Just a thought about Squirrel Chasing

Speaking of Chester and Squirrels...
I was having a ruff few days. Kinda felt like I slammed into the side of a car, an unexpected wham on an ordinary day.   So where do I run when I hit the wall? Back towards the squirrel, or to my Master?

Squirrel Chaser

Today was almost a disaster with a capital D.  And though all is well, my heart still has that sick feeling inside, that feeling that comes when you know what could have been. 

Chester and I had just returned from a romp in the woods -- a mini romp due to rain & mud.  I parked the car in our driveway, scanned the horizon for squirrels, dogs, and walkers ~~ doggie temptations. All clear I thought.  I opened the car door, gave him the OK.  To me, OK meant trot into the house.  To Chester, OK meant chase the squirrel that was in Greg's yard across the street.  In a nano-second, he sprang out the door, bolting toward the squirrel I had not seen.  At the same moment a maroon mini van rounded the corner,  on a direct collision course with Chester. 



I saw, I yelled his name just as I heard the thud ~~ feeling helpless & horrified,  and so stupid & responsible for giving the OK to go when it was unsafe for him.   Fortunately, the mini van was traveling slowly, and thankfully Chester did not go under, and thankfully what ever part of him thudded against the car was somehow protected from injury. After THUD, he bolted back to me as quickly as he ran for that squirrel.  (Scared the crap out of him, and me too.)  



After countless hugs, a call and visit to our amazing vet,  & a chiropractic adjustment (yes, you read that correctly!) from our friend and chiropractor, I am very relieved to write that Chester is doing well and napping by my side, occasionally rising up to nudge my wrist for some attention and a scratch behind the ears, as I type ~ being his good old Chester self.

I am hoping that somehow he thinks the minivan was a  Humongous T-Rex Evil Squirrel ---- and he will never chase again.  However, the leash law is now in effect from car to house.  

A huge teachable moment for me....and I am way-glad I can tell you about this squirrel chasing teachable moment, while my faithful 4 legged buddy is resting with his head on my foot....looking up at me with big brown eyes, safe 'n sound.



Thank you for angels watching over us today Dear Lord.  Amen.





Chillen' with Dad, who seems to be snoozing through the Phillies Game

 

The Two Wheeler Story

Today Chester visited his buddy Andy (name change) for their half hour of occupational therapy.   One of the things Andy had on his chart was to ride the two-wheeler around the indoor hallway loop. 

Andy is learning to ride a bicycle, it's a slow, challenging process, figuring out how to balance on two skinny tires when balancing is already difficult. So far Andy's been able to sit on the seat, putting one foot on a pedal, one foot on the floor. Push, glide, push, glide. Balance.

Today, Rebecca, his therapist chose the blue two-wheeler.  Andy wanted the red tricycle, it was easier, safer.  He got angry, "NO! NO!" He stomped away, turning in circles.

I draped Chester's red leash over the silver handlebar. Chester sat and waited. 

"Look, Chester's waiting for you." Rebecca said, pointing to the patient pup.

Andy continued to look away, shaking his head, "NO, NO!"

As Andy walked further, Rebecca calmly asked, "Would you like me to tell Chester to go home today since you don't want to ride the bike with him?"

"NO." Andy ran back from across the room, climbed up on the bike, resting his hand atop Chester's red leash.  Andy balanced, he pushed and glided, pushed and glided, while Chester trotted and smiled, trotted and smiled, close by his side.

It was a good day ~ on a bicycle built for two :-).

Yoga With Chester, a P.S.

I forgot a VERY important part in Yoga with Chester. oops

So here is the P.S.
Very important P.S.
In fact, it really shouldn't be a P.S. at all.  It should have been in the main part.
(I sometimes worry about my brain)  ;-)


After Chester and Melissa finished YOGA time, Melissa lay exhausted on the red mat.  Chester lay exhausted as well, they were nose to toe, stretched out flat on the mat.  Picture: Chester's big black nose nuzzling Melissa's cute toes.  Peggy, (mom),  and Therapist, were gathering Melissa's shoes and socks to get her ready for part 2 of therapy time.   Chester sniffed Melissa's ten little sockless toes.  He sniffed again.  He gave a little lick, tickling her toes. Melissa giggled. Chester proceeded to wash Melissa's feet in a slobbery sort of way. Peggy saw the foot washing session and literally fell to the floor laughing hysterically. Finally, she managed to say, "I didn't know Chester gave pedicures with pet-therapy Yoga sessions!  Wait, no, that would be a Pup-i-Cure!"  A new wave of hysteria erupted.  

