Ode to Adah

I’ve been putting this off  for a while now. I guess because our emotions on the subject are still a little raw. We unexpectedly had to put our beautiful dog  Adah to rest on the 1st of February.  She had some kind of an episode that left her very weak and unable to walk around easily. She was fine one day and gone the next.

Adah found me on a geology field trip way back when I was still dabbling in academia. She was beautiful, mysterious, and full of personality. I fell in love right away I think everyone who got to know Adah loved her instantly too.  Her personality was such that you couldn’t help it she just wanted your love so much. She demanded it with her relentless pawing. Sometimes she would nudge your elbow with her nose so your arm would slip from its resting place on the chair and land on her head.  Other times and with a bit of a surprise she would wiggle her nose between your legs from behind and poke her head through then look up at you with a “you can’t deny me” kind of look. This habit was a little alarming for some, understandably, but I never tried to break her of it because it was so Adah.  Her way of giving a hug I suppose. She was so demanding of love but in such an endearing way. These little nudges, paws, and wiggles are what I miss most. Little signs that she loved you and needed you to love her back. Pretty amazing of her when you consider she was found in the west desert on her own with out much human contact.

Now there was also the feral side of her. She was sneaky. Almost ghostly. There were so many times when we were out and about that she would sneak off. One minute she was by our side the next she was yards away chasing bunnies. She had a finesse about her that made her silent. You would start looking around for her and then all the sudden she would appear from around the corner looking at you like “what?” Lets not forget the 11 day walk-a-bout she took that one fall. Mysterious I tell you.

You couldn’t ask for a better dog with the kids. At my parents house she would lay there while all the grandchildren groped at her. Ellie and Adah had a strong bond. Adah always let Ellie lay by her pet her and sometimes pull her or direct her. Adah wasn’t so tolerant with Owen, but Owen wasn’t as gentle as Ellie. She did have a habit of sympathizing with Owen when he cried though. Howling right along with him when ever he started up.

We will never find another dog like her she was definitely a one of a kind.  How lucky am I that she found our camp and came down the hill to go home with me.

Ode to Chip

CHIP, PICH, BOY, CHIPPER, CHIPPY, our dog, our guardian, our friend, our shadow, may you rest in peace boy…

Chip was a unique dog. His first year of life was a difficult one that left a mark on his personality. Gary was cautioned by friends not to take him that he was a mess, but there was some kind of connection there that bonded them. I think at the time they really needed each other.  He was a  nervous dog with a major separation anxiety problem but the more Gary loved and took care of him the more normal he became.

I met Chip about 3 or 4 years before Gary and I started dating. At a party one summer in Jackson Hole. I remember him pacing between rooms checking on Gary. I tried to pet him but he wouldn’t have it. Only Gary could touch him. I remember thinking “that dog is crazy”. Then a few years later I got to know Gary and his dog Chip. Chip got used to me right away and with a few years of maturity he accepted me as part of his “pack”.

Chip never got over his separation anxiety. He followed Gary everywhere right on his heals all the time. On our wedding day as we were taking our vows Chip made his statement by breaking free of the leash he was on and running down the aisle so he could stand by Gary. I will never forget that. So endearing and such a tribute to his loyalty to Gary.

My parents have been Saints for watching over him while we have gone on various trips. Dealing with his sensitive stomach and such. Over time they were the only ones that could take him as he got used to their house and the routine of staying with them.

When we brought Ellie home Chip showed mild interest in her sniffing and checking out the wiggly bundle. Both Adah and Chip accepted her right away too. Never acting out as she crawled on them, poked at them, pulled their hair. Most old dogs that have had the history of Chip’s first year don’t tolerate children but he never made me nervous around her. If he didn’t like it he would move to the next room or look to me or Gary to help him out. Even on the last good day he had he tolerated Ellie yelling in his face and chasing him around the room. He didn’t feel good and any other old sick dog would have snarled at the innocent playfulness of a child, but he just got up and looked at me for help. He loved us and we loved him.

