Out of the Wilderness

You know how some people have to grow into their teeth? Or kids sometimes have big heads before their bodies catch up? Well, Piper’s Native American name was “Little Big Ear” and that pretty much sums her up. She was a petite beagle with gigantic ears… so big that my second children’s book (The Brave Bamboo) was inspired by those ears. It’s a hound thing, for sure. Just take a look at any basset hound and you’ll quickly notice their ears are the most noticeable trait about them, and their short legs but that’s neither here nor there. Plus, we’re talking about beagles which have normal sized legs, but still very humongous ears. I loved Piper’s ears so much. Here’s an early picture of Piper to give you an idea of how disproportionately big hound ears can be.

Plus, and I think most dogs have this, she had this little flap on the back of ears that became one of my favorite things because what is it and why is it there? It’s just so cool.

I really miss “Little Big Ear” and her 10-gallon ears. Even when she was older and couldn’t hear me (or was it selective hearing?), I told her all the time that I loved her… come to think of it, maybe her losing her hearing was a blessing for her with all the songs I’d make up with her name. 🎶🎼🎸🐶

-Out of the Wilderness

I was walking with my dog Asia recently and thought back to when we (myself, Asia, and Piper) had our longest walk ever. That wasn’t the original plan. The original plan was to meet a woman for a date of light hiking, fall madly in love, get married so Piper can bring the rings to us during the ceremony, have lots of kids, have a house with a wraparound porch and drink lemonade on warm Saturday mornings. But all of that got derailed. Scroll down for the rest of the story…

How many first dates are two people meeting up for a “hike”? Probably quite a few and this was one of those first dates. We met at Percy Warner Park in Nashville and walked with our dogs, getting to know each other and going through the normal first date type questions. Where do you work, how long have you lived here, do you have siblings, blah blah blah. About halfway through we stopped for a water break then continued up and down the hills of the park. The date went fine and at the end we said our goodbyes. She drove away never to be seen again. 🥴 Something else I never saw again… my car keys! After she left I walked to my car and poof, the keys were gone.

Our walk was a 5 mile loop. Well, that turned into 10 miles because I took the dogs around again, but this time I wasn’t looking for love, I was looking for keys. Remember when I said we stopped for a water break? I must’ve dropped them there but when I got back to that spot, nothing. Long story short, I never found the keys and my roommate at the time had to come pick up the dogs and me. How embarrassing.

But Piper and Asia were troopers that day. A 10-mile hike and they conquered it without hesitation.

Taking my dogs for walks wasn’t always easy, I won’t sugar coat it. But most of the time we had a ball exploring nearby parks and greenways, and I’m going to miss Piper’s endless curiosity about the world around her. Of course, it would’ve helped if she could track down keys as good as she could scare up a rabbit. 🐇

-Out of the Wilderness

Piper wasn’t afraid of much. As I type this out, I can only think of a handful of times where she would come to me with anxiety. Maybe a bee stung her or she heard something out of the ordinary. I never actually narrowed down any specific reason she showed any signs of fear. A lot of times, she was the opposite. Like a big dog in a little dog’s body. But she wasn’t all bark, either. At the dog parks, for instance, it was ME who had anxiety because… “Piper might pick a fight today.” If another dog sniffs Piper’s rear-end the wrong way (is there a right way??) or it’s just getting too close to her majesty, Piper *might* howl and if they’re small enough, Piper would pin them down. Mostly small game, that’s what she was really interested in. Rabbits, moles, oh there was a crawfish situation. Here she is with the crawfish like they’re in round 3 of a no-holds barred WWE match.

Come to think of it, she didn’t like water much. Baths, of course, were high on her list of dislikes. Ocean, lakes, she’d go in but very infrequently. It’s not that she was scared, I should point out. I think she treated that sort of activity as beneath her. Royalty doesn’t need the fun that peasants take part in. Last summer, with the Florida heat being what it is, I propped up a hose so she could have a refreshing mist to stay cool. Did she like it? Hmm, I doubt it. But was she going to let me see her back down? Not a chance. Here she is in the mist, defiant while still giving me a bit of a side eye for good measure.

I miss you ol’ girl.

-Out of the Wilderness