Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Puppy Mirrors

Water and mirror images fascinate me.

lake jordan north carolina
Lake Jordan
North Carolina

There are times it's extremely frustrating not to have a car in a country where it's expected of everyone to have ready access to a car in order to do mundane things that take 3-4 trips in a car, yet should be able to be done over the phone or through the mail or internet. It's a crazy world I shall never hope to understand.

Yet, I feel so lucky because in other ways, I get to savor so much natural beauty on foot and paw that others never get to see in a lifetime in spite of owning the latest and greatest of nearly everything.

My silly puppy dog didn't understand mirror images when he was young. Whether he does now or not, it's unclear. But in 2010 I was visiting at a cold cold cold river on a very hot humid day with a friend who owned the gorgeous property I was camping on. My active puppy was off leash running around the river bank with their older slower dog.

My enthusiastic pooch came racing up to the river bank, standing about 3 feet above the water level on a slope. At first he was looking at me standing about waist deep out in the cold river, just cooling off. Then he looked at the river below wagging his tail enthusiastically. He saw another puppy! Just like him, wagging his tail and looking oh so friendly. He yelped with glee! Another fun puppy to play with! He took a giant flying leap to greet the other joyful puppy.

SPLASH!

But it was of course his mirror image reflected in the river.

He found himself suddenly plunged into the icy cold waters. He instinctively swam right back out and climbed up the embankment.

It's a wonder he survived. I knew so little about little dogs and how easily they get cold. He shook and danced and shivered and raced around trying to warm himself up while we were laughing at him and his crazy nonstop antics trying to warm himself up and dry off his skinny little body.

Blast from the past...
Below is Harley dog in 2010. He still had both ears floppy. In 2016 he has one ear up and one still floppy.

In 2010 his body fur barely disguised his skin. It was the smallest pet bed I could find for him. It was in the cat department with a cat paw printed on it.

Six years later, he still has that same bed, though it's looking pretty rough in spite of being washed and cared for.

harley 2010


THANK YOU 

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