Hello friends!
Summer is drifting away, but I’m not letting it go without one last grand adventure—and this one involved the big boat! The second I see my life jacket come out of the coat closet, I know what’s coming. I spring off all four paws—literally jumping for joy. A ride out to the big lake (what we Michiganders call Lake Michigan) is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world. Following the Lake Express car ferry into uncharted waters (or at least Milwaukee) is my kind of wonderful!
As I found my sea legs, I started to prepare for this year’s big lake challenge. This year, I am bigger, stronger, and wiser than last summer, and I’ve been perfecting my fetch game for months. So when the moment came to retrieve Pinky, my trusty pink squeaky ball – I was ready. I suited up, took a deep breath, and leapt off the back of the boat. SPLLOOOSH! My paws hit the cool, refreshing water, and instantly I remembered just how big the big lake really is.
My hooman tossed Pinky from the boat and called, “Go get it!” This was it—my moment! I bobbed in the water thanks to my life jacket and started paddling. But the waves rolled, the wind pushed, and the harder I swam, the further Pinky drifted away. My hooman called out directions, but the wind made it hard to hear. And the boat? It seemed to be getting farther and farther away.
Before I knew it, my hooman had jumped in beside me. She slipped her arm under my belly, letting my tired legs rest. I kept looking for Pinky, but my hooman whispered in my wet ear, “Leave it, JackJack—it’s all gone.”
We drifted together until the boat circled back for us. I climbed up the ladder, shook off those Big Lake shivers, and realized…how quickly that lake changed directions. My fetch mission was over, and Pinky was lost to the deep.
A towel dry, a few treats, and some warm sunshine later, I curled up on the bow to dry. I replayed the fetch-gone-wrong in my head. I’d practiced all summer… but mostly down in the ravine, where the creek carries the ball right to me. No paddling. No chasing. No big waves.
That’s when it hit me – sometimes, when we really want something, it’s not enough to be ready in the easiest conditions. We have to work the muscles we’ve let rest. We have to paddle against the waves. And yes, sometimes the wind changes, the water gets in our nose, and we still don’t get the thing we wanted. But if we take that leap anyway – prepared, determined, and surrounded by good hoomans – we succeed just by trying.
So, friends, as we sail into the steamiest days of the year, let’s go overboard! Take that leap of faith. Paddle like crazy toward what you want. Whether we fetch the ball or not, we’ll know we gave it our all. And if we keep trying… well, one day, we just might get the prize.
Bark at ya next month!
Your friend,
R.I.P Pinky 🩷
Jack Jack Canine Explorer 