Dear Friend,
How are you doing on this 19th day of January? We hope that you are staying healthy, feeling strong… and if things aren’t going as well as you’d like, we hope that they shift into the best possible scenario for you.
We’ve talked a lot about change in these blog/letters. Would you agree that nothing ever stays the same? Sometimes plans that you have painstakingly placed in motion are suddenly riddled with alterations made for you by some form of change.
Change comes in lots of ways. Today’s letter is about the kind of change that just happens, pops-up, derails. Is it always a bad thing?
Scenery rewritten; unique contrast within every transformation.
What a river goes through… and becomes.
Drought: a dribbling creek
Rain: a raging torrent
Snow: lollygagging within its freshly made bed
Two years have passed since Frank and I left to go ‘on the road.’ We’ve been grateful every step of the way – to have this time together, to be able to share this journey with people who care, every day we are thankful to have this life, these lessons, resilience, creativity, sense of humor.
It may sound cheesy-like-a-pizza but everyday we’re grateful for you. Thank you for being here to read, Tracks by the Post!
About 15 years ago, Zeb was found wandering the streets of Santa Cruz, California, during fourth of July festivities. This dog was incredibly frightened of loud noises. The fireworks may have been what drove him from his original home. He was picked up by Pyrenees Rescue and – long story short – my Mom adopted him and he came to live with her at her home in Citrus Heights, California.
Zeb got along really well with her cats. He was pretty good on the leash. He had a calm demeanor. Zeb was a healthy and patient dog. As a Pyrenees, Zeb’s natural desire was to guard, bark, run, be free to roam a large chunk of land. My Mom’s home was in suburbia. Barking was not OK. There wasn’t much room to run. He spent a lot of time indoors, but he was very loved.
Winchester, our Labrador retriever, often came with me to visit my Mom. Zeb and Winchester liked to play together in her grassy back yard but they were like cousins that had fun for a while and were really OK when it was time to part ways. I needed to visit my Mom a lot more frequently as her health became more and more challenging. We all agreed that Zeb’s life was becoming too sedentary, so Frank and I brought Zeb to live at our home. My mom missed Zeb terribly but she knew he was getting tons of love and exercise.
That winter, it snowed. As far as anyone knew, Zeb had never been in snow.
Here is a fun video of Zeb's first day in the snow that Frank made as a gift for my Mom. “SNOW DAYS!” The music in this video was a creation shared by our dear friend, Troy Burns.
After my Mom passed away, Frank and I talked about what would be best for Zeb. At that point, Zeb had been at our house for nearly two months. Our lives took us away from our house a lot. Winchester was used to traveling in the car; Zeb was not.
And though it was difficult for us to put Zeb through another change, a friend had called the day after my Mom passed and let us know of a woman looking for an adult Pyrenees for her farm. The timing was uncanny.
We took Zeb with us to meet the woman, “K.” Zeb got out of the car and was immediately - Happy! The farm was completely fenced, fresh water bowls waiting. We saw that K understood Zeb, the Pyrenees in him, and – that day – she allowed him to be second in command to her, but the no:1 guardian of her farm.
K recognized his happiness, 'the spin,' and she was thrilled that he let out a guardian-dog-bark as a truck drove past her property. Zeb was so glad to be outside on the farm with K, that when Frank and I got ready to leave, Zeb went and sat down squarely behind K. We knew that we had found him his forever home.
K sent me an email soon after telling me how Zeb was doing. She wrote that she had been trying to get her two goats into their pen one afternoon and was running out of time. She had an important meeting and didn’t want to leave the goats out wandering. So, she turned to Zeb. He was busy resting in the shade by the chicken coop, watching his girls. K was desperate to get those goats into the pen so she said, “Zeb, maybe you can help me?” To her surprise, Zeb got up calmly and, right then and there, easily and gently corralled the goats into their pen. He had immediately known what to do. His basic instincts were to protect his goats and his chickens.
K soon brought him first one, then another, guardian-dog-puppy to raise. His life had become ideal for a Great Pyrenees. And one night, together, he and his fellow guardians even treed a bear!
He lived out his life as a true companion. Years later, Zeb passed away in the loving comfort of his forever family.
Frank and I will always hold these memories near and dear. Every dog brings so much joy when we take the time to let them show us who they really are. Zeb went through a lot of changes in his life and though he had a bunch of love along the way, he finally had the freedom to be what he was born to be.
Change can be beautiful. Since nothing ever stays the same, when changes come and rearrange plans or recolor landscapes, there is peace in understanding how beautiful this newness can be.
As always, we’d love to hear from you! Please Write To Us when you have a chance and let us know how you’re doing.
Meanwhile, we wish you a healthy and fun week ahead!
Gently Be,
Leslie and Frank