going to put this all here and then just GO ….OUT…..and watch the day fade into Peace.  then sleep and dream.

 

IMG_9387f

this is how my BeLoved dog Chinche is experiencing things.  This summer is seeming to be hard on her.  She sleeps.   Often now,  when i come home from Away somewhere,  i get all the way into the house before she realizes it and she is Startled! until she see's it's me and then is embarassed and glad at the same time.   and talking with Granddaughter,  we determine that she is probably 12 years.  Maybe 13.   But this has surprised me.   I guess because of the comotion of the 3 little dogs until their deaths some months ago,  i just hadn't noticed.   I just hadn't noticed that she was also Just Going.  Chinche.  

And i went,  this morning to look at the Maybe Dog.    I got lost.  Talk about living in the middle of Nowhere…the woman Jan who is a dog trainer….

off and over the Rio Grande, down that road and at the Y in the road, turn, past the only dwelling and down and dirt road and watch for the double pipe gate.  Neighbors have pipe gates, but singles, and the lock will be off but come in and close the gate behind you and go, go, go  until you see the house.  It's in a Salt Cedar FOREST.   and there….over to the left,  where her sheep and Goats are,

there,  going around is a dog.  Dog.  dog.  

Dorothy, an Elder,  who created the sane and humane Animal Shelter in this county is there too.  She has fostered this 

animal

since she was a very small pup.  She is now almost a year.  Her rabies papers say her birthday is July 5.    Dorothy, who as with all Shelter animals,  has named her a dorky name….Misty.

so, here is Misty.  I don't know what i had imagined from the garbled cell phone conversation with Jan the dog trainer…but it wasn't 

Misty.

Misty is an Australian Shepard X according to her vet papers.  She's a Blue Merle…With Rust.

a blue merle with rust.   she had one of those crazy eyes…but in her,  not a total blue eye, but a half moon eye.  I extended my hand and she growl/barked  backed off.   We went then to another part of the Salt Cedar forest and threw her a ball.  First Jan throwing, then me and she, soon brought it to me and licked my hand.  Three women,  a dog.  the Focus was on the dog.  dog was unsure.

WHY.  Why am i doing this?  Why.  i think of those words of Ramana Maharshi or Nisargadatta Maharaj….DO NOT ADD.   I can never remember which of them said it,  but …..DO NOT ADD.

 

this is a BIG.  BIG.  add.  Tomorrow,  the Elder who is OF the animals, Dorothy,  will bring her here.  We'll see.   I am taking myself In Hand,  reminding self of those words,  Do Not Add,  reminding myself that impulsive doing can CAUSE  so much that is unintended.   Dogs.  Their Willingness.  Her ….willingness.   She is really…Beauty Full.  she looks like a hyenna.  all brindle, grey and black and with that crazy half moon eye.   But she is so much MORE.  a Sentient Being.  that i am thinking i can WEAVE IN.  Weave in to an old dog,  and old cat,  a herd of 19 Goats and me,  really,  old too.

so this is a big day.

 

 

 

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27 responses to “feelin kinda Flakey”

  1. Mo Crow Avatar

    Misty sounds like a Beauty! You can always rename her to Ms T!

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  2. grace Avatar

    she is. animals re name easily. just look in their eyes and
    say it.

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  3. tracy Avatar
    tracy

    She’s lovely and will be a good friend if she decides to stay. Dogs with two color eyes are Magic. She’ll behelpful with the gosts and herd them around. It will be cute. Adding love can’t be a bad thing. No way!

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  4. Dana Avatar

    Its hard that dogs and cats have such short lifespans when they are such good friends. Dear Chinche. I hope she doesn’t lose too much status when Misty comes because dogs care about that, but as Tracy says, adding love can’t be a bad thing.

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  5. ² Avatar
    ²

    i think chinche will be glad that there is comming a other dog
    so he can be sure that you have a new friend and protector when he is gone
    animals have a special feeling for that
    isn’t it ?

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  6. patricia Avatar

    this is big. i’ve just had an unhappy experience with Juno. seemed like i had found the perfect forever home for her but the resident dog on the new premises decided after a few hours that Juno was a threat. he was 15 and wanted of having to share his person with Juno. i don’t know how Chinche would feel about another dog at this point. maybe coexistence is more her path rather than competition. i think that may be the case. but it’s tricky isn’t it? you’ve talked about “do not add” before. and i’m always glad to reflect upon that again.
    can you wait for Chinche to cross over? dog population would remain the same then–not adding so much as maintaining, and she wouldn’t have to integrate a new person into her waning days. just a thought. and that picture of her. oh my. blessings chinche

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  7. patricia Avatar

    my key board is having its regular fit of seizures. what i had meant to say was “he was 15 and wanted no part of having to share….”

