Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada
The Two Of Us
Soon to be released !
Here are a few excerpts …..
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
I looked back at the dog who now stared at me, her tail wagging. The dog did look cute, I had to admit, her sparkling eyes and a characteristic Shih Tzu underbite bespeaking her conspicuous qualities. Despite trying to cope with what must have been a lot of stress, her long-haired tail curled tightly over her back. She seemed a bit more relaxed now. And her name, Christie, seemed to fit. I had to catch myself. Already she was making an impact on me.
“We aren’t going to bond, RIGHT?” I asked forcefully as I pointed a wagging finger back at her. I still mourned the loss of my Nipper. But the die had been cast. There was no turning back. It was like some unseen force was already at work, drawing us together.
HER UNCONDITIONAL LOVE FOR ME
Instantly, Christie spun around and galloped past Nola and headed for the sundeck.
“Oh, why is it that she’ll come for you and not for me?” Nola barked, hoping for some kind of profound answer.
“I don’t know—guess we have a connection,” I smirked, realizing that Christie had decided at that moment on her own that it was time to go anyway, and her decision had little to do with any kind of a connection.
“Yeah, you have a connection alright,” Nola snapped emphatically, her voice laced with a subtle hint of sarcasm, directing her comment toward the kitchen door, mumbling something that I couldn’t quite make out. I doubt if it was complimentary.
THE MOODS OF MY DOG
We were at a house party in Wellington several years ago. Between twenty-five and thirty were in attendance in this spacious home. After the leash was removed, Christie made herself right at home, and spent the next two hours mingling with the crowd, carefully threading her way through fifty or more shuffling feet scattered between two different rooms. I joined a conversation in one of those rooms, but every fifteen minutes, Christie would seek me out to check on how the evening was going for me, then she’d quietly melt back into the crowd again to resume panhandling. Evidently, she spent a very productive two hours gleaning handouts and any crumbs that managed to fall to the floor because she slept soundly on the car seat all the way home. She was still asleep when I carried her into the house.
WE TACKLE THE MILLENNIUM TRAIL
The Millennium Trail offered different smells than those of other trails we had walked elsewhere; this trail presented a potpourri of new scents, replete with the carcass remains of dead animals, human litter, the back leg of a deer, and the shattered remains of turtle eggs that marauding raccoons had left behind. One memorable discovery she came upon was a scattering of fresh horse manure. Christie spent several moments inhaling the new and exciting aroma, staring at her new find as she tried to decide what she was supposed to do with this bizarre discovery. Unlike most dogs, Christie considered herself far too sophisticated to ever roll in anything disgusting. So, she continued to stare, mesmerized, as though to wonder, “I really don’t know what this disgusting object is, but perhaps we should take it home with us for further analysis.”
CHRISTIE AND HER LOVE AFFAIRS
Christie was loved by everyone and had become a celebrity wherever we went. Some stores had policies and were not pet friendly. I always argued that she was likely cleaner, smelled nicer, and was better behaved than some of their customers. Yet, when queried as to the basis of their “policy”, not one of them could explain their reasoning. It was just “policy”, they would always reply, and simply walk away, uninterested in continuing the conversation. Christie and I had our own policy, too. If my dog was not welcome, then I guess I wasn’t either, so we spent our money elsewhere with no apologies.
We did accept the policy in grocery stores as I figured that it did make some sense. However, I always found it difficult to vouch for a person when a few shoppers I met in the aisles smelled strongly of cigarettes, and spent much of their shopping time coughing close to the produce and meat counters. A few I met sometimes carried the unmistakable aroma of barn and livestock, while others entered the grocery store with a mysterious blend of odours from their workplace that I wasn’t always able to identify. The habits and hygiene of some human shoppers, on some days, seemed dubious at best.
However, I was forced to concede that Christie who was professionally groomed by her hairdresser and exuded the sweet fragrance of dog cologne, might be spreading debilitating germs while sitting quietly in the shopping cart. Store managers and their strange policies often made no sense to me.
THE LAST CHAPTER
As Christie and I aged we both started declining simultaneously. First, it was in the length of the walks we took together. For me, it was deteriorating knees that made walking less enjoyable, but we still forged bravely ahead with shorter hikes. Walks had become more of a quest now. We were both growing old together. We had slipped into the Golden Years, almost imperceptibly, but always together. We spent less time hobbling along on walks and more time relaxing, swapping kisses, but mostly just staring into each other’s eyes as the bond not only continued, but seemed to strengthen even more.