Snow Birds

Boundless joy. Smiling dog. This moves me back to a place closer to center. Vegas and I are currently visiting a place called Florida. We've come to reside at my parent's house. We are, in a word, snow birds.

We both take a slight offense at the description. My objection, albeit somewhat groundless at this point, is that I come from this tropical paradise. Vegas' objection has more to do with the fact that she is a bird dog. Her instinct is to point, chase and retrieve birds - not be one. Vegas has done this bird dog activity once in her life. She is much more adept at flushing tennis balls from under the couch. But I digress.

On a warm spring day several years ago, our sweet, yellow lab Molly and the not so bright but incredibly good looking Vegas were lounging in the back yard. They were very happy as the birds chirped over their head signaling the end of winter. The yard was muddy and dirty and a sheer dog delight. Vegas was cruising the bushes for lost tennis balls -tennis balls that had been hidden under snow all winter. She stumbled upon a nest of birds. She alerted Molly - "Bark!" - come see what I found. Molly was the real bird dog. The birds take flight. Molly catches a bird, in flight, jumping in the air. Vegas catches one as well. Not quite in flight - one still sitting in the nest.

I know this story well because I witnessed it. I was sitting on the back steps watching the magic unfold. Vegas had what is known in the dog world as a soft mouth. Vegas brought her discovery over to me, in tact and unharmed. I opened my hands flat and she set the bird in my hands and we watched it fly away. Molly's bird had a different ending. Molly has passed over the rainbow bridge and I'm sure dog and bird have cleared up any misunderstanding.

Vegas and I are missing our small, old, drafty Iowa house. We miss the sharp, cold air on the dog walks; the snow covered yard. We miss our two legged and four legged friends and family, frozen in their homes. They assure us that we are in a much better place.

As long as Vegas and my favorite two legged human are with me, I know I'm home. And I am loved.

The adventure continues...