The Sludge of Life

Today I watched my oldest son walk down the driveway with an eight week old pup. That morning, when the pup opened it's young eyes, it had no idea what was in store for him. He did not know that he would be going on his first plane trip and leaving behind all that he ever knew. Nor could her predict the two hour car ride from the airport. He did not understand or comprehend that in the morning he would be in one state, and in the evening he would be in another.

My son Joe has been anticipating the arrival of this pup for quite some time. He is full of expectations and hope for this young dog. As I watched this new pup willingly follow him down the driveway, I thought how pure and simple the human-dog bond can be. They spent the next three or four hours just walking and hanging out in the woods getting to know each other. Building the foundation of a bond that will last a lifetime. Forging a love that will cause both of them to protect and watch out for each other...and also, just as important, to simply have fun together.

I always tell folk that "we train from the inside out." With so much chaos and evil going on in the world, it did my heart good to see that little tail wagging away next to the legs of his new friend.

All was okay...all was right in the world.

My son is seventeen years old and still looks at alot of things in the world with young eyes. He has not been sucked in to the sludge of life that we adults accept as normal. It happens to all of us as we grow up.

But why do we have to get so wrapped up in useless worries? Why do we put value on things that are not worth anything? Why don't we open our eyes and look around us...and see, really see what's there?

I admit, I wallow in the sludge of life from time to time. But...I always wash it off sooner or later. Seeing the beginning of a lifelong friendship - like I did today, that is like a crystal clear, fresh waterfall washing away the built up sludge of life that was on me. It felt good...I needed that.

Searching for Sasquatch

From the title one would expect that this would be an article on tracking. "Searching for Sasquatch." Using dogs to track this elusive creature that some say exists, while others say...prove it. Well...

Let me tell you of something that happened to me when I was in Northern Minnesota with my dog. Now, you might not believe me but... every word of this is true.

We were hiking in a pretty desolate place, simply enjoying the quiet and beautiful scenery. Oliver and I, that's my dog, did this from time to time. We enjoyed getting away from so called civilization, the rat race and mostly... a lot of the people. It is not so much the buildings, cars, pollution and crowds of people, it's the characters of the people that are in the buildings, driving the cars, polluting the land and that make up the crowds.

I have no scientific way of proving this statement but... I believe people - on average - are getting worse and worse. Meaner, more prideful, and over all treating each other badly. So Oliver and I , we go out there and soak in what's real, what really matters.

That's when it happened. We were walking down a trail as we rounded a bend... Bigfoot was standing right in front of us! Now, out of the 3 of us, Oliver, Bigfoot, and myself, I appeared to be the only one who found this one of a kind encounter shocking. Oliver did not bark, run away, nothing. In fact, he actually looked at this gigantic piece of carpet and wagged his tail.

Then something happened that I will never forget. This thing... Bigfoot, spoke! English too! He looked down at me... looked me in the face and said, "Hey." I absolutely did not know what to do so I said ," Hey."

Now everybody has heard of Sasquatch... Bigfoot. There are countless eyewitness accounts, sightings. There are fuzzy photos, video tapes and even weird sounding audios. We even have some footprints to analyze but... no actual proof that they, "Sasquatch" exists.

But Oliver and I are actually standing in front of one now! And speaking with him... or her. I haven't figured that out yet. Finally,after what seemed like an eternity he said, " Hello, my name is Dick." I said, "Hi, Dick, my name is Tony and this is Oliver, my dog."

He then goes on to explain to me how he knows that many people are searching for him and the other Bigfoots. He explained to me how that they just choose not to associate with mankind. I did not know what to say, except to say, "That is why I am out here with Oliver, to get away from the two-faced people I do not care to be around." Dick says, " I know, I have seen you and Oliver out here before."

Oh, by the way, all the stories about how bad Dick... I mean, Bigfoot, stinks... all true. Dick tells me that the "Bigfoots" are all well aware of all the advances and progress that mankind has made. They just choose to stay away. They want no part of a society overflowing with hypocrisy. Two-faced people stabbing each other in the back. Smiling to your face and cowardly cursing you behind your back. Lying to you... stealing from you... spreading lies about you.

"You see," he says, "So many people are filled up with pride that they think they are something, when in actuality... they are nothing. They think that they are better than everyone else. And if you think I stink... that stinks! They just can't seem to keep their noses out of other people's lives. They don't have much of a life themselves, so they try and get into other people's lives."

Dick gets a smile on his face and says, "Out here in the bush we respect each other. We don't lie or pretend to be something we are not. We do not talk bad about other Bigfoots to other Bigfoots. If another needs a helping hand we gladly offer it. We find it honorable to help each other out."

Dick looks me square in the eye and says, "We realize that our Creator is really the only SOMETHING in this world. We are his creation and we are all created equal. We like it out here in the bush because we get to enjoy all of the simple treasures that he has made."

I said, "Dick, for a big, ugly, smelly, hairy creature... that was beautiful. I have to live among those types of people you just described. That's why I come out here to the woods."

We both agreed that most likely those people will not change how they are or how they treat others. When they gather together -3 or more - they feed off of each other's "stinkiness." It is actually quite sad. They are actually quite sad.

Then Dick says that he has to go. Him and some other Bigfoots are getting together and picking the ticks off each other. A real bonding experience, he says.

I said, "Dick, ticks and all, you probably have it better living out here in the bush then to deal with all the hypocritical people of today's society." He just looked at me and smiled.

So he petted Oliver and said good-bye to us. He said to me, "Tony, don't take these people seriously... they are just like ticks. Blood sucking, disease spreading, good for nothing creatures. Pick them off... keep on living."

I smiled and waved. "See ya, Dick!"