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| courtesy amazon.com |
It felt like any other morning to me, but better-- the best kind, where JK are extra happy because they are free to take their time. J told K about the book Watership Down, which she had just finished reading for the third time in her life. It is a story about a kind of park with Rabbits. K said it sounded like a book he should read in 2012. Oh man, I would LOVE to visit that park. It sounded awesome, even better than the church yard, which is pretty cool. Since there were no rabbits to be seen, I did a lot of ball chasing in the church yard and got to be off the leash on the road part, as long as I stayed in the grass. I know now that freedom means coming when I’m called, and most of the time I earn my freedom. J says the Watership Down readers would know what she means when she says Watch for hrududus, Maxie. She thinks I can speak rabbit.
We came to the last house before we started down Pine Cove Lane. The man who lives there was standing outside by his porch with a little white dog.
They got a new puppy, J said to K. Look! He’s adorable. Pretty shy though.
A boxer? asked K.
I’m not sure. It doesn’t look exactly like a boxer.
What happened to their other dog? K asked J
I don’t know that either. I haven’t seen him for a long time.
Now I remembered the big brown boxer Spike. We used to run into him and his man once in a while on Pine Cove. The man always had a smoke stick and a cup of coffee. And J would say to K, now why don’t we walk with a cup of coffee, that man has the right idea. But they never do it. They leave their coffee home and so far no smoke sticks, either.
KJ said hello then, because there was the man, now standing at the end of his driveway across the street from us. But Spike was nowhere to be seen. The man had a newspaper, a coffee cup, and some mail in his hands, which he set down on the concrete. In the background, we saw the white puppy run up onto the front porch. I could tell he was really shy, like J said, so I didn’t chase him.
I been waitin’ for a few days for yall to walk by so I can catch you, the man said.
JK were very surprised. For us to walk by? They asked.
Yessir, I see you walk by every day and I’ve been wanting to show yall my new puppy. Ruger.
He’s darling, J said admiringly. Hey pup!
Ruger sat and stared out at us from behind the porch railings. He had two very brown ears but the rest of him was pure white. I thought he was so cute. I chewed my ball and stared back at him, then did a couple of showoffy (that is what J calls them) prances, dropping my ball and snatching it back up. Hey pup! Look what we can do! We can play ball when you’re bigger!! Ready when you are, Ruge! Anytime!! He just looked at me. I strolled back to JK and listened while they talked.
Is he a boxer? asked K.
Yep, purebred European boxer, my son got him for me a week or so ago. He’s pretty shy still.
Yeah we can see that. J told the man she loved Ruger’s brown ears.
Do you still have your other boxer? K asked the man.
The man looked down and swallowed. I chewed my ball and looked at the man’s face and listened.
Naw, we had to have him put down in August. He was just in so much pain.
We wondered. We are so sorry to hear that. JK were very sympathetic.
Yeah, lost a great friend. The man cleared his throat.
What the….I have no idea what “putt down” meant but when he said those words, a picture formed instantly in my mind, like a mix of a golf course (where no dogs are allowed so when JK go, I have to stay home, so unfair!!) and Watership Down, that happy place that J was talking about earlier, where the rabbits lived in freedom and friendship; and I couldn’t hear anything else JK and the man said; I just saw this picture. It was so clear. Like I was looking through a window.
A blue, blue sky. A whole lake of fresh water. Green grass, golf course grass, shady trees, warm sunshine. Smoky blue mountains in the distance. Dirt to dig. Lots of dogs to play with, no color blindness! Dog houses with names on them: I could see Lucy, Max (not me, not yet!), Theo, Jacob, Cassie, Hank (arrived 12/31/11 - RIP to our dear friend)…I could see Spike now. Balls that never popped and squirrels that skittered ahead just fast enough, and infinite space to run and run. Naps and biscuits and everyone free and happy, no pain at all, waiting for as long as they needed, for their people to show up. And right in front, a sign: ALL DOGZ WLCOM. All dogs. What a great place to wait!!! I couldn’t figure out why Spike being at this Putt Down Dog Park would make the man sad.
I walked over and set my ball carefully between his coffee cup and the newspaper, just close enough that it bumped the cup. The paper kept my ball from rolling down the driveway. Slobber from my mouth dripped onto the cup and some into the coffee. Buzz taught me that swapping slobber is the best way to make your friends feel better. That is why we lick faces and hands. Since I didn’t know this man very well, I didn’t think I should lick him. But he got my slobber all the same, in his coffee.
Ahhhh…??? the man stared at the ball next to his cup, then at me, then looked at JK with a big question mark on his face. Go ahead and have a sip, K said to the man, no, go ahead. All three of them laughed.
Maxie, go get your ball. J said to me. I got it. But swapping slobber worked, just like I knew it would. See? Everyone was happy after that. Not as happy as Spike was at the Putt Down Dog Park, waiting for his man. But the day will come when that man gets to see Spike again. Then they will swap slobber. We dogs know this. We just know it.
I ran some more in the church yard and all the way home, where breakfast and Buzz were waiting. It was such a good Christmas Eve.
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