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  8. Julie Avatar
    Julie

    How it always starts with the Responsibility of Adding (esp another life) and eventually weaves into Beloved

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  9. Marti Avatar
    Marti

    Weaving the new dog in: well maybe not so much as a companion for Chinche as much as a guard dog for you…then maybe later, the threads hold and the weave becomes a family.
    Did not grow up with pets except for a lamb that turned into Easter Sunday dinner although I didn’t know it at the time. Have always been a little afraid of dogs but over time, relatives have dogs, we had a big ole goofy dog, Skipper, half German Shepherd, half Heinz 57, I grew to be comfortable around them and even to love a few. Chinche is one, she is smart, knew I was a little nervous and when I stayed at grace’s, she was kind to me. Looked at me with soulful eyes, patiently saying “it’s ok.” Today Terri Windling has this:
    http://windling.typepad.com/blog/
    “Dog teach us how to live in the present moment instead of the landscape of our worries — with our eyes and our hearts wide open, our souls expansive, our bodies soft and supple. They show us how to keep on climbing while still “creating the environment” for joy.”

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  10. beth Avatar

    It is big and tricky as Patricia said and doesn’t always work. The new, young, energetic have needs and the elders need to be respected. If you decide to try it maybe you could ask for a trial of a few days or a week?

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  11. hermosa-beth Avatar
    hermosa-beth

    hey Grace,
    Well I hear the “do not add” that you repeat several times…and though you questioned from the near beginning of life with goats, you still allowed additions of them…your herd growing. So I wonder what “do not add” means? (we each have our very own answers).
    be well,
    hermosa

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  12. jude Avatar

    i always feel it is more of a balance, add, take away, maintain, sustain…rather than never add.

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  13. Martine Avatar

    you already love her………..

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  14. Dee Avatar
    Dee

    Jack has been gone almost a year and I resist and resist again the urge to adopt another.

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  15. grace Avatar

    am not at all sure about herding goats…doesn’t that
    take training????? for the dog??????
    i think they’s just scatter in all directions.
    and this isn’t about love, yet, or at all…it’s
    about need of a Gate Keeper.

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  16. grace Avatar

    she, Chinche, is holding up to the task. I’ve never
    heard her growl before…something new for her.

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  17. grace Avatar

    i hope so…

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  18. grace Avatar

    well…i considered all of that. but i think an in place
    older dog is a really important influence and wanted
    that to happen. especially with how an in place dog
    is around the Goats.

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  19. grace Avatar

    never worry…CONTEXT…

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  20. grace Avatar

    i’m hoping on that….really hoping…..

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  21. grace Avatar

    since i can remember, there has always been a dog in my
    life. As a kid, we had Dobermans. More about my thoughts
    of Terri’s writing later….
    and you are right, Chinche doesn’t need a companion tho
    i think the Shake UP of new dog is good so far

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  22. grace Avatar

    the built in agreement was to have a week’s tryout.
    Dorothy will gladly take her back if she’s not right.

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  23. grace Avatar

    well…hermosa, you’ve got me there. I had come across
    those Do Not Add words over 20 years ago and they have
    blinked in NEON off and on even through that crazy husband.
    So…although i can sense the Wisdom…
    and in the case that i am speaking, the words of whichever
    of those two Masters said them, and it would be both of
    them, really, it meant to me that to keep adding is to
    keep onself held in place of that constant rebalancing
    instead of letting things Empty.
    thanks for coming here and adding to the conversation, xo

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  24. grace Avatar

    i’d like to get to a point of Never Add. i really would.

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  25. grace Avatar

    you might be right

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  26. grace Avatar

    if it is meant to be, you will decide in the drop of a hat.

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  27. Nancy Avatar

    In Jr. High my best friends parents were both deaf. They did just this, as their “alert” dog began to age and age, they brought in the pup so he could learn from the elder. There was a lot to learn too as the elder knew to bark for the doorbell(light) or the phone or numerous other tasks. I’m hoping this will work well for all of you.

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