Day 3398

Dash had a lot more friends than I realized. I was overwhelmed as condolences poured in from around the world yesterday. Thanks to all of you for sharing our story for all these years and finding a place in your heart for a very special dog. Newcomers to the blog may not realize that I've been writing about dogs for a very long time. Years ago I used to be a contributing editor for a strange little magazine called The Dalmatian Quarterly. This was back in the day when people still read things printed on paper and odd publications like this could survive and thrive. The Dalmatian Quarterly is long gone, but my interest in dogs continued. I included a few dog stories in a book I wrote called The Road to Nowhere. People liked these stories, so I wrote a book about our first Dalmatian called Wag. After Spot passed away, I wrote another book about our next Dalmatian called Petey's Place. By the time Dot and Dash became part of our lives, I had discovered blogging and the rest is history.

It's still hard to get used to a world without dogs. When I came home from the gym this afternoon, I immediately went to the bedroom to check on Dash. Checking on Dash has become such an integral part of my life in recent years that it took a second or two to realize he wasn't there. His support system was definitely still in place. There were throw rugs to help him walk in every room. Puppy training pads were everywhere because you never knew when Dash would need to poop. All my pants and most of my jackets still have poop bags in the pockets. There were lots of kiddie gates to create safe spaces for Dash when I had to be away. There were an enormous amount of dog blankets and at least three dog beds in different parts of the house. You can't have too many dog blankets.

It's going to take a long time to make the house presentable again. I took the rugs back to the storage warehouse this afternoon. We may need them again someday. It's a lot more likely that another old Dalmatian will need them first. Friends gave us rugs when Dot's legs began to fail and we'll probably give these rugs to someone else. The gates will get used again too. Gates can be helpful with older dogs, but they are absolutely essential with puppies.

Eventually, all the blankets will be washed and put away. There will be one blanket that goes with Dash as he takes his final trip with us in the car a few days from now. We always wrap our dogs in their favorite blanket and drive them to be cremated ourselves. We make a paw print in clay, clip a tiny amount of fur to keep, and then gently carry our friend to the crematory. I will place Dash in the oven myself. Not everyone does it this way, but it just seems right. If you start your journey together, you should end your journey together. I will need to makes the arrangements tomorrow morning. We will go to the same place where we took Dot. They were extremely kind to us.

It was weird to experience uninterrupted sleep again. I didn't wake up once last night. I didn't even get up to go to the bathroom. It's been a long time since that happened. When I woke up around 6:30 AM I felt rested. There was no point in getting up early though. The only reason I ever got up early was to walk Dash before it became too hot. I guess I'm going to need to continue walking in the park to take pictures for the blog. I still need a new picture every day. It's going to seem strange walking without a dog though. It feels like I've been walking dogs forever.

Thanks again for thinking about us yesterday. It means a lot.

Flash is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 3278 - Blogiversary

It's hard to believe that I've been doing this for ten years. That's an entire decade without missing a single day. I always thought that if I just kept writing, it would eventually start to mean something. I'm not sure if this nightly journal means anything at all, but I see no reason to quit writing. For better or worse, blogging has become like breathing.

A lot has changed in ten years. When I started writing, I didn't give a lot of thought to what would eventually replace the world of work. I didn't have time to think about retirement because I was very busy. I think about this now, but still don't know what replaces work. Retirement seems awkward and strange. I never thought that I'd live in a country as polarized and divided as we've become. This seems strange as well. I'd prefer that we could all get along with each other. I never thought that having access to good doctors might keep Janet and I from moving. I never thought that my house might start falling apart before I did. Houses are supposed to be permanent.

Ten years later I'm starting to realize that nothing is permanent. I've outlived many of the friends I went to college with. Spot is gone. Petey and Greta are gone. Even Dot is gone. I'm glad that Janet and Dash seem indestructible. We all need something in our lives that seems indestructible.

The blog is far from indestructible. Google could pull the plug at any time. They already decided to abandon Google+ and many other products that were supposed to change our lives. Does anyone remember Google Glass? I wonder if Blogger is next? I don't really have a plan B if someone takes my blogging platform away. I don't think I have the energy or even the desire to export ten years worth of musings to Wordpress.

For now, I'll continue writing. Why not? I've got nothing to lose. Maybe this journal will still mean something eventually. Someday a PhD candidate might use the blog to write a thesis on how opinions change over time. I might even win an award for having the last blog standing some day. I doubt that anything will happen at all. Most of you are just here for the dog stories. Maybe that's enough. I think dog stories matter.

It wasn't a bad day to begin my second decade blogging. Dash had a good day. I'm even making some progress with the roof. Getting on the roofer's emergency list seems to have made a difference. Two guys showed up this morning to evaluate the roof. The wet areas will need to dry out for a few days, but they thought they could repair the leak next week. Several friends have suggested good roofers to completely replace the roof. I'm going to get bids from them. Hey, the sky was clear today, there is no rain in the forecast, and Dash was feeling good. It was easy to feel like I'm making progress.

Jasper is today's Dalmatian of the Day

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Day 2698 - Mother's Day

Mom died twenty seven years ago. She was a remarkable woman who had a much greater influence on her family than she imagined. Whatever shred of kindness or hope I have left probably came from her. From time to time I still wonder whether she would have approved of the person I've become.

I never saved family photos or childhood memories. My long term memory is abysmal. That's why I write things down. I wrote a story about Mom shortly after her death. I knew I would want to remember someday. Perhaps it means something that I never wrote anything when my Dad died thirteen years later.

In many ways Dot has occupied the role of Mother in our house for many years. She is territorial. Very protective. And she definitely made Dash a better dog. Right now, my memories of our years with Dot are much more vivid than my memories of Mom. I know these memories will fade too. All my memories fade. Maybe that is why I started this blog. It's mostly about life with Dot and Dash. I want to remember these times.

Janet still remembers all kinds of details about our first Dalmatian. I don't. I wrote an entire book about Spot because I wanted to remember those times too. These words are my memories. If I don't write it down, it probably means that I'd just as soon forget.

Dot is still eating very late at night. This is much better than not eating at all, but it gives her indigestion. There is usually a point about an hour after we all go to bed that Janet and I are both convinced that Dot is going to throw up. I take her outside and walk her around for a while. This seems to help and sometimes she pees again too. Eventually, she goes to sleep. I got up several times last night to take Dot outside. I didn't sleep well, but Dot didn't throw up. This new routine is OK on weekends because we can all sleep in late. It doesn't work so well on workdays though.

When both dogs eat their food and nobody throws up, I consider the day a success. Today was one of those days. Dot still won't eat in the morning, but I am becoming increasingly confident that she will eat at some point during the day. With Dash back to normal and Dot learning to eat again, I'm starting to feel that life doesn't have to be a perpetual crisis. I'm not going to get over confident though. Things can change rapidly when your dog is 120 in human years.

I had a good workout at the gym, but that's about as far as my motivation would take me. I really didn't accomplish much today. There are clean sheets on the bed. Dot got all her pills. And I managed to take a shower. That's about it. Maybe I'll be more productive tomorrow. It sure would help if both dogs decide to sleep all the way through the night. Fingers crossed.

Lady is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day