Go to the nearest window.
Look out for a full minute. Write about what you saw.*
*I’ve decided to modify
this prompt a bit. I spend 45 minutes to an hour every day outside with my dog
in the woods, around the neighborhood, in baseball parks, and anywhere we can
find a large stretch of woods or wetlands for him to explore, so I would like
to write about what I see and hear daily while I am exploring nature with
Gunner.
Approximately 4 months ago (just shy of 4 months), we rescued a German
Shorthaired Pointer from the local animal shelter. It didn’t take us too long to realize why he
had been picked up as a stray, adopted briefly, then returned back to the
shelter the day we decided to adopt him…He’s an adrenaline junkie!
Every afternoon, when I arrive home from work, Gunner begins his ritual
of whining to go outside, and I don’t mean, whining to go potty in the back
yard because he’ll hold it and avoid that at all costs, seriously. He is simply addicted to all the sights,
sounds, and adventure outside of his house and fenced yard.
Most days, I take him somewhere close by or in the neighborhood to run
out all his energy. This entails a shorter walk around the block on the
sidewalks, then letting him loose (with his e-collar, of course) in one of the
water retention ponds that backs up to the wetlands behind our house. He LOVES going here. It’s an oval shaped pond
with tall reeds growing around the edges where birds love to sit and hide. Being a bird dog, he will spend as long as I
let him circling the pond and hopping into the water and through the reeds in
pursuit of the birds and ducks he finds there.
All he sees when he enters the outside world are the creatures who live
there. All he hears are the sounds of the birds chirping or the other dogs in
the neighborhood barking, and he is in his element with these sights and
sounds. It’s a joy to watch him. He’s so
focused, so determined, so ready to be what he was created to be: a hunting
dog, a bird dog, a loyal hunter’s companion.
Gunner sees the beauties of nature where I’ve forgotten they exist, in
the middle of my own suburban housing development. We’re not on top of a mountain. We didn’t
have to drive several hours to a remote hiking trail or wildlife refuge to find
all sorts of animals and wonders of nature.
Without Gunner, I probably would have never explored the wetlands behind
my house (which are full of untouched, natural beauty, by the way). I would
have never have known there was such a magnificent view of Mt. Rainier from the
dog park (which used to be the local landfill).
My husband may never have found the great recreational area and lake
around the corner from our neighborhood. I may never have truly heard the birds’
songs or seen the mallards that reside right in our backyards.
Even though I can view all the houses and streets in our area from the
pond where I take Gunner to run, I still feel that I am away from it all when I
am walking the banks watching after my dog. He forces me to focus on him and
what he is seeing and doing (because he needs me to bring him back to reality
sometimes), but that’s a good thing. It makes me not only get outside more and
exercise, but it also keeps me in touch with nature, something that a lot of my
generation and especially my children’s generation has lost to technology,
video games, and other pursuits inside. So, even though our Gun Gun has changed
our daily schedules and lives (as in the way adopting a toddler would change these
things), he’s also brought us a much needed reprieve from the stresses of work
and home responsibilities. He’s our excuse to explore this beautiful state, and
our motivation to not take nature for granted.
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