A small sampling of my miss-matched socks, thanks to Jack.
I have a fondness for socks, particularly socks without holes. I even like to wear a matched pair, but that's getting trickier every day.
Jack has a fondness for socks with holes in them. Woe to the sock that is carelessly dropped, or stuffed into a pair of shoes.
I've been told this is a common trait among black labs but it still seems unfair that Jack embodies all the most problematic traits of his three contributing breeds: beagles follow their noses no matter what (check), shepherds like to herd (check), Labradors like to chew (check, check, check, check, check).
After this morning's futile search for two socks of the same pattern and hue I decided to snap the photo above and bid a fond farewell to the conformity of life in pairs.
Abigail, my old cat, warming her ears under my desk lamp.
Photo by Elmore Reese
I'm a cat person. This isn't really a revelation, but the way it impacts my being a dog owner is, at least to me.
Like many people I consider myself an animal lover and have only acknowledged my preference for cats along pragmatic lines: cats can take care of themselves for a weekend, cats are more independent and better suited to a busy adult life style, you can travel and move much more easily with cats, and so on down the familiar list. And oh yes, cats purr which is really cool.
I suppose I always thought it was a kind of laziness on my part, preferring an independence-loving cat over a loyal, loving dog. Now I see that was just a cover. Really what I love about cats is that they just don't give a damn. Abigail in the photo above couldn't stand my husband (who was taking the photo) but she was going to warm her ears under her favorite lamp and stare him down until he left. If she had been a Chihuahua I bet her tail would have been wagging and she would have forgotten her ear-warming mission the moment he opened my office door. Since I hate it when people open my office door while I'm trying to work my response is much more likely to be in sync with Abigail's than a happy Chihuahua. Sometimes the truth hurts.
And then there's Jack. My struggle to be a good dog owner or dog trainer or pack leader or whatever it is I'm supposed to be for him can pretty much be summed up in Abigail's determined stare from that photograph of more than 20 years ago. Who the heck opened the door and let him in while I'm busy warming my ears (metaphorically speaking).
Jack, New Year's Day 2012, completely ignoring me.
And so on New Year's day 2012 in a snow storm in my pj's I have to trudge out into the snow and retrieve my wayward cat-dog. I have only myself to blame.
Should 2012 be the year of the hound? Oh, why not. Images from the first four issues of Adventures in the U.P. have been utilized to created this wall calendar.
Sample image from the calendar.
And just like the magazines, this is print-on-demand. You can order as many copies as you like and they will be printed, shrink-wrapped, and shipped directly wherever you want...even in time for Christmas.
Jack is learning what it's like to be a "big brother." The newest member of the extended family is an Irish Setter pup named Tilly who has Jack completely intimidated. Since he was just going to stand around looking baffled, Tilly decided to tug on his leash. Pay back for all those times Jack tugged me around town.
I was looking forward to an extra hour of sleep this morning, but animals keep us honest, even about time.
Jack's "personal needs" do not recognize arbitrary changes to our clocks and I was up at 6 a.m., or actually 7 a.m....but now I'm confused about what hour it would normally be if we didn't keep switching our clocks. What I do know is I'm up way too early.
Of course once I was up--brewing coffee, checking email, preparing to be extra-productive instead of extra-rested--Jack saw no reason for my nice, soft pillow to just lie there unused. And as long as I'm the one who is now up and whining where the heck is the rest of this household? Sound asleep in bed.
My advice, don't do it. Notice the extra touches of white on Jack's ear and his shoulder and haunches? He waited for me to finish priming the stairway wall and then zoomed upstairs (rather than staying downstairs, as he was told) giving my freshly painted wall a nice swipe on his way.
He's such a helpful doggie. The cat is nearly as helpful. I fully expect to find white paw tracks down the hall way when I get up from the computer. Yikes.
When I decided to write stories using my undisciplined hound dog as the main character and my new home in the "Great North Woods" of Michigan's Upper Peninsula as the setting, it was really just a self-indulgence. I thought it would be fun, and it is fun.
But then I started seeing those stories in the hands of children from the Upper Peninsula--as well as their teachers--and I realized something every writer is supposed to know almost as a genetic inheritance. A writer writes to share something important or amusing or inspiring, and an audience is actually a necessity. Visiting classrooms and seeing children excited about the stories of a dog living in their neck-of-the-woods, having adventures in places they can visit all year round has been really satisfying for me. And encouraging. Here I was setting out to write stories for the 7-year-old inside my head when there is an entire world of kids out there perfectly willing to be engaged.
And those kids have some marvelous ideas, not just about Jack but also about animals in their own lives. Recently a 2nd grade class visit yielded a treasure trove of really charming images of Jack.The kids had made them as a special gift and I wish I had a refrigerator big enough to put them all up. Even my office is not big enough, so I made the video at the top of this post in order to showcase these pictures and to be able to share some of the children's creativity (inspired by Jack, which is such a kick) with others.
I admire elementary school teachers tremendously, but I have to confess I'd make an awful one. I haven't got the slightest idea of how to maintain order (just ask Jack), or how to follow a lesson plan. I'm as likely to get caught up in a student's story as remember what we were planning to talk about! So I am especially grateful that teachers at local elementary schools (E.B. Holman and CLK Elementary) have allowed Jack and me to come to their classrooms and see first hand that Adventures in the U.P. is more than just a self-indulgence.
Now I just have to decide what his next adventure will be...
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