Be Quiet!

April has arrived…so you know what that means? SPRING BREAK! Time to pack up my dog biscuits and water toys and head south. This year I am headed to see Mammers and Poppers – my hooman grandparents. They live a long LONG car ride away. 

My hoomans have been scurrying around getting out all their summer gear. They crammed as much of it as they could into their car along with me and we hit the road. We started driving one day and when I woke up the next day – we were still driving! I didn’t really mind it so much though cuz the further we drove – the bluer the sky seemed and the grass was definitely greener! I sniffed around all kinds of dog parks from Indiana, to Kentucky, and through Tennessee, then Georgia, then back to Tennessee – as we kept the car moving south. Eventually we stopped, and when we did my grand-hoomans hugged us a big hello and welcomed us to the “sunshine state”.   

At first I wasn’t sure what we were gonna do in this very warm and sunny new place – but soon I was introduced to all kinds of new sites and smells! Turns out the water here is salty (do not drink – repeat – do not drink) and the creatures here are strange! I saw a crab chasing a minnow, a dolphin chasing a kayak, and an alligator chasing a dog! Maybe that last one was just a dream – but there are alligators here and they do not seem friendly (don’t let their smiles fool you)!

Turns out spring break helps me to wave one last goodbye to the cold dark days of winter and gain a new perspective on my world. While I was snoozing in the carport listening to the snow birds talk about tennis leagues and golf games, I got to thinking about how great it felt to just be quiet. My whole body began to unwind and felt a little lighter. The sun seemed to melt away my icy irritations that I didn’t even realize I had locked away. All of a sudden the stress of those squirrels eating all the birdseed didn’t seem so important. Come to think of it – most things I get upset about back home didn’t seem that serious at all. 

As I let the sun melt away my winter agitations, I had to ask myself – why am I constantly on high alert? It seems like when I am home in Michigan I sleep with one eye open just in case that man with the boxes shows up and I need to BARK at him to get off the porch. I mean…the guy with the boxes really isn’t hurting anyone. I do not think that his delivery is designed to personally offend me. Yet – I do get offended. Outraged even! Seems silly now – taking such offense to a guy just doing his job. 

At home I can get my hackles up at just about anything. Once I was at the dog park and a puppy was spooked by a big dog (his name was Thor – you know the type). That puppy started whining and crying so I decided to start howling! It is embarrassing to relive that moment, but I literally ran around the dog park howling as loud as I could. My hooman was yelling at me to calm down but I just could not get a grip. I am not sure why I was so upset. Now I am looking out at the blue sky watching very large birds fly over oddly shaped trees and I can not remember why I was carrying on.

As the ocean waves roll in and the sun dips into the water I got to thinking about those squirrels and how I left the bird feeder unsupervised. And then I realized…I don’t really care. I mean – if the squirrels eat the birdseed then I guess they get a little fatter. Those are the consequences of their actions. Why do I feel the need to point out to the squirrels’ their silly mistakes. These problems don’t seem so urgent like they did just a car ride ago. 

Interesting how I needed a long car ride and time to just be quiet in order to realize how uptight I was at home in my everyday life. My overreactions to problems that didnt even concern me are almost embarrassing (the puppy was fine – he was just being dramatic). As my time here in the “sunshine state” comes to a close – I decided to make myself a promise. When I get back to Michigan, I am going to try and take more time to be quiet. I am sure I will need to remind myself of this often, but I’m sure the van guy who drops packages on our porch will appreciate this new me.

So friends, whether you had a chance to get away on spring break or you’re sticking to your daily grind, take a minute to just be quiet. Hopefully you don’t find yourself howling around the dog park for no apparent reason – but if you do – that is ok. Just recognize it and start again tomorrow. Try not to take offense to people that are just doing their daily thing and maybe go take a snooze in the car port until the urgency to overreact passes.

Bark at you next week – your friend,