A True Friend

I had a college professor who gave me some wonderful advice on the a last day of class. He was a successful atorney who had come back to teach after his retirement in hopes of giving back to the future generations. He said "If I could do one thing for this University it would be to fire the entire University staff and hire a bunch of talking dogs because you can learn a lot more real life education from a dog than from any professor including me" He went on to say "If you can't own a dog right now in your life, then find a dog you can develop a personal relationship with and nurture that relationship"

This is Copper

Copper is my sisters dog. I went with my sister to help her decide if she wanted to buy him. I believe he was a year old at the time they bought him. He is the dog I developed a personal relationship with. My bonding with Copper came when I took him on a three day backpacking trip with me to the Unitas. It was just me and Copper bushwacking our way our Right Fork of the Bear River.

It was on this trip that I discovered and wrote in my journal that I needed to reconnect with Melissa even though we had forever broken up six months earlier. I believe the ability for me to discover this was largely due to this faithful dog. He was a perfect listener and allowed me to explore all my thoughts. He allowed me to reconsider ideas I had closed off. It was through his sheer joy of being in the outdoors with me that opened my heart. He sprinted up and back along the trail always aware of where I was but ever busy exploring his own world.

After this trip, every time I visited my sisters house Copper was the first to greet me. He would plow his head into my legs and wag his tail so hard that the back half of his body was wagging right in sync with his tail. Others in my family have used Copper for their "personal relationship". My sister Teesh borrowed him for hiking trips of her own. The amazing thing about Copper is that even though he came from a big family of 8 kids who loved him completely and who he loved completely, he had room in his heart to love me too. He loved anyone who walked in the door of my sisters house. In fact I believe he loved anyone who looked at him and even those who didn't look at him. ("Just fold your arms and don't look at him and he will calm down") I am grateful for Copper and who he let me be when I was with him.

To the dog whose knees gave out before his heart.

Thank you.

Grandpa Linton's Cradle

My Grandpa Linton made this cradle for my mom for her first baby. All my brothers and sisters slept in it. Some of my nieces and nephews have slept in it too. Calvin slept in it. All the babies that have slept in it have their names carved on the bottom of the cradle.
We had a little problem with Simon though. This cradle was just a little too accessible for Calvin to reach his tiny little hand over and poke Simon's eyes out. So we haven't had Simon sleep in it. I decided that Simon had to at least take a nap in it so we can carve his name on the bottom of the cradle. Well... I let Simon fall asleep in his play pin and got the cradle all ready. I thought I could pull him out and put him in the cradle without waking him up. Obviously (from the pictures) it didnt work. So does this count? Maybe I will have to try again today:)