Unlike most days today started with a long bike ride from my house to Castle Rock to pick up my car from the my only trusted mechanic, Wessbecker Automotive, where they fixed my car yet again. The visit before, I noticed, they didn't ask for a last name or what the make or model of the car I was dropping off. It feels like I am dropping if off so often that I should make them their very own key to keep so I don't need to remove it from my key ring every time I show up.
Never the less I had to pick it up today and shell out the 200$ it cost to fix the faulty ignition switch that had been burning out all of my starters for the last three years.
This week I started a painting. Something I had been meaning to do for a while now but have never quite had the inspiration to get started until recently. I learned a few things about image transferring and the ever cheerful weather has motivated me to get started. I have little to no painting experience so my confidence in how good the painting turns out is minimal at best but my psych to make it happen is high.
I leave for Orlando, Florida in six days where I will be sitting in the bleachers cheering on my little sister Bailey who will be destroying all opponents on the volleyball court. Disney World, Harry Potter Land, Epcot Center, the hotels and beaches and all are keeping the family and myself at the edge of our seats. All of this fun and only a few days before the trip we will be putting the family dog to sleep.
Winslow has been around for a long time. Since I was in early high school even. He is looking a little older and mangier everyday and though he is blind and deaf now it seems like only a few months ago he was as anxious to go on a walk or eat a bowl of food as the day we first brought him home. Normally his days would consist of staring out the windows around the house in search rabbits and squirrels which the idea that he might actually be able to catch one seemed to consume his very existence. I like to think that he had a long and healthy life. He is loved and cared for, fed well and has a gentle playful spirit even in his thinning, rickety frame.
Just 11 months ago I saved my dog Apollo from the Dumb Friends League in Aurora and thinking that some day I will have to do the same for him as I will have to do for Winslow. Apollo's happy face, bright eyes and playful dimenore are a constant reminder of how much life he still has to live. Our days spent at the dog park, running on the local trail and hiking into the front range are something that I know I should cherish more and never take for granted. As each adventure with Apollo builds to the the last great one I know I won't forget the things I have learned and the fun I have had with Winslow.
I sat down next to Winslow and gave him some good back rub and looked into his listless wondering whether or not I can stand along side him in his final moments. Truth is that today began with a long and exhausting bike ride and even as difficult as it was I think I would rather ride my bike off a mountain side than have to see my dog pass. After all I still see him as the young dog he was when we first met all those years ago.
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