What if you could put your life on rewind to a certain day or days and change how the days went? Yes, we've had books and movies on that very subject, which I will not name or discuss, because the post could get interesting. Last Saturday night, I readied myself to take my 15 year old dog, Diana, for a walk at around 10 PM. The late-night walk is not by choice but is necessary if Diana is not to wet her bed during the night. As she has grown older, she won't come to us at night to be let out if she has to pee or poo; she just does her business on the green carpet in the living room. Thus, we close her off in the part of the house which is not carpeted, which makes it impossible for her to come to us to be let out, which she won't do anyway. Washing a dog bed every day gets to be something of a chore, thus the late-night walks, which also have to be rather lengthy, because Diana does not take just one long pee but rather marks her spots all along the way. But her dog bed stays dry most nights.
Diana walks on a retractable lead, which I'd left unlocked as we started the walk. The weather was cool; Diana was frisky and started off at a run around the corner of the house and dragged the back of my hand and arm across the brick post of the carport. My skin is old and thin, and the result was bloody. Grandpère took over the walking chore, while I dressed my wounds, which I'm still dressing each time I shower. The scrapes have finally stopped bleeding, but I'm keeping the wounds covered so I don't injure them again with a scrape or a bump. If I could rewind Saturday night, I would secure the lead and have Diana, as they say, on a short leash.
Diana, Grandpère, and I had our 15 minutes of fame in our town. Above and below are a photo and the story in the local newspaper, The Daily Comet, of how Diana came to live with us. She was wild as I walked her out of the vet's office, jumping up and down and trying to run, and I remember thinking, "What have we got ourselves into?" As the worker at the office helped me take Diana to the car, the end of the leash caught in the bottom of the car door. The worker was going to let the lead loose, but I told him, "No! Don't let it loose; as it is she can't jump on me while I'm driving home." And that was the beginning of a 14 year relationship.
And that dog don't hunt. Each time Diana was taken into the woods and let off the leash, she ended up back at Grandpère's truck, ready to go home. The woods where Tom and my sons hunt are not far from our house, and, on one occasion, Diana became impatient and made her way home on her own. As I said, we love her anyway.
Click on the articles for the larger view. The article is dated February 6, 1998.
