The Dog

A dog is bound to find me sooner or later. Sometimes you gotta not look too hard -- just let the

dog find you. - Greg Brown

Sadie "lil bugs" Wallace

Being a kayaker and general lover of the outdoors, I also have a deep rooted love for dogs.  Since my 1st dog which I had for almost 16 years passed, I have been in a state of limbo without my own dog.  Finding myself unusually attached to the dogs of my family and friends.  So the past few years have been a see- saw, back in forth, of whether I needed a dog or not, and if so what kind of dog do I need.

Like always the Holiday Season rolls around and Jessica begins asking what I might want for Christmas.  This always leads to what if I get you a dog?   Which is a conflicted response of "Awesome!" or "Absolutely not."  Every year it seems we pass on the fur ball in a bow for Christmas, justifying it by being too busy.

So the first big rain of the year came roaring through the south east ushering the official start of creeking season.   After an epic first day of kayaking we were all "Jonesin'" for some more action.    Lucky for us almost 11 inches of rain over two days can keep a kayaker busy.  

After a hearty breakfast, we loaded up and headed off to the darker sided of the mountain; where the rivers are dirtier, scarier, and generally  less appealing to the masses.  This suits me just fine.  Riding high on the stoke of an epic the day before and finally getting back to one of my favorite places, a dog was the farthest thing from my mind.  After a couple stops picking up our pre-river fuel and our post -river snacks, we were ready to boat.

As we trudged down the trail and arrived at the put in, we all went through our little pre-river routines; trying to rid ourselves of the usual classV jitters.  While going through my usual routine, I noticed a white, scruffy ball of dirt hunkered down under a bush.   Following the typical logical thought process of what to do when you find a strange possible rabid animal in the woods,  I broke off a piece of my brownie and called for it to come to me.   Reluctantly the little dog accepted my offering and I patted her on the head. Realizing we meant  her no harm, she seemed quited excited at the possibility of three new friends who came for a visit to the perilous gorge she called home.   Tail  wagging, jumping for joy we all patted the little dog and kind of laughed at the thought of this little scruffy gal calling this place home. 

Being the last to push off into the river, I had a little friend trying to join me in my boat.  After several attempts, I finally made it into the water despite the little dogs attempts to get me to stay with her and play.  As I paddled down stream I couldn't help but feel guilty about leaving my little friend there all alone.  After the first couple drops, we were all talking  about the little dog and how cool she was.  To my dismay, I just happened to look up at  rim and there was the little dog happily  following us down stream.  This went on until the the river cliffed out and she couldn't keep up.

With the nature of  the class V rapids on the river, we all  forgot about the dog and focused on the rapids at hand.   On the paddle out we were all riding high on another great day on the river and making plans for tomorrow.   As conversation progressed it eventually made it  back to the dog and how cool it was that she tried to follow us.   As we were riding back to the put in, to get the other truck, I decided that if the little dog is up there, I would  take her home. 

At the put in, we were soon met by our little friend who seemed eager to invite us back down to her home to join her in a playful evening.   Not really wanting to spend my evening out in the cold and looking for trash to eat, I decided to invite her home with me.   Like most dogs, a warm bed and some free food was too much for her to resist and she eagerly loaded up for the trip back to her new home in Chattanooga. After a bath, a trip to the vet, and a hair cut, my new little friend cleaned up quite nice. 

One evening last week, me and my new friend we were enjoying  a Greg Brown album and a winter sunset  on the porch when "Eugene" came on.  Those of you who haven't had the pleasure of enjoying this song, are really missing out on some of the simple truths of life.  A line from the  second verse really put my situation in perspective."A dog is bound to find me sooner or later. Sometimes you gotta not look too hard -- just let the dog find you."  Not a truer statement, has ever been spoken. Seems to me all those years I spent trying to find the perfect dog for me just wasn't going to work out.   She might not be and AKC pure breed champion, but she new right where to find me.