The Story of the Stuck Stick

I am not sure when most people sit down to read my stories, so I thought I would post this one early in the morning because it is a great way to get the day started and a key message to keep in mind during these trying times.

If I haven’t mentioned it before, I get to go for a walk every day.  Admittedly, it has been more difficult to find places to go lately, but where there is a will, there is a way.  That’s kind of our theme here today…follow along.

I got to go for a walk the other day, and mom and dad found a fantastically deserted dirt road that goes on for miles and ends at the river.  What dog would not love that option!?

We parked about two miles from the end of the road and set out on our family trek.  We have been getting a lot of family time recently.

I was having a grand time splashing in some puddles, sniffing some trees, staying alert for any unsuspecting squirrels and just generally enjoying the stroll.  Mom and dad have been trying to give me a little more freedom as I grow into a young dog rather than a wild and crazy pup, so I was off leash with Molly!  

PHIL FACT:  I do NOT advocate off-leash walking for just any dog on just any trail…..SAFETY FIRST AND ALWAYS…but we were miles from any cars and could see way ahead of us that there were no other dogs around.

So….mom, dad, Molly and I were out for a walk on a long deserted dirt road that goes on for miles and ends at the river.  

Paradise.

I had puddles to jump in, trees to sniff, and squirrels to track down.  It was a pretty easy way to pass the hours of that day.

And I got to swim.

Super paradise.

After a while, we decided it was time to head back, so I was out of the river and back on the leash….I am mostly on the leash…because I am a dog…sometimes a bad dog…insert shameful smile here.  

Opps.

As we were walking back from the river we came to a beautiful stick sitting perfectly in the middle of the road.  It was about three feet long and had a nice little bend to it…not too crooked, not too straight.  It had no bark on it, but had a smooth surface that would have been so easy to bite into and carry along.  I gave it the once over…checked it out real good…eyed up its potential…and moved on.

Mom said, “Phil, look at that stick!  It’s a nice stick.  Do you want to take it with you?”

I said, “No.”

To clarify, I didn’t actually say no, but for the purposes of this story, let’s live in our secret world where I can talk.

I said, “no”, and we moved on.

A few sets of four feet later, we came across ANOTHER STICK…and this stick….oh boy, this stick was a masterpiece!

This stick was loooooooong and gnarly.  This stick had bits of bark hanging off it all over the place.  This stick didn’t sit flat on the ground.  This stick trailed off into the woods.  

This stick was calling my name because IT WAS A CHALLENGE.

Dad told me to leave it alone.  Mom told him to let me try.  (Again, I swear that every part of every one of my stories is true.)

So. I. Did.

I picked up this stick and planned to continue walking down the road, but the stick was stuck.

I stopped, spun around a few times, and re positioned my grip on the stick.  I picked it up again and gave it a good chew.  I bit it and yanked it and tugged it and pulled it and shook it and jerked it…but this stick was stuck.

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I took a step back and examined the stuck stick only to find that what I thought was a masterpiece of a stick sitting nicely on the ground was in fact a vine that led off into the woods and snaked over some rocks and in the end… was attached to a tree.  

And the tree was not letting go.  

So. I. Did.

And mom, dad, Molly and I continued our walk on a long deserted dirt road that goes on for miles and ends at the river, and I felt darn good.

I could have picked up the pretty stick, the easy stick, the stick that any dog could carry, but that would have been…easy.

Instead, I grabbed onto the biggest, hardest, longest stick I found. The stick that cried out, “You will never take me alive!” (poetic license here)

And I didn’t.  I didn’t get that stick vine out of the tree.  I didn’t parade down the long deserted dirt road with the prize.  I didn’t conquer the conifer after all.

But I tried, and so should you.

 i’m a dog, i love life, and i have flaws.  i’m perfect.  imperfect.  Just. Like. You.