A Dog’s Lifetime

That’s it. I figure that is all I have left: A dog’s lifetime.

I just turned 64 and if I am lucky I might live another 20 years to the ripe old age of 84. But that would be about what I would expect as a very good and long life expectancy of a… dog (20 years). That’s right. If I am lucky, I might live as long as Lucky (a dog).

My entire life boils down to a dog’s life. At least that may be all I have left. So what now? Well I suppose I won’t be rolling over and playing dead. There is still plenty I want to do including watching my son’s boy Thomas, my grandson, who is today 4 years old, grow into a young man. And I would like to walk my daughter down the aisle at her wedding (if she finds someone. Hurry up sweetheart I only have a dog’s life left in me).

And there are a couple of other things. I’d like to take my wife to the North Shore and look for agets and other neat artifacts. Visit some antique stores along the way. Have a nice relaxing late afternoon lunch on the patio at the resort. We’ve lived in Minnesota since 1988 and never once have we traveled or vacationed at the North Shore.

I want to see the bear sanctuary in Ely MN also. I think bears are awesome creatures and would like to visit in the Spring time when the sows are coming in with their new born cubs.

And I want to take pictures. Thousands of pictures to document this dog’s life. I already have thousands that I have taken. I was enamored with photography well before the digital craze, and since my first Kodak digital camera, I have taken thousands and thousands of photos. Hell I have over a thousand photos on my phone’s SD card alone. And how I love my Canon cameras.

I have already started going back over my old play list when I worked as a musician in my late teens and early twenties. I want to learn to play the songs as they should be played. Not as I once played them before we had lyrics and chords available on the web! I want to play them as true to the record as I can, then make them my own. I previously made them my own and if I was close to what the recording sounded like well… that was cool. So I need my two to three hours per day to rehearse.

I want to get out more and hike and backpack in our forests and state parks. It keeps me in shape and ensures I can survive a few more hunting seasons.

But most important to me is to be a better person. A better Christian, A better husband. A better father and grandfather, and to be a better friend.

But I only have a dog’s life to get these and many, many other accomplishments checked off my list.

So throw me a bone, roll me over and scratch my stomach! Oh and pour me a whiskey while you’re at it. ARF ARF.

Author: Gary A. Shade