Because of Dogs

“Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as well as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born. What would the world be like without music or rivers or the green and tender grass? What would this world be like without dogs?”               ― Mary Oliver, Dog Songs: Poems

These days my coat pockets are full of dog treats and poop bags. After a year and a half without a dog, following the death of our beloved Finn, we decided our world once again needed one. And so, a month ago we ventured to a farm in Princeton, Minnesota and got a golden retriever puppy. We named him Scout.

He is so full of joy and pee. I forgot how much work a puppy is, but when he wiggles his butt and licks your face it’s worth all the extra paper towels we’ve had to buy. Living on a farm where he spent most of his time outside, he was not really housebroken. We’re slowly getting there.

Because of his tendency to pee freely, we spend most of our time now in the kitchen, out on walks or in the back yard. The narrowing of focus in a way has been helpful given all that is going on in the world. Scout’s joy infuses our days when it would be easy for despair to have the upper and only hand. He loves to chase the maple leaves falling from our tree and gaze at the deer wandering by. What would this world be like without dogs?

Scout has also helped us meet more of our neighbors and talk more frequently to the one’s we already know. We spend a lot more time talking over the fences on both sides of our yard. Our neighbors’ young children are drawn to Scout’s licks and kisses. And on our frequent walks we talk to almost everyone who passes us by.  People often pause to pet his soft red fur.  Scout is a peacemaker in his own waggy tail way.

He has increased our joy and it is as Oliver wrote, “no small gift.” One of the books I’ve been reading as I sit at our kitchen table is Ann Patchet’s, Tom Lake. In her book, Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town” plays a prominent role. I found myself re-reading parts of his play. I was especially drawn to Emily’s soliloquy which takes place near the end of the play after her death in childbirth.  The stage manager has taken her back to an ordinary day which happened 14 years earlier.  Emily cries out,

I can’t.
I can’t go on. It goes so fast.
We don’t have time to look at one another.
I didn’t realize. All that was going on in life,
and we never noticed.
Take me back – up the hill – to my grave.

But first: Wait! One more look.
Good-by, Good-by, world.
Good-by, Grover’s Corners.
Mama and Papa.
Good-bye to clocks ticking.
And Mama’s sunflowers.
And food and coffee.
And new-ironed dresses and hot baths.
And sleeping and waking up.

Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful
for anybody to realize you.

Maybe humans can’t realize life without help and so God gave us dogs. I am grateful for a pup who wakes us up early. I am grateful for a hot cup of coffee in the kitchen after he’s gone out to pee. And while in the kitchen, I offer up prayers for peace in our broken world.  I ask for peace in the Middle East, peace in our neighborhood, and peace in the local middle school where I work. And I am grateful for a puppy who licks the hand of anyone who pauses while walking by.