I haven’t known Gary with out Chip. He has been with us through it all. There is definitely a missing piece now and an emptiness to our wee house. I’m glad I took the time Thanksgiving morning to brush him out before Gary took him to the vet. It was my way of thanking him for watching over Gary when I wasn’t there and keeping him company, thanking him for being such a good dog for Ellie to experience as her first relationship with a dog, and thanking him for loving me too and letting me into his insecure little world.

Many friends and family have responded to the news of Chip passing through phone calls and comments on facebook and skibumpoet. Thank you for all the love and support. I wanted to share some of the comments…

Baby Plays the Blues

Ellie got a harmonica from her Dad over Christmas.

This week she figured it out a little better.

[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/17005385@N04/3272944297/[/flickrvideo]

Papa and Hanna should be proud maybe they could start a family blues band one day.

[flickrvideo]http://www.flickr.com/photos/17005385@N04/3273814615/[/flickrvideo]

Reunited!!!!

She’s back…. Our crazy white dog decided it was time to come home today. We spent the weekend at my parents, and when we turned into our driveway I saw something on our porch. I took a closer look and said “She’s Here!!” Gary gasped and couldn’t believe it. It was a sweet reunion for everyone. She is filthy dirty and a little bit skinnier but still the mysterious white dog that is Adah. What I wouldn’t give to be able to talk to her and find out just what in the world she was up to for almost 10 days. I wonder how far she traveled? If she heard us calling after her? What compelled her to take off in the first place? Was she really lost or just on walkabout? Did she get it out of her system? Was it as difficult a week for her as it was for us?  Who knows she is just a dog after all. We are glad to have her back though there was a definite void in the Marcoccia household last week. Thank you for mixing all of those good thoughts and well wishes into the cosmic soup on behalf of Adah and our broken hearts.

The Unkown

[click photo for a larger version of the flyer]

Yep, that’s our Adah. We found her because she was lost and now, well looks like old habits are hard to break. Ellie and I were out on our daily morning walk with the dogs and our neighbor. I got distracted for a bit and she was gone. She has done this before but has never left us over night. The kicker is I had the intuition to put her on the leash and the walk started out that way but when we met up with the other dogs she was so excited and started to whine and look at me with those pleading eyes to let her loose so she could run and play with them.

Gary has spent two days wandering all over TL and Heber. He is exhausted both emotionally and physically.  We’ve been calling animal control in both Summit and Wasatch County. We have put up fliers like you see above all over TL and have sent out emails to our neighbors. We have done everything we could possibly do. It’s up to fate now. We will keep looking and doing our part. I’m not saying we give up yet. In fact I haven’t allowed myself to shed a tear yet because she still has time to appear out of nowhere like she is notorious for.

So the point of this post is to ask everyone who keeps tabs on us to put good thoughts out there into the cosmic soup for our Adah that she will come back to us unscathed.

OUCH!!!

I smashed my toe today. I was carrying a chair down the hallway so I could use it for a step stool to reach the deep dark places of the closet where I tend to stuff things away. (out of sight out of mind) and as I approached the narrow space the chair legs bumped the couch and knocked it out of my hands and the end of the chair leg fell right smack on my middle toe. I tried to walk it off, and eventually sat down on the floor holding my toes and rocking for a bit then I tried to tuffen up but it wouldn’t stop throbbing so I broke down into tears. I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance but this HURT. I think I cried for a half an hour Whaaaa. Ellie was sleeping through the whole thing and Gary was out for a bike ride. I wasn’t going to call him but it started to swell and the hurt wasn’t going away. So needless to say his ride was cut short and he came home to my rescue. He was good to me got me some ibuprofen and took Ellie to go run some errands ie dinner and treats to cheer up with. Things have calmed down now and I can walk on it and such I think I just smashed it pretty good. Man those little toes are sensitive…

On the lighter side here are some picture of a little hike we took in the Uintas last weekend…

Toe Update

looks worse than it feels…