A Memory Jog

No question we were planning to get out early into the ravine this morning. The weather update was unequivocal; 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms and the humid high temperature to be 32C. It was well on its way to that peak even by 7:30 this morning, so after setting the table for breakfast, off we went with Jackie and Jillie. Something had spooked Jackie before we left the house and instead of snapping up the little squares of cheese he usually shares with Jillie he leaped onto my lap for comfort. He gets a little squirrely at times. I usually think of him as being in very fragile mental health; sharp sounds or unexpected movements can set him off into a tizzy of fear.

As we swept up the street and into the ravine, he recovered his equilibrium, and seemed absolutely normal. A big relief. I can't forget the ordeal we went through with him last fall when it took months before he began behaving normally. He was fearful of everything at that time, and turned our lives inside out, refusing to eat, forgetting his manners and generally reverting to a tentative state of puppyhood. He would constantly lift one of his back legs to 'skip' while walking, he seemed to shrink at being touched. Our veterinarian could find nothing physically awry. Jackie wanted comfort in being held, and when we were finally able to get him back walking in the ravine he would sometimes stop and ask to be carried. I shudder at the prospect of a repeat.

He was fine by the time my husband began picking ripe thimbleberries and doling them out before we swooped into the forest descent. A woman passing with her Yellow Lab was curious and wanted to know what thimbleberries were. My husband invited her to try some for herself and she declared them delicious, had never known of them before. She was new to the ravine, just recently discovered it, and was inordinately pleased with the opportunities it presents as a recreational treasure. Unlike us living in close proximity, she had to drive a short distance to arrive at the forest but is thankful for its presence.

As we moved on, down the hill and up another, we were met by the sight of a mushroom colony over an old decaying tree trunk, knowing that the mushrooms would be gone again a day later. They keep erupting out of the forest floor and have done so for years, renewing their presence briefly then dying back again. And when we passed over the second of the four bridges we would pass through in total during our circuit today, we noted that there were seeds left unconsumed by the squirrels that had used the top rail of the second bridge as a surface to break apart this year's plentiful spruce cones. Painstakingly extracting the seed pods from the structure of the disassembled cones, the seeds are pried out and eaten, but we assumed that this little squirrel had had enough and the leftovers were testament to that.

We also came across a couple on the trail whom we haven't seen for years. They were, at one time, regular trail walkers and we would see them frequently with their little dog decades ago. About twenty years ago regular hikers became aware of the presence of a dog left in the forest by someone. That someone had left the dog's crate, a few blankets, a bowl of water and one of kibble, and abandoned the dog. No one knew of the presence of the crate and it was only, it was assumed, many days later that the dog was first noticed. He could be heard barking. And he would not allow anyone to get near him. It took awhile before the presence of the crate was discovered.

This couple, he a retired communications specialist with the Canadian Armed Forces who had been stationed at Lahr, Germany long after the Second World War, and the German woman he met there and married, made it their special focus to win the trust of that poor dog who would often be seen at a distance wandering about the trails, aloof and frightened. They did just that, gaining the dog's trust with patience and kindness, feeding it and waiting for it to relax in their presence until they were able to leash it and take it home with them.

After which, whenever they would be seen in the ravine, the 'lost' dog would be with them and their original dog. The two dogs became fast companions and that poor abandoned dog enjoyed the final years of its life with people who loved him. Such kind, compassionate people can only deserve the community's admiration and gratitude.