Scattered memories

Yesterday evening I combined the cremains of the Great Triumvirate of Gypsy, Cabell, and Bremo and scattered them out in the pasture as Bailey and Woody ran around. We had Gypsy when we moved here 25 years ago and adopted Cabell shortly thereafter. Cabell was still a puppy when we adopted him and he was the only dog who could ever get the very serious minded Gypsy to engage in play. Bremo was the puppy known as Fuzzy Bear from Maggie's litter of puppies, Maggie being our first foster dog. Those three formed the core of our group of dogs for quite a few years. 

Today I took Bailey on a hike at Pleasant Grove. We parked near the pole barn and went straight down the hill, across the creek and up to the area known as Burke Heights, which overlooks the Rivanna river. I walked off the trail to what seemed to be the highest point around and there I scattered the combined remains of Della and Serena. I tied Bailey's leash to a tree while I walked around and she surprised me a bit by just laying calmly and watching until I was finished and then we went on our way.

We saw this small turtle on the trail. 

That's an earthworm right in front of him. 

I'm not sure he was about the eat the worm or not. 

Waiting patiently while I said goodbye to Della and Serena.

This evening after a really strong storm had passed, I went outside and scattered the cremains of our first rottweiler, Jack, around a pear tree that he was particularly fond of when it was producing fruit. We never ate the pears from the tree although they were quite plentiful some years. Jack would go over to the tree and jump up to grab a piece of low hanging fruit. The pears were always too hard for our taste but Jack seemed to enjoy chewing on them. When he could no longer reach them, he got Vito to jump up and grab a branch for him. Bremo took it up in later years after Jack was gone but few other dogs ever showed any interest in them. I guess it's a rottweiler thing. Along with Jack, I dispersed the ashes of our cat, Eleanor, because Jack liked her and who wouldn't want to spend eternity with a rottweiler?  

I've been doing a lot of this lately and I'm actually down to just four more. It has brought back pleasant memories of all the dogs we've had over the past 25 years in this house. There's always something you miss about a dog who has died. Their presence, obviously, but often it's a little quirk, something that no other dog had or did, something that made them unique, even if it wasn't something pleasant. The same is true of foster dogs too, if they are around long enough to burrow their way into your heart. Here's just a few that come to mind:

• Going outside at night before bed to track down Trooper who had gone out a half hour earlier and was wandering around the yard.

• Sparky's jump for joy, a Tigger-like vertical jump with all four feet off the ground and a half twist, ready to be my personal trainer and take me out on the trails for a fast-paced hike.

• TJ's infectious smile that looked totally innocent but hid a scheme he was hatching in his husky brain.

• Cabell's smile, that face he made while baring his teeth that might have been mistaken for something malevolent if was coming from any dog other than Cabell.

• Bremo's sweet and pure innocence, unable to conceive that he could possibly have done anything wrong.

• Vince's work ethic, always "on", always on patrol, always ready for whatever was happening, and always prepared to take on anything even if it greatly exceeded his size, strength, and ability.

• Gypsy's absolute, steadfast devotion to me, right or wrong, that dog was my dog and stood by me. Gypsy always had my back.

I wrote a Thanksgiving post in 2015 with pictures and thoughts on many of our pack up to that time. It was nice reading it again just now:  Thanks be unto Dog. 

I listen to music as I walk and so often it seems that the perfect song comes along at just the right moment. And so it was today as I was ending the walk with Bailey after scattering Della and Serena. The final song on the playlist was "Sam" by Sturgill Simpson. It's a very short song but it makes me cry every time I hear it. Today was no exception.