Monday, September 27, 2010

My Good Death
   DALIA SHEVIN

I will find myself waist deep in high summer grass. The humming
shock of the golden light. And I will hear them before I see
them and know right away who is bounding across the field to meet
me. All my good dogs will come then, their wet noses
bumping against my palms, their hot panting, their rough faithful
tongues. Their eyes young and shiny again. The wiry scruff of 
their fur, the unspeakable softness of their bellies, their velvet ears
against my cheeks. I will bend to them, my face covered with
their kisses, my hands full of them. In the grass I will let them knock
me down.

Remembering Death, Remembering Trust:

Excerpts from the book, Awake in the Wild,
by Mark Coleman

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off you like falling leaves.
---John Muir, Nature Writings

Alone in a field or at the seashore…we feel closer to the mystery of life and death…Nature seems to want us to remember death.
---James Hillman, Talking on the Water

“In the natural world, death is apparent everywhere--- from the fading spring flowers, to the scorched fields of dry and shriveled grasses in late summer, to the chestnut leaves curling and falling in autumn. And then there’s the long, dormant winter, nature’s version of fallow death…Nature also reminds us of the inherent beauty of death…All living creatures must eventually yield to the call of death, from the insect that lives one brief day to the towering sequoia tree that lives for several millennia…The more we remove ourselves from nature, the more we hide from death in our industrialized, postmodern culture. We rarely come into close contact with human remains; our dead are hidden away in morgues and funeral homes. Our culture tends to view death as inherently unfair, as if something went wrong, and the media often presents death as an abnormality that isn’t part of everyday experience. As a people, we harbor an underlying hope that if we can live better or take more precautions, get faster medical attention or eat the perfect foods, we can somehow avoid dying. Keeping ourselves apart from the natural cycle of life can negatively impact our experience of life itself. The more we fear death, the more we hold back from living fully. When we turn a blind eye to aging, decay, and death, we are shocked and devastated when it happens to those around us, and we become ill-prepared for the inevitable ending of our own lives….” Mark Coleman goes on to say that of course not all cultures avoid death as much as ours; remembering death’s inevitability in the ways that certain cultures do reminds us to make the most of our lives now and not to postpone anything. He points out that we all can foster our own remembrance of death in our personal lives, just as we are doing in honoring Trusty.

Coleman continues: “Contemplation of death does not mean a negation of life. Monks and nuns in southeast Asia undertake the contemplation of death to relinquish attachment to the body, to remember that this physical form is not ultimately who we are. Yet this same contemplation raises our awareness of how rare and precious life really is. From that place, we can live with respect and care for the body, while at the same time remembering that it too will pass away. Each of us will someday return to the elements from which we came.”

Farewell Trust, until we meet again!


"Color of Joy"...follow the link for a great read.




Love & Sympathy... from Pete.

Holding you and Twust in our hearts.


Dear Wose,
Punky, Dumble, the girls and I have had you in our hearts these days since Twust had to depart from your side. She will always be with you in her very own Twust way.
We love you,
Frances, Lucy, Zoƫ, Dub & Punk

Trusty had friends coast to coast...

Dear Rosemary,

I am so very very sorry to learn of Trusty's passing. She was one incredible dog and I have vivid memories of her Marlborough St. days...She was a sweetheart.

Love, 
Bob (&Tricky)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
                                                                                                                            ~Albert Einstein

Trust, water, lap! (replay vid many times for full effect)

It is man's sympathy with all creatures that truly makes him a man. Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man himself will not find peace.
~Albert Schweitzer

Rest in peace, Trusty.
Love, Jake
peaceful last months
Love every leaf... Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive the divine mystery in things. Once you perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an abiding universal love.
~Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov
Caught red-pawed on camera 
after slurping up Jake's dinner.
Trusty always made herself at home wherever she went...

Trusty's on the highway to heaven...
 Alone in a field or at the seashore...we feel closer to the mystery of life and death...Nature seems to want us to remember death.
                                                                                             ~James Hillman, Talking on the Water

Thursday, September 16, 2010

A Little Poem for Trusty

Trusty, sweet eyes, pools 
of soulful longing.
You saw into me
and I felt love.
Trusty sweet wag,
so fast and furious.
I knew you were with me.
Trusty, sweet bark,
A song of saying:
I am here~love me.

poem sent by a friend...

Every blade in the field - Every leaf in the forest - lays down its life in its season as beautifully as it was taken up.   Thoreau

Dogs don't know about beginnings, and they don't speculate on matters that occurred before their time. Dogs also don't know — or at least don't accept — the concept of death. With no concept of beginnings or endings dogs probably don't know that for people having a dog as a life companion provides a streak of light between two eternities of darkness.  
~Stanley Coren


The dog has no ambition, no self-interest, no desire for vengeance, no fear other than that of displeasing.  ~Count of Buffon


Dogs have given us their absolute all. We are the center of their universe. We are the focus of their love and faith and trust. They serve us in return for scraps. It is without a doubt the best deal man has ever made. ~Roger Caras

"My dogs."
Bill Blass, after being asked "Who or what is the greatest love of your life?" by Vanity Fair magazine.


