It was strange going through the Moab commotion and feeling completely indifferent. All I could think about was leaving town quickly and finding something nearby that seemed meaningful to me. (That means something other than scenery, of course.)
So I went to my favorite cliff system. The foothills leading up to the cliffs proper have the look of Mancos shale. Harmless if dry, but barren and ugly. And yet the land had some bright red flowers from hedgehog cacti. Here are the girls checking out the flowers:
So there was something meaningful. It won't be long before I have to put Coffee Girl down. She began her career at the foot of these cliffs. Here she is, the first day I got her:
It has been a wonderful career. I got her because my first dog, a miniature poodle called Pancho, was frightened by gun-crazed yahoos sighting in their rifles, just before hunting season. He took off, into the cliffs. After a week I accepted the fact that he was dead. So I adopted Coffee Girl.
Of course, the little poodle saga had a happy ending: he was rescued by a couple elk hunters on the high altitude side of the cliffs, about 15 miles away from where he took off. How he escaped coyotes or starvation for 14 days is still hard to believe.
But at the time, before the happy ending, I tried to cheer myself up by visualizing doggie reincarnation. Years later, a best-seller book and moving appeared, with doggie reincarnation as the plot. ("A Dog's Purpose")
Maybe I was right after all. Think about Q.t.𝞹 in the top photo. She looks 90% the same as Pancho. It is no small miracle that I managed to adopt her (for free) with all the obstructions that are put in the way. (Nothing but pit bull and chihuahua mixes available, you must have a fenced backyard, and must not be "out of state.")
I got her through a Craigslist ad. A small non-shedding dog will be adopted instantly, so what are the odds of being the lucky one? As it turned out, I emailed photographs of Pancho with great scenery in the background, and her owners were seduced. They chose me over everybody else.
So in a way, Pancho was reincarnated as Q.t.𝞹, and Coffee Girl presided over the transition for 15 years.
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