Melissa could not stop the giggles.  Ohmyghosh,  Peggy gave new meaning to ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) complete with tears streaming down her cheeks, Therapist was shaking her head unable to hold back the laughter OR bring any sense of order to this crew, and everyone, I mean everyone in the Physical Therapy room was looking on wondering why WE were having all the fun while they were working so darn hard.  Chester, oblivious to everything except Melissa's tasty Jr High toes, continued to slurp, lick, and very thoroughly wash, I might add,  the feet of his friend ~~~ giving a Deluxe Pup-i-cure for sure. 

Pup-i-Cures are the best. 

Chester has a few openings next week, if you'd like to make an appointment.

Good for the toes and good for the soul. ;-)

Moments with Muffin...

I awoke this morning thinking about Muffin**...not a muffin, but Muffin~ our golden girl before Chester.  (We adopted her into our hearts and home when she was 8 yrs old, from a loving family who could no longer keep her.)  Maybe I was thinkin' of her because it was a Friday morning, and Friday was her favorite day of the week ~ the day she came to school with me.  Her tail wagged extra big on Fridays. If my 3rd graders had tails, theirs would have wagged just as big as Muff's!

Anyways, for some reason, I was thinking about Muffin and this one particular Friday... Muff was teamed up with George (name changed) for math buddies. George was having a bad day and he was grumpy, and he took out his grump-ness on Muffin. Meaning, he did not pet her very nicely, and pushed her a bit too hard when her paw touched his math book, (She obviously was trying to point something out to him!). George being "ruff" with our class-pup did not go over too well with me, or the rest of the students. In an even voice I said to George,  "You may choose to be kind to your math buddy, or I will choose a new math buddy for you."  George, through his unchanged behaviour, chose for me to pick a new buddy.  His new buddy was ME, the teacher, and Muffin moved on to other buddies.


Friday was pizza day at school.  Kids sat at their desks savoring yummy, greasy, cheesy, pizza, begging and tempting Muffin with bites, to sit by them. It was a huge honor to have the Muffster sit by your desk, ohmy!  Muff wandered through the isles of nose-high desks sniffing the delightful lunchtime smells that floated through the air.  Then, to our surprise, she settled by George.  GEORGE?


I did  not have teacher of the year thoughts at that moment.  Honestly, I was still a bit miffed with George. And, the class was not happy Muffin chose George for her lunchtime friend either. Watching this scene unfold, I began to hear 3rd grade whisper comments, those comments that teachers aren't supposed to hear, but always do~
...why's she sitting by him?
...he was mean.
...he doesn't deserve....
...sit by me Muffin, not him..


I cleared my throat, gave the teacher look, and the comments ceased. Truth be told, when I gave the look,  I was thinking exactly what they were saying.  My kids shushed, went back to munching pizza and chatting quietly about 3rd grade stuff.  I kept my eyes on George and The Muffster.


She sat by his desk, gently looking at him, then layed her head on his lap. George rested his little hand on her head.  His brown eyes got teary, and then he leaned over, sort of resting his head on hers, and whispered something in her ear.  She sat quietly, he sat quietly.  And then my eyes got full, and my heart got tender. After a bit, George sat up, tore a piece of pizza (the greasiest bite, I think), and gave it to Muff. All was well in the world.


Lunch was over, the pizza was gone, the desks were cleared, and Muffin had once again cleaned out the crusts from the trash can---a Friday ritual.   I sat perched on my stool, Muff lay snoozing under my desk, and the students eagerly awaited read-aloud-time.  I kept the book closed on my lap, and looked out at my dazzling 3rd graders, and gently said,  "I almost missed a God moment today. Anyone have an idea how God used Muffin to teach me about His love?"

Quiet filled the room.  Little heads looked down, tiny fingers traced designs on wooden desks.  And then....
A few hands went up.
"I think when Muffin sat by George for pizza." one brave student said.
They saw it too ~~ and the discussion began to flow.
I love moments like these. 
Moments you could never plan, but God brings.  Teachable moments, I like to call them.  Teachable Moments can be life changing ~ when we have ears to hear and eyes to see.

This Moment with Muffin, and George,  it reminds of a familiar story. A son had royally messed up everything, I mean everything, but decided to return home to Dad, the one he had hurt the most. Before the son could even lift his head or eek out an apology, Dad ran to him, scooping him up into the biggest bear hug ever recorded in history.  He just poured the love on his boy, forever healing the son's broken and shame-filled heart.

By the way,  George had a much better afternoon.  He was kinder.  Softer.  Well, we all were.

