Of universes, art and the quest for a new dog
We have for a while now been thinking about a dog. Some of us in this family who are closer to the age of, oh let’s say eight, are downright obsessed with the idea. For years we had played the “Old Cat” card, but that game was even starting to run stale for Sweetie and me. We put the last cat to sleep at the end of last year and for a while then rode the “we’ll get a cat in the spring” card. Yesterday was really the first of the “Shit or get off the pot” days, crystallized by the older boy accusing us of never intending to get a dog in the first place on the way to the first baseball game of the year. (The older boys team won by 7 since I know you wanted to know)
Sweetie and I have upon several occasions talked about getting a dog but the concreteness of setting a time or date always eluded us. It’s not that we didn’t want a dog, it’s that we didn’t trust our ability to pick an appropriate one for the family. We knew what we didn’t want, knew it like the back of our hand, but as for what kind of dog we wanted or needed it all seemed elusive and out of focus.
This all changed Tuesday night when we sat around the kitchen table to draw a picture of what our dog might look like. I was chosen designated artist for reasons only explainable by the fact that I’m the only member of our family to have my work shown in an exhibit. The dog came out looking much like you would think a dog drawn by Linda Barry would look. I’m not sure how much this has to do with the fact that we both attended The Evergreen State College and how much it has to do with when I think about the kind of dog I am able to draw I can clearly use her work as a stepping off point.
As I have said before here at Thetrailerpark.org it is important to make clear to the universe exactly what you want before embarking on the journey to find it. The better the picture the better the reception.
This afternoon Sweetie and I met up at the local humane society and even before we had filled out an application saw the dog we had drawn. I was surprised by how clearly we knew—how dead sure we both were when we laid eyes upon her. We had just gone to look, to get the process started and put our feet in the water and before we were there for five minutes we already knew who we wanted to have come home with us.
She’s the color of a Frito with a face that looks like it might have a little Pit Bull, a little Lab and a little Cattle Dog in her all put in a 40 or so pound package. She was in heat so we have to wait until after her operation before we can take her home, so early Monday she’ll be ready to be picked up to come to her new home. I’ll be sure to post some pictures up first chance I get.
Sweetie and I have upon several occasions talked about getting a dog but the concreteness of setting a time or date always eluded us. It’s not that we didn’t want a dog, it’s that we didn’t trust our ability to pick an appropriate one for the family. We knew what we didn’t want, knew it like the back of our hand, but as for what kind of dog we wanted or needed it all seemed elusive and out of focus.
This all changed Tuesday night when we sat around the kitchen table to draw a picture of what our dog might look like. I was chosen designated artist for reasons only explainable by the fact that I’m the only member of our family to have my work shown in an exhibit. The dog came out looking much like you would think a dog drawn by Linda Barry would look. I’m not sure how much this has to do with the fact that we both attended The Evergreen State College and how much it has to do with when I think about the kind of dog I am able to draw I can clearly use her work as a stepping off point.
As I have said before here at Thetrailerpark.org it is important to make clear to the universe exactly what you want before embarking on the journey to find it. The better the picture the better the reception.
This afternoon Sweetie and I met up at the local humane society and even before we had filled out an application saw the dog we had drawn. I was surprised by how clearly we knew—how dead sure we both were when we laid eyes upon her. We had just gone to look, to get the process started and put our feet in the water and before we were there for five minutes we already knew who we wanted to have come home with us.
She’s the color of a Frito with a face that looks like it might have a little Pit Bull, a little Lab and a little Cattle Dog in her all put in a 40 or so pound package. She was in heat so we have to wait until after her operation before we can take her home, so early Monday she’ll be ready to be picked up to come to her new home. I’ll be sure to post some pictures up first chance I get.
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