By now I am sure you all know that 90 year old William Shatner aka Capt. T. Kirk from Star Trek was shot into outer space last week and once again Jeff Bezos didn’t ask me to come along. I am so unhappy about this slight that I may ask Doc to stop ordering anything from Amazon again. After all, what could be better publicity than a therapy dog named Grover T. Kirk going to space with Captain T. Kirk? I can see the headlines already, but here I sit in the backyard waiting for my big break. And to add insult to injury I just found out that in 1963 the French, sent a cat 130 miles into outer space and it returned via parachute. It was even awarded a medal of honor. Now how did a cat get to go before me? That really stuck in my craw.
Doc intervened as soon as she saw the mood I was in, knowing what was wrong. “Why are you sulking on such a beautiful fall day Grover? I am going to tell you what I tell everyone else that waits around in life for someone else to fulfill their dreams, figure out a way to do it yourself.” she said in a stern voice. ” What do you mean?” I asked with surprise. Do you expect me to build my own rocket ship in our back yard?” “No Grover, but there has to be another way to either achieve that goal or one similar. Now, get up on your paws, move forward and try to figure out what you really want. Make a plan a go for it.”
I hate it when Doc expects me to be responsible for my own happiness. One of the down sides of living with a therapist. It did get me to start thinking however. Could I apply at NASA to their space program? Did I really even want to go into space or did I just like the idea of it? I tried to picture my self walking on to the space ship, being strapped in and the g-forces blowing my ears straight back when we took off. Then, being weightless and not being able to get my dog bones because they would be floating all around the cabin. Would I really like being that far away from Doc and all the comforts from home? The more I thought about it, I had to admit that I would probably wouldn’t like the actual experience at all. Now what was I going to do after all the fuss I made?
Oh well, life is like that sometimes. The fantasy that floats around in your head is often different than the reality of the real experience. But I did decide on a new plan that would bring me pleasure. After the sun set, I asked Doc to come outside to lay on the back patio and gaze at the night sky with me. It just so happened that it was a full moon last night. It was so clear that the stars sparkled like diamonds against the blackness of the night and we could see some of the constellations. In the quiet of the moment, I confessed to Doc that I finally figured out that I can be just as content staying on earth with her, looking at the universe from the safety of our own back yard. “Let other hardy explorers go to space and dream of new horizons. I said to her. I am finally content to do my exploring from earth”.