  

Muffin with a few of her favorite kids.
 (George, though one of Muff's favorites,  is not in this pic, in case you were wondering!)

PS  **For those of you interested in name origins.  Well, Muffin comes from the original word Muffin, meaning warm and savory treat.  Apparently when she was a wee pup, she ate a whole batch of them, fresh from the oven.  Thus her name.  Muffin.

      

John

There once was a man sent from God, his name was John.  A familiar verse in the Bible.  I'm not talking about the same John mentioned in that verse.... but those words just spring to my mind as I think of a man we recently met -- his name is John, and he was sent by God into our lives.

We met John a few months ago. We sat across the aisle from each other at church. During worship, Chester perked up, wandered over to greet John.  I noticed John sat alone.  I noticed he had kind eyes and a huge love for dogs.  And I noticed he had a large bandage around his neck. 

After the service, John came to us.  He sat down, and lovingly pet Chester.  He held his finger over the hole in the neck bandage, so he could speak, his voice, raspy, strained, difficult to understand.  His eyes so kind and caring, full of compassion and love for others...dogs included. Walking through hard seasons can give you that kind of heart.  Or...bitterness.  In John though, all I see in his often tear-filled eyes is....love.

It had been awhile since we were at church on a Saturday night.  Last night we were there.  John found us again. We hugged, happy to see our friend.  John sat down, and Chester snuggled up next to his friend. John rested his hand on Chester's head, petting him constantly, rubbing his ears, just loving on him...as dog lover's do. When John stopped petting to grab a pen , Chester nudged him gently with his nose, as if saying, hey, don't stop :-).  John, no longer able to talk, his voice too weak, now spoke with his pen.  He scratched a note to us on his yellow pad, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you."  The words just made my eyes leak.  Had it not been for Chester, would I ever have noticed or met this kind man? Would I?  I hope so, but I don't know ~ ~ how many "John Moments" have I walked past?  I am so thankful that months ago, Chester walked across that aisle to make the first move, to meet ...a friend.

We, gathered closely around John and prayed for him.  He wrote notes, we read, we talked, he scribbled quickly, we listened. It was clear John was missing his voice, weak as it was. It is difficult to write notes and say all that is in your heart ... so, we just hugged some more and Chester sat close with his friend.

There once was a man, sent by God, his name was John.  John is now in our hearts and in our lives. And we are in his.  If you wouldn't mind, would you whisper a prayer for our friend.

Yoga with Chester



I love you, Melissa !

 

I love you too, Chester!


 

"Hey Chester, wanna do Yoga on Tuesday?"
"I'm totally up for it!"

Tuesday was the big day,  Yoga with Chester.  Melissa indeed had picked out some exercises to do with her buddy.  She stretched, he stretched.  She reached up high, he did the same.  She went down low, and down Chester went. Melissa yinged and yanged, Chester yinged and yanged. (obviously, it goes without saying,  I don't know much about Yoga).   Melissa taught Chester some great Yoga positions.  It was a beautiful moment. :-)

Chester's favorite pose ~ the tail wag, of course.  He excelled. Melissa did a very cute wag as well.  His second favorite pose was the bridge, when Melissa made a bridge, hands on floor, balancing on one knee with other leg stretched out straight (wow); Chester did the army crawl, on his belly, traveling under the bridge ~~ to receive peanut butter cookie from mom-Peggy on the other side.  Chester discovered, Yoga is fun.  Yoga is delicious.

Something happened after Yoga.  Melissa and Chester sort of took a nose dive in energy and concentration and weren't their typical perky selves for the rest of Physical Therapy. They were zoned, staring off into space, concentrating on who-knows-what, perhaps ceiling tiles, or perhaps the creation of the universe.  Hard to tell.  Not sure if their ying and yang got messed up, or what exactly happened, but, it was not a pretty picture, at least from Melissa's therapist's point of view.  She's the kind of GREAT therapist that well...she likes to make the most out of every minute.  Finally, she looked at the zoning Yoga-Team, & in her very serious voice said, "Melissa, Chester, next time we do Yoga last!"  Melissa and Chester sort of gave her this glazed look that said, "Dude, we totally don't get why you are so stressed, and like so, uh, not happy.  Maybe you should try to chill with some Yoga moves? "

When their hour was done,  Chester walked Melissa to her minivan.  They gave each other very relaxed hugs, and that was the end of their FIRST, and hopefully not last, Yoga Day.  I don't know about Melissa, but Chester slept the whole way home ~~ stretched out and smiling, totally. 

Moms definitely need hugs too.
(Peg, Melissa's terrific Mom)