The Bright Side

The other day I was feeling sad about Wesley, and Tom said to me, "Well, look on the bright side. It is a sunny day." Good old Tom. Always looking on the bright side. So, I've been trying.

Now that one of my dogs has passed away, I only have half the dog hair to clean up around the house. That is actually a big deal. We only have to buy half the amount of dog food. We no longer have to worry about leaving food out on the table. If we take a vacation, it will be easier to take just one dog with us, or to get someone to watch her. I no longer have to worry about what kind of trouble Wesley is getting into. Of course, none of that makes up for the loss of my best friend and running partner.

So when I was out running in the woods the other day without Wesley, I tried to look at the bright side. Well, I get to see more wildlife this way. I get much closer to deer and birds and the little critters than I would have with my dog sniffing around, scaring them away. Then again, I also, in theory, will get closer to the big critters than I would have. And that is what really bothers me. Of course I still have my can of bear spray, although Jim has pointed out that if a bear got close enough to spray, you'd have teeth marks. I have started carrying my cell phone with me in my running pack, in case I get into some kind of trouble. It is not as reassuring as having a friend with big sharp scary teeth at my side, but it's something.

The cell phone has already been really convenient to have around. I've been able to take care of household business while out on my morning run. It gives me an excuse to stop and walk a little bit, and makes things more efficient. But please don't call me just to chat while I am out on my morning run. I just won't do it.

I am really not that concerned about wild animals where I run, regardless of Jim's experience running into the bear and two cubs a couple of years ago, and the dead mountain lion me and the boys found last year, and the reports of wolf packs in the 9 Mile and Evaro areas (to the West and East of us, respectively). I think that after three years of running back there, they are fairly used to having us around. But I do miss Wesley.

Maybe having him around gave me a false sense of security, but it was comforting nonetheless. Even when Wesley was still alive, there were numerous times that I went for long runs back there without him. Like the time he broke a toenail on the ice and refused to go under certain weather conditions. Or the time that we ran into a man with two dogs out there and Wesley turned tail and ran all the way home. Yeah, there were plenty of times when he was just too tired or too interested in the chickens' compost scraps to be bothered with a long run.

The logging road that I most enjoy running along is on public land, but it runs along the perimeter of private properties. I have met some of our nicest neighbors back there. Well, sort of neighbors. Wesley never fought with any of the dogs that we ran into out there, and people even complimented me on what a sweet dog he was, so well-behaved. Well, that was Wesley for sure. He could be super-sweet, and he could also be a total punk.

So we're going to pick up Wesley's ashes today, then we're going to the International Wildlife Film Festival's "Wild Fest" in Missoula.