We have three dogs. Or they have us.
Maxine Virginia Swift.
Saint Frances the Sissy.
Ollie. Slim Ollie.
They are completely wonderful. Smart. Kind. Loyal. Funny. Brave. Sweet. I could go on all night. They have given so much to us.
Our girls are getting older. By our best measures, Maxine is around 17 years old. OLD. She is a small dog, and still very full of verve at spontaneous moments. She just keeps ticking. And peeing. Everywhere.
Frances, the Wonder Dog, is around 13 or 14. She is a bigger lab-ish type dog. OLD. If a dog would ever qualify for Sainthood, it would be our Frances.
And then little Ollie. She is already around 9 years old by our best guess. She is too smart for her own good. She can work a room.
But for all the good….they seem to offer us more challenges…. the older they get.
Like poor Max. She really can’t see, or hear. As mentioned above, she is getting too rickety… or lazy… to get outdoors. Long live the Pee PAD! And beyond all that…. she is largely senile. She walks around aimlessly, and runs into things. A bit like me in my college days.
Frances has a balance problem. She falls down, without warning, for no apparent reason. Wouldn’t you know? Again, a bit like me …. in my college days.
And Ollie. She just hears a mention of food and she gains weight. Well. I guess it bears repeating. Me. College.
I think life is cyclical. And it teaches us constantly, if we are willing to learn. Most of the time, I can figure out an equation, or a correlation for these sorts of things.
But not here. Not now. Unless all three of our dogs are dangerously close to failing Calculus.
Regardless. Our dogs are beautiful little life spirits. They know things. A lot of things. Thankfully, I’ve learned a couple of these. Besides that, dogs are full of magic. They know tricks after all.
I can only hope someday… to be as brave, to play so freely, to forgive as quickly, and to love unconditionally. Like those good, good, dogs.
And to chase my tail round in circles… just because it feels good.
“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats
“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”
― Arthur C. Clarke
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson