Back from Camp

Hey everyone - I've been away for about a week, up at camp while Lesli went to San Diego to visit friends, and see her ex dog. Camp was a blast. I got so smelly that Lesli had all the car windows open on our drive home. I will never understand humans and why they don't like it when we smell so good.

On our drive Lesli told me about her ex dog. Cali came to live with Lesli and Jeff when she was a puppy. Lesli came home one day to find Jeff on the front steps and a little ball of yellow fluff playing on the lawn. Cali was a replacement for the dog Jeff's mom had loved and recently lost. She stayed with them a short time before Jeff took her to her new home in Wyoming. Lesli fell in love with her. She was the first dog Lesli loved as an adult. And it was intense. So, Cali went to her new home and Lesli and Jeff got regular updates on how she was doing.

Cali wasn't very old when Jeff's mom died, and Jeff and Lesli brought Cali home to San Diego. During the two years they all lived together, Lesli's dog love intensified. When she returned to Canada in 1998, she said that leaving Cali almost killed her. She had to pull off the road to cry. She saw Cali again in 2000, and hadn't seen her since.

So seeing Cali, at 11 now, after not seeing her for over seven years, was pretty intense. And Lesli said it was wonderful. They walked and hung out, went to Starbucks so Lesli could read and Cali could rest on the sidewalk.

Apparently, this dog has no reaction to skateboarders and joggers and other dogs - not sure what's up with that, but to each his own, I guess.

She is part golden retriever, and has the mask of an older dog now. Still gentle and sweet and will still gaze into Lesli's eyes while she talks to her.

And when Lesli left her Tuesday morning, she could barely see the road for the tears. When her plane took off, the tears poured down her face. A flight attendant brought her kleenex and humoured her by looking at pictures of Cali on her digital camera.

I suppose the human heart is limitless. There is no limit to their love - at their best, they are a lot like us. They love many, and love them intensely and without reservation. I know she loves me just as much, and that, as hard as it was for her to leave Cali behind again, she was filled with joy when she saw me.

I kind of sensed she was sad, so I snuggled close to her last night when she fell asleep.

After the bitch gave me a bath.

Hopefully she will see Cali again. In the meantime, I know Cali is in her heart. And she is the reason Lesli has me.