For me a house or an apartment becomes a home when you add one set of four legs, a happy tail, and that indescribable measure of love that we call a dog. ~Roger Caras
Are we moving again?
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself. - Josh Billings
Who loves me will love my dog also.
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux 

"...to sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace." 
                                                                                                                                                                                --Milan Kundera
We derive immeasurable good, uncounted pleasures, enormous security, and many critical lessons about life by owning dogs. Roger Caras, A Celebration of Dogs
"Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole." 
                                                                                                                                                                           --Roger Caras

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

"Charley is a mind-reading dog. There have been many trips in his lifetime, and often he has to be left at home. He knows we are going long before the suitcase has come out, and he paces and worries and whines and goes into a state of mild hysteria." John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley, about his cross-country adventures with his poodle.

I could discern clearly, even at that early age, the essential difference between people who are kind to dogs and people who really love them.
   Frances P. Cobbe, The Confessions of a Lost Dog
  I think dogs are the most amazing creatures; they give unconditional love. For me they are the role model for being alive. 
                                                                                                                            - Gilda Radner
The more I see of men, the more I admire dogs. 
                                                                                                Jeanne-Marie Roland

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
(Will Rogers) 

Where are you Trusty?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Heartfelt condolences from 3,000 miles away...
  
There is one place to bury a dog. If you bury him in this spot he will come to you when you call – come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death and down the well-remembered path and to your side again. And though you call a dozen living dogs to heel, they shall not growl at him or resent his coming, for he belongs there.
People may scoff at you, who see no slightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who never really had a dog. Smile at them, for you shall know something that is hidden from them, and which is well worth knowing.
The one good place to bury a dog is in the heart of his master.

Answer to the question: “Where Shall I Bury My Dog?" Editorial, Ontario Newspaper, circa 1900

The birds have dissolved into the sky
And the last remaining clouds have faded away
We sit together the mountain and me
Until only the mountain remains
-----Li Po, Zazen on Ching-t'inig Mountain

"Dogs wait for us faithfully."

Marcus Tullius Cicero
Trusty made friends everywhere!
Hey, where's lunch?
I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.  ~Mother Teresa

Animals can communicate quite well. And they do. And generally speaking, they are ignored. 
~
Alice Walker

( Ms. Trust was never ignored.)


"If you have people who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and kindness, you will have people who will deal likewise with their fellow human beings."
-- St. Francis of Assisi

THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. 


My Canine Cousin


I've known Trusty since I was a baby. She was a sweet dog. Unlike other dogs, Trusty never barked at me or nipped me or bothered me. She let me pet her all the time and played with me a lot. I'm going to miss Trusty a lot. Sorry Rose.
Love,
Ying Ying (& Lilly)




friendship

To have loyal friends makes life liveable. Thank you for sharing this very moving display of love with me. Anne
Trusty was the perfect little companion, I was fortunate enough to realize this after she lived with me for a short while. When Rose and Trusty inhabited the lavender room in West Newbury, Trusty was there to greet me every day and sleep under my desk when Rose would leave. When they left I missed them both but I know Trusty will always walk with Rose in spirit and her wonderful happy personality will be in her heart always.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Memories of Trust

Trusty has been a special friend of mine for years. I remember Rose bringing her to our house in West Newbury when she was just a little pup. She followed my sisters and I around, nipping at our ankles and being the cutest little cuddler. We all fell in love. Through the years I was lucky to share walks, visits, hikes, conversations, a bed, and more with the Trust. More recently, she showed me around San Francisco, led me to some of the most delicious food in the city (she had an amazing nose for the best of SF), protected me from some characters on Haight Street, and was a great pal and roommate on Page St.

One of my favorite things about Trusty was her loyalty to, and pure obsession with, Rose. I often tried taking her for runs or walks around the neighborhood in San Francisco. I figured after living with Trust & Rose for a few weeks she would assume that we'd return back to the house after our adventure. Not so. We typically made it a few blocks before Trusty was sprawled on the sidewalk in a position that meant, "I'm not moving." Our run/walk thwarted once again, we would turn around and head back home to Rose, and suddenly 13 year old Trusty would start sprinting. She knew we were headed back to ROSE.

Some of the things I'll miss most about Trusty:
Her curiosity, her old lady moans, her refusal to run with me, her all knowing glances, her passion and zeal for chicken carcasses, her presence in the stairway of Page St., her crush on Jake, her hiking skills, her old lady wisdom.

Miss you already, Trusty. xx