I sent this last night but it never made it. Maybe the video was too big, so I won't send it now.
I got a late start yesterday after I decided to take the Defender into John Kinter at EuroSport for a last minute checkup, and I'm glad I did as he found a few things that ended to be corrected. Started to load the Defender at 11:30 and finished by 1:30. One thing I noticed was that I was able to haul heavier containers onto the roof rack this year, the result of managing Leben.
Traffic to Bill and Lessley Wiles home on York, PA, was just awful. I tolerated it only because I knew that within a day, I would be finished with traffic as most humans know it for about six weeks. I made it to York in three hours (versus e normal two) and had a pleasant visit with my friends. Lessley goes out of her way to make a wonderful vegan meal every time we visit, and this year was no exception.
Got on the road at 8:30 this morning so I could get into Mongaup State Park in NY early for my first day of breaking in my routine. I made the mistake of taking a short cut on some back roads instead of the usual interstates, but I could have save some time if I pulled out my detailed NY map instead of relying on Rand McNally's rather skimpy maps.
Arrived at Mongaup at 2:15 and took my time to settle in. My first chore was to let Erde have free roam and check things out. I took her down to the water to see what she would do, as she and Leben used to rush headlong into the wAter and start barking at each other. After she just gulped the water down for a few minutes, I yelled the command, "Ready, fight," to her, and sure enough, she started barking just as before. I'm no substitute for her brother, but I'm the best she has now.
At first, it was very difficult for me here. Yes, there were tears. But I am more in grief for Erde as her loss is far, far greater than mine. This is the first night in more than 13 years, 270 days of camping with those two great dogs, that Leben will not be with us. My hope is that whatever grief we experience will ultimately turn to sheer joy, and, boy, do I have all the reason to be joyous over 13 years of wonderful memories from our road trips and at home,
Starting with our 2012 road trip, every night I would play Rachmoninov's piano concert #2 and theme on Paginini, as well as Arvo Part's fur Alina, two marvelous pieces of music that I wanted to remember these dogs by. I played them at home all the time during Leben's last days, the latter when he was put down. I am listening to them now at the campsite, and they help to transform the grief over Leben's loss into joy. I suspect that's about all I'll be is listening to the entire trip.
Mongaup camp, by the way, is just down the mountain beside us from my old Boy Scout camp, where someday my ashes will be scattered with Leben's and Erde's. Strange feeling. By the way, I decided to take Leben's ashes with us on this trip. I didn't have the heart to leave then at home as he always wanted to be with me, with us, really.
The photo I am posting with this is of Erde in the water just after we arrived. This was the thing I was most worried about, and I see now for no good reason, and so I am posting it as a symbol of the joy the two of us will find on this trip, Erde's self-joy, and my vicarious joy for her.
One thjng I noticed so far is that Erde no longer pesters me to throw the ball for her in the camp, although I wish she would. Maybe once she gets out of her shakedown period she'll start. What on previous trips was an annoying habit of hers has now become something i hope for.
Tomorrow we head into Canada and Charkeston Lake park before we head north to remote Brent Camp, 30 miles down a dirt road into the Algonquin National Park where we camped in 2011, 2012 and 2013. My plan is to still try to make it to the Canadian Rockies, Bannf and Jasper, for a few days before heading to Vancouver island for a week or so. How we head for home from there depends upon lots of things, so I will not speculate about that now.
I apologize in advance for any errors in these postings. Typing with two fingers on the iPad does strange things to the English language.
Erde says hello to everybody. She already met her first friend her, a male dog named Gunny from NY.
Ed and Erde, On The Road
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