This past weekend we loaded up in the car and drove to Rochester. Ellie and I go one of three places in the car. To the clinic, to the hiking trail, or to Rochester, so if they load up our food dishes then we know we’re going to Rochester.
Some of our dog friends just LOVE to ride in the car. They jump in the car and wait while the family is packing up to leave, because they don’t want to miss the chance to go along. They slobber with excitement. They spin with anticipation.
Ellie, on the other hand, does NOT like to ride in cars. She got car sick until she was a few years old, and sometimes Mom would have to give her medication for motion sickness. It helped, but she would still feel nauseous. If the van was packed full then the kids would be complaining the entire way, “Mom, Ellie is drooling all over us! Make her lie down!”
I, on the other hand, am more ambivalent to car rides. They’re not horrible, but not all that fun. BUT, since cars are driven by people and I LOVE my people, then I will always choose to go along in the car.
We went to Rochester this weekend because Grandpa wanted everyone to get together. It was exactly one year ago that Grandma Fran died, and this would be a gathering to celebrate as a family and remember her. His first choice was going to a hotel and a waterpark for the little kids, but because of the COVID-19 my mom and her brothers said absolutely not. We had to spread out and be mostly outside.
Luckily it was a nice day, so Ellie and I just hung out in the yard while the family visited and had lunch. Ellie likes kids and people, but she gets so excited that her tail whips everyone in the legs. Or the face, depending on how tall you are. So thus I had a steady stream of kids and folks who wanted to visit with me (and avoid Ellie’s tail) so it was an AMAZING time of being adored.
The smells drifting out to the yard were also amazing, and after they finished eating my mom talked to the family a little bit and told a story about her mom.
When Grandma Fran was in the hospital last year and very sick, the doctor came by to talk to the family.
“Doctor,” Grandma Fran asked, “Am I going to make it?”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “we’re taking it day by day.”
Grandma Fran gave a brisk nod of her head, rearranged her hands in her lap and said, “Well, then, I am going to enjoy today.”
And then my own mom reminded everyone to appreciate
EVERY day.
EVERY person.
EVERY opportunity.
It seems weird to me that humans have to remind each other to do that, because that’s all dogs do. We live in the moment.
Dogs don’t worry about what other dogs are doing. Or what kind of food they’re being fed. Or what kind of house they live in. Dogs just pay attention to their own lives and they focus on the people they are with. They don’t worry about what’s happening tomorrow. But they don’t take anything for granted, either.
They don’t assume that everyone in the family photo today will be in the family photo next month. Dogs take things day by day. Smart people, like Grandma Fran, make a conscious decision to enjoy TODAY, but for dogs it isn’t a decision. It is all we know.
So if the sun is shining, we enjoy the warmth. If the wind is blowing, we savor the scents. If the rain is falling, we cuddle up inside and appreciate being cozy.
The cars were packed to leave before I was ready to stop being adored, but it was starting to sprinkle and the wind had changed. The warmth of the afternoon was over and it was time to go, but we had made the most of it.
We had seized the day!
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