The Yellow Lab - July 10th
I mentioned in an earlier journal entry that I would tell you about the picture I've posted of the yellow lab sitting next to my canoe.
The picture was taken at the campground I stayed at in Grand Tower, IL. I was having one of those days, wondering why I was doing this, doubting whether I could paddle upstream against the Mississippi current, etc. In short, just down in the dumps, which happens on these kind of adventures and one must work their way through them. Some of these times are tougher than others and this was one of the tougher. I'd said my goodbyes to my friend Bob Maxwell and now again I was by myself so that played a little into it. Also, I'd been thinking about our son Ryan a lot today. Not sure why, but I was just missing him a lot today.
Anyway, I went to bed that evening a little down, wondering if I could really do this, whether I should pedal the highway paralleling the Mississippi to St. Louis because of the current or even just quit and go home.
Well, that evening I was awakened by a dog wandering around next to my tent. In this camp ground I'm way off from the rest of the trailer campers all by myself so I just thought it was a dog that wandered over from one of the trailers and really did not pay much attention to it at first.
Then at about 1:00AM I was awakened again. This time the dog was lying down right next to my tent and sort of crowding towards me. It was doing no harm so I fell back asleep and when I awoke at first light the dog was still there. I noticed it was a yellow lab. I opened my tent and in came the lab like it had known me forever. I played and petted it for awhile and then started to get my gear together to prepare for the day's paddle. The yellow lab stayed right with me the whole time, following me everywhere.
As I was leaving the campgrounds to go down to the boat ramp the person in charge of the campgound stopped to wish me well. I thanked him and told him I'd found a new friend. He said others had talked about the dog last night and had wondered if it was mine. He'd told them he didn't think so because I was in a canoe. I asked him if he knew who the dog belonged to. He said no-one in the campground and that no one had ever seen it before. Strange! Anyway, I said goodbye to the campground host and I and my new friend started off for the boat ramp.
At the boat ramp I was thinking it sure would be nice to take the lab with me. He'd make the down times a lot more bearable, but knew it was impossible. So, we just played a little more before I pushed off. The yellow lab followed me along side the river bank until it was blocked by a bluff. I turned one more time and said, "Thanks, Scout. Thanks for letting me know you and Ryan are okay. Thanks for lifting my spirits, I'll make it now!"
Yellow Lab next to my canoe; Ryan & Scout. Sadly, we had to put Scout down about a year after we lost Ryan.
The picture was taken at the campground I stayed at in Grand Tower, IL. I was having one of those days, wondering why I was doing this, doubting whether I could paddle upstream against the Mississippi current, etc. In short, just down in the dumps, which happens on these kind of adventures and one must work their way through them. Some of these times are tougher than others and this was one of the tougher. I'd said my goodbyes to my friend Bob Maxwell and now again I was by myself so that played a little into it. Also, I'd been thinking about our son Ryan a lot today. Not sure why, but I was just missing him a lot today.
Anyway, I went to bed that evening a little down, wondering if I could really do this, whether I should pedal the highway paralleling the Mississippi to St. Louis because of the current or even just quit and go home.
Well, that evening I was awakened by a dog wandering around next to my tent. In this camp ground I'm way off from the rest of the trailer campers all by myself so I just thought it was a dog that wandered over from one of the trailers and really did not pay much attention to it at first.
Then at about 1:00AM I was awakened again. This time the dog was lying down right next to my tent and sort of crowding towards me. It was doing no harm so I fell back asleep and when I awoke at first light the dog was still there. I noticed it was a yellow lab. I opened my tent and in came the lab like it had known me forever. I played and petted it for awhile and then started to get my gear together to prepare for the day's paddle. The yellow lab stayed right with me the whole time, following me everywhere.
As I was leaving the campgrounds to go down to the boat ramp the person in charge of the campgound stopped to wish me well. I thanked him and told him I'd found a new friend. He said others had talked about the dog last night and had wondered if it was mine. He'd told them he didn't think so because I was in a canoe. I asked him if he knew who the dog belonged to. He said no-one in the campground and that no one had ever seen it before. Strange! Anyway, I said goodbye to the campground host and I and my new friend started off for the boat ramp.
At the boat ramp I was thinking it sure would be nice to take the lab with me. He'd make the down times a lot more bearable, but knew it was impossible. So, we just played a little more before I pushed off. The yellow lab followed me along side the river bank until it was blocked by a bluff. I turned one more time and said, "Thanks, Scout. Thanks for letting me know you and Ryan are okay. Thanks for lifting my spirits, I'll make it now!"
Yellow Lab next to my canoe; Ryan & Scout. Sadly, we had to put Scout down about a year after we lost Ryan.
posted by Coach at 12:14 PM
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