‘Sup?
Millions of years ago, a sauropod could grow up to 100 feet long and weigh in the double digit tons. Now-a-days, a giraffe can reach an upright height of twenty feet and weigh over one thousand pounds. At the opposite end of the spectrum, an elf owl can weigh as little as one ounce and be just five inches high.
I am a giant puppy. Â When i get on my back legs, i stand roughly six feet tall, and with my five cups and two cans of dog food a day, i am closing in on 140 pounds of lovable mush. Â
Why do i need you to know these stats? Maybe so you know it all.
Dinosaurs, mammals, and fowl are vastly different creatures from different times and places, but in truth, we are really quite the same. Â We have an amazing talent.
None of us are lightening fast, but collectively we put the flex in flexibility.
That’s it! That is my big reveal.
Read on….
When people need to look behind them, they turn their head from one side to the other or rotate their general position on earth. When felines want to investigate a scene out of their sight, they use those cat-like reflexes to pivot or spin. When groundhogs desire a day at a glance…well, in the case of the groundhog, everyone knows what happens when that other Phil pokes his mug out of the hole on February 2.
When i am curious about what is transpiring in my vicinity, or bored with the straight-up way of seeing, i simply flip my head upside down and look at life from a new perspective.
Though i get to go for a relaxing walk every day, i also have a great deal of responsibility at home that i cannot neglect. Â Responsibility can be stressful or confusing.
Starting at 5:00 a.m., i have to alert everyone in the house that a new day is upon us and there are adventures to be had.  If it is a weekday, i then wander outside and bark at the moon to let the neighbors, the deer, and the rooster across the street know i am awake.  If it is a weekend, i just run outside for a quick pee-pee and then hustle back in for my first major meal. Breakfast is served sometime between 5 and 7 o’clock every morning, and after that i am ready for my initial dog nap of the day. Â
If it is a weekday, i climb on the bed…or the sofa…or the recliner and nap it up for the next few hours. If it is a weekend, i climb on the bed and wait until mom and dad are nearly back to sleep, and then i subtly suggest it is time to get jiggy with it.
Once i have roused the fam, our weekends offer unlimited possibilities. Our weekdays, unfortunately, are boring until dad retires in June.
At 3 PM Monday to Friday, everyone returns home from wherever they go, and we venture out on our search for chestnuts, squirrels, and watery play lands.
By 5 PM i am reaching my puppy stride and spend a bit of time chasing my tail, or poking the cat, or stealing Molly’s toy, or gazing around the hill, or moving firewood, or sniffing the fence, or watching the Koi, or digging in the mud, or chewing on a branch, or updating my Instagram, or typing up a blog, or asking mom and dad to open the door, close the door, open the door, close the door…
6 PM brings me my second serving of vittles, and 7 PM looks mostly like 5 PM.
8 PM is nearing my bedtime, and it is at that point i find myself doing the most thinking. At 8:05 i position myself in such a way as to meditate, muse, ruminate, reflect, contemplate, or conclude.
However i decide to decompress, i always make the most of the moment.
Sometimes i sit on the porch and deliberate in the dimming daylight. Â Sometimes i flop down in the kitchen and ponder while mom prepares lesson plans. Â Sometimes i lay on the rug and turn my thinker into a topsy-turvy tipped over tangle of ears, nose, eyes, and mouth.
When my north goes south and my south goes north, my mind goes open and free. When my up goes down and my down goes up, there are no limits to what i might see.
What might have looked dark and scary at one point, could look light and welcoming. What might have looked too big to tackle, could look like a small dip in the road. What might have looked like a smudge on the floor, could look like a beautiful picture. Â What might have looked like it was towering over me, could look like a platform from which i might rise.
Inevitably, the blood runs to my noggin, and i have to right myself again. Â At that time, like the mighty sauropod , the graceful giraffe, or the tiny elf owl, i slowly swing my neck around. Â
Now do you see it? Perspective. Flexibility.
In truth, i cannot say my mini inverted missions always help me solve life’s mysteries or correct the wrongs in the world, but they do guarantee me an altered angle of my brow…they do let me to say with pride that i have taken a chance, taken a break, and taken a look at both sides now…they do let anyone—sauropod big or elf owl small—say with certainty…they really don’t know life at all.  Â
The certainty of uncertainty is what makes 5 a.m. worth waking up for.
i’m a dog, i love life, and i have flaws. i’m perfect. imperfect. Just. Like. You.