o'reilly

Well, I'm surprised it's taken this long. You probably are too. I mean, I talk about it enough, I write about it enough....I take enough pictures and film enough videos...you'd have thought this would have happened a long time a go. 

Here it finally is: a blog about having a dog.

I deliberately chose the word "having" versus "owning". And still, it's not the best word--because, to some extent, it's still indicative of some form of ownership; it still implies that the dog belongs to me in some way. Don't get me wrong, she is mine; but not like that. She's mine to take care of and to love, but she doesn't belong to me. We belong to each other.

I decided to get Maddie at a time when I felt like I needed a change. For a long time before, I was very happy to go to work and have those dreams, and go to the gym and have those dreams. Exclusively. For a very* long time. But then I started to get restless. And, let's be honest--older. I'm not married, I don't have kids...and I'm older. And when you get older, you start to want different things. The biggest thing you want, in my experience, is calmness. Calmness to contrast the real-life anxieties and realities that you are increasingly faced with; calmness to help combat the stresses that even the most genuine and honest of ambitions can bring; calmness to help you just....stay calm. 

When I first met Maddie....I was nervous. She peed on the carpet and was barking a bunch, and I thought to myself "oh man, this is not a good decision". But then I found myself handing over a $500 deposit and telling the lady I would be back in a few days with the rest of the money and to pick her up. It was almost as if it was an out-of-body experience. 

I panicked the whole way home, and for next 4 days. I was terrified. And then we picked her up--and I was even more terrified. 

Now, Maddie is my best friend. She is not perfectly trained or even well-behaved. If people were to meet her, they would know she is probably a little stubborn and a lot spoiled. But....she's my best friend. It's funny how that happens. And it happens again and again, in little ways, all the time (us becoming best friends, I mean). The way she follows me from room to room, no matter how tired or sleepy she is--how she always knows when I've left, and always knows to come find me; how she nuzzles into me when she's lying on me; how she puts her head under my pillow as we sleep. How she looks over at me when I jump into the water and swim with her, how her eyes get that little bit wider, and she swims that little bit faster, to keep up so she can be close to me. She shows me all the time how much she loves me. I don't have to ask. Ever. Yes, sometimes she un-shows it--like when she chews my clothes or grabs my phone and runs teasingly around the house with it ;) But for the most part, she shows it. 

Maddie makes me calm. Even when she makes me crazy, and even when I don't want to be. She keeps me active and moving and balanced. She gets me to look up fun things for us to do--things that don't involve work or the gym--and gets me to do them, even when I'd rather just laze around and hang out. She gets me to go for walks and to explore new places. She inspires me to look for adventures right here, in our very own backyard (and to have more adventures than I ever would have imagined, in the process). She reminds me that life wasn't meant to be lived inside. And most importantly, she reminds me that the most important thing is who you're with. 

I've always loved the idea of going on adventures. 

She's my best friend.