Photo by Angela Kirk

You can hear the thunder off in the distance now that the storm has moved past our house. It was a good soaking and needed after so many months of dry weather in July and August. I can already see the grass greening up again, loosing some of the brown that had crept in during the dry spell. Everything looks so clean and refreshed as the late evening sun makes a brief appearance before setting in the West. Since it stopped raining, Doc has let me out in the back yard where I sit in my favorite spot on the hill under the pear tree. This is where I sit in every season so that I can keep watch over the acre behind our house. Doc would call it a mindfulness exercise. Since I don’t speak psycho babble I just call it feeling at peace.

I think it’s easy for you humans to get so caught up in your lives that you forget how you are connected to the earth. Your pets are there to remind you of that lest you forget.  Many times I am able to draw Doc back to nature after a busy day if I am patient and sit very quietly. Eventually she will come be next to me on the grass and we just sit there side by side without a word being spoken between us. That is the time I feel most connected to her.

The artist Claude Monet said it the best; ” My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.”

Photo by Angela Kirk

We are getting to the end of the dog days of summer when sunrise coincides with my favorite star Sirius, the Dog Star. Egyptians thought that the combination of the Sun and Sirius caused the sweltering heat. Sweltering is right! I am so hot that my paws are sweating.

Doc just deals with the heat and you can find her outside in the garden happy as a clam no matter how dirty and sweaty she gets. I know dogs are supposed to be loyal to their masters but I do not feel one bit of guilt watching Doc through the window while I lounge over the cold air vent on the floor. I am waiting for her to finish so we can go swimming, but my patience is wearing thin in this heat.

Even though I complain about the heat, I start to feel melancholy this time of year knowing the summer will soon come to an end. I will miss sitting on the back porch in the evening with Doc while we listen to the frogs in the pond as the fire flies flicker in the dark. The impromptu trips to Dairy Queen for a dog cone, going on vacation, or just floating down the lazy river without a care in the world. There is something so magical about summer that it makes you want to slow down and take it all in.

So savor the last days of summer….. ” Summertime is always the best of what might be.” Charles Bowden.

After two weeks of Doc and I being on vacation, we have finally returned to our normal routine and I for one am glad. When Doc and I came home from the lake, I didn’t realize that after a few days that she was going back for a second time and leaving me behind. The first I knew about the plan was when she packed up the car and took me over to the veterinarians office to be boarded there. You would have thought she would have discussed it with me before hand to at least prepare me. I am not just a piece of luggage you can just drop off anywhere, anytime. If I sound perturbed, it’s because I am and let me tell you the rest of the story so that you understand.

After Doc left I felt a little anxious and then to make matters worse they placed me in a kennel across from a very vocal beagle that would not be quiet. Even after I gave him the stink eye, he kept up his barking, howling and whining all day and all night. At first I tried to go with the flow but after a few days went by I started to ruminate and wondered if Doc was ever coming back. She had never left me so suddenly before and why hadn’t she taken me with her? The more I thought about it, the more I fretted and then became frightened. What if I became an orphan and had to live on my own? After a day of worry my stomach began to hurt, then I stopped eating and I even threw up.  Between my stomach and that loud mouth beagle I didn’t get any rest at all. What was I going to do?

Then just as suddenly as she left, Doc shows up to take me home all smiles, like nothing had happened. If I wouldn’t have been so relieved to see her I would have given her the silent treatment. The veterinarian told Doc that I worried myself sick and then they gave me a darn shot right in the behind to stop my nausea. Doc gave me a big hug and asked me why I was so worried. ” Grover, have I ever left you and not come back to get you?” she said with concern in her voice. ” No, I responded, but I just don’t like being away from you and thought you might not come back.” ” Oh Grover, she said, I promised you when you were just a puppy that I would always take care of you, never forget that.

When we finally got home I thought about what she had said but just to be on the safe side, I have been sticking to Doc like glue so she won’t escape without my noticing.