard a painful lesson about friendship. People are going to break your hearts. I became cynical and a loaner. Wilbur though, he believes in the good in everyone. When he runs up to a dog he doesn’t believe that they are going to show you their teeth and take off a part of your body. And if they do show off their teeth Wilbur believes this is an invitation to play harder. He never sees the danger in the situation.

I know the above picture might look like a dangerous fight between two dogs, but it’s not. That is one of Wilbur’s best buds Charlie. Wilbur has countless friends who love to see him every day.

I am beginning to think that Wilbur has it right. You should put your self out there more. That friendship is worth all the risk of being bitten because there are those rare moments where you can just run freely with people who care about you.

I don’t think that you get to choose your friends like you say you do. I never been a bar and said that person is going to be my friend and then we were friends. No, all my friendships have been accidents. Great, beautiful accidents. And Wilbur is no different. He accidentally walking into my life has changed forever. For better.

Rainy Day

I love waking up to a beautiful sunrise and snuggling with Wilbur.  Mornings like this always make me excited for the rest of the day, but by mid-morning it had begun to rain.  Wilbur becomes hopelessly depressed when it’s raining and refuses to leave his bed.

The Story

“Dogs are our link to paradise. They don’t know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring–it was peace.”
― Milan Kundera

In December of 2008 my Aunt lost her Boxer of 14 years.  A loner, much like myself, her dogs were truly her entire world and the devastation was taking its brutal and unrelenting torment on her soul.  Everyone was trying their best to cheer her up including her still living Boxer Buddy.  Her age and arthritis became even more evident with the depression; and maybe losing another loyal friend made her more aware of her own fate.  It seemed to be a dark time and I felt myself being dragged back into that torturous place with her.

I had spent so many years running from the loses in my on life; hiding from the pains in my own heart; that it seemed easy enough to slide back into the depression while I sat and mourned the lose with her. I thought that I would never get out of that rabbit hole until a friend of my Aunt’s brought over a small Boston Terrier puppy.

Faced with the thought of potty training a puppy at her age my Aunt declined to take it.  And that is when I was handed this little back and white; smooched nosed; lanky; odd looking puppy.  I was told to make sure that it was potty train for my Aunt and then the friend headed down the road.

There I was face to face with the puppy that would fulfill my life and he was so ugly.  

I was asked what I thought we should call him and a promptly responded with “he kinda looks like a Wilbur.”  Saying it a second time I made sure to sound like Mr. Ed and we all smiled with agreement.

I have always claimed to be a big dog person saying, “I like a dog that can be as active as I am.  That can go run the trails while I ride my horse.”  I never knew that Wilbur would turn out to be 18.5″, 38 pound Boston Terrier.  That he would be able to out run my Border Collie.  No I thought he would be a little yappy hype dog that I could never take anywhere. 

Wilbur turned out to be the perfect dog for me and this is the story of our many adventures together and the many lessons that he has taught me!