on March 10th, 2008 by mark
You may note at the left that there are a few new places for which I’m writing. I’ve been as busy as a…well, add your trite statement here. I’m too busy. Really–it’s the best thing ever. I feel as tired as Lileks says he sometimes does. I mean this as a complement, of course. Lileks is a personal favorite of mine and when I was a kid, I understood having heroes. I never thought I’d have one as an adult. Never met him, don’t imagine I will. But he’s funny, prolific and a fine and good writer.
I’ve had to revamp my organization of articles on the desktop. I used to keep everything I wrote in one folder. Now, I’ve got 4 separate folders, each one for a different magazine, newspaper or writing outlet. I’ve got articles on tap almost all the time.
And I’m as happy as I can be. I’m blessed. As a freelance writer, I’m writing. A lot. I’ve invoiced three different outlets this week and I’m awaiting word on a 4th.
It’s been a warm month so far, this March. It’s much warmer than it should be–but then December and January were much colder than they normally are. It’s all very normal, I suppose. I don’t like the heat and it’s made me a bit antsy. I took the dog for a hike today and both of us had a tougher time than normal. It was too warm and we powered through like soldiers, but with a powerful thirst at the end of the road.
Scoop was sleeping downstairs last night, which is rare for him. I came down and invited him, as it were, to come up. He didn’t seem to want to get up. So, I left him on the couch in the playroom. As I left the room, he got up to follow me–but very slowly. He came off the couch limping pretty hard and when he got to the stairs, he took one at a time, all gently, even carefully.
Scoop will be 9, at least by our count, on April 1st. We got him in September of 1999 and the vet assumed he was then right around 6 months. We’ve aged him from that point and we’re confident of being fairly close–within a couple of months give or take. It’s interesting to look at older pictures of him as a young dog. He’s harder, more solid and spry. Now, he’s distinguished. A little grayer around the muzzle, jowls hanging a bit lower-he’s gotten a little heavier and a lot calmer. But, he still likes to play, albeit for less time. And he goes to bed, by himself, a little bit earlier these days.
Aunt Laurie said she saw he and Lucy, her young dog, playing in the backyard and apparently, Scoop took a body-blow from the younger and more agile Lucy. He winced at it and she thinks he may have gotten hurt. And that may be true. But, even on today’s walk, I noticed him getting slower, walking more next to me than ahead of me like he normally does. He’s middle-aged now, actually, for a dog, he’s older than middle-aged, and he doesn’t quite go as fast as he used to.
As he gets older, he likes to be around us more and he’s become particularly affectionate with Sue–and she with him. He’s as lovable as he always was, but he seems to understand who he is. It marks a phase, I guess. When Peanut was born, he was two years old and he seemed to intuit that this new little bundle was not for him to play with. Ever since, he’s been more protective, more focused on his family and his home. When Peanut was a baby and we’d take walks with her in her stroller, Scoop became aggressive toward other dogs and occasionally, other people. If folks wanted to see the baby, they’d have to get through him first and this meant introducing him to them, allowing a sniff, a pat on the head–then you can see the baby….”but I’m warning you…” He knew his place.
Now, he’s the patriarch. He heads up the canine end of the Storer/Thompson pack which includes Laurie’s dog Lucy. He knows I’m alpha, but Lucy is submissive to Scoop (well, she’s submissive to everyone, really) and he makes the rules. When he doesn’t want to play, he lets her know.
For posterity then, while he’s still in the prime of his life, I write this. I don’t want to write a remembrance one day, though I know I will. I’d rather think about him as the dog he is right now. A little slower, a little older, more friendly–but still the protector, still the guard of the family. Having a dog has kept me grounded and made me aware of responsibility, long before I had a child to teach me that. Scoop is a fine dog, but more importantly–he’s a Storer.
Posted in Family, Work/writing life
