Meet Phoebe!

I’ll be taking care of her until Monday. While I don’t normally dog sit anymore – it’s too hard to juggle a full-time job, writing, marriage, narcolepsy, and health – I made an exception for Phoebe.

Phoebe’s human mom is a friend of mine from a monthly book club I love. When her regular dog sitter wasn’t available, I agreed to step in because of the specific circumstances. Besides, as I wrote about recently, I really miss having dogs in my life.

It took Phoebe a while to warm up to me. We had two meet and greets, complete with a walk, before she agreed that I was okay. Before that, there were many nips of my calf muscles and Phoebe felt she had to herd me away from her human. It’s a good thing she’s so small and cute, because otherwise it might not have been so endearing.

Now, though, we are good friends. I know this for sure because Phoebe greets me by showing me her belly every single time.

We really are having a great time!

One of the best parts about agreeing to take care of Phoebe is that I was introduced to the Rothman Open Space. It’s a prairie trail system with the Rocky Mountains in the backdrop. It’s wide, expansive, and glorious in the early morning.

Best of all, there are prairie dogs!

If you live in Colorado or other areas in the Midwest/West that have prairie dogs, you may think this is no big deal. However, I did not grow up with prairie dogs within walking distance. If we wanted to see prairie dogs, we would have to visit Zoo America in Hershey, PA, which we did often. The prairie dog exhibit was one of my favorites.

So you can imagine my delight that the Rothman Open Space is filled with what must be hundreds of prairie dogs! I love listening to their chirps and squeaks in the morning. And while I do miss my Waneka Lake walks and the abundance of wildlife there, the prairie dogs are a good substitute.

In addition to my sheer joy and enthusiasm for the prairie dogs, it’s fun to get writing inspiration while on these walks. I’m currently revising a middle-grade manuscript, and it turns out that my brain works just as well in the open space as it does around the lake. Thank you brain!

I’m also discovering new sources of inspiration, most notably a golden retriever who watched from behind a sliding glass door when Phoebe and I walked by on the trail. I swear the dog bowed at us. Immediately, my mind whirled with the possibilities of what secrets a golden retriever who bows will be keeping.

So while I did not set out to shake things up a bit by sitting for Phoebe, it’s good to be reminded that you don’t know what you don’t know. I had no idea I had access to such a wonderful place. And now I can’t wait to bring friends and family here the next time we have visitors.

If you’re on the fence about whether or not to do something, let this post be your sign that you should give it a try. You never know what may happen.

Happy Summer!