Nimmie on the Harry Street trail

I remember the day we drove over to that small town south of Spokane in February of 2008.The owner had advertised her and we’d been selected at her new forever home. It was cold and bright in the Palouse. We left Allie in the car and walked up the stars into the small rural health clinic and the receptionist brought Nimmie out. She promptly hid under a desk in the back of the room. After some conversation and verbal enticement, Nimmie came to us and we walked her out to the car.

That was the beginning of an all too brief love affair with one of the sweetest dogs on the planet. Nimmie was eager to please and obsessed with a tossed ball. And prairie dogs. Think the movie Up. Most nights she’d come over to my side of the bed, making little moaning sounds as I rubbed behind her ears. She enjoyed the walks down Harry Street on Discovery Bay and the trails at Fort Worden. Smaller than Allie, she nonetheless gave no ground when it came to play. She was a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriver: bright-eyed, intelligent, vocal and active.

She left us in the evening of a sunny day on Cape Cod. We had begun on our walkabout knowing she had stage V lymphoma, but also knowing she was just as happy with us in the motor home as she was at home in the cul-de-sac.

Nimmie taught me what love can be. She taught me that dogs are affectionate partners in life, with us for fewer years than we’d like. I now hold  Allie, Kinnon and Sherry much closer. I’m now able to let go of some of the things that I used to think were important. Dogs live in the moment and why shouldn’t I try? We’re here in this lifetime for a short time only. Nimmie’s transition continues to let me know how short that time really is and how important each kindness becomes.

Nimmie was full of grace:  elegant, beautiful, with smoothness of movement; dignified, polite, and decent in behavior; with a capacity to tolerate, accommodate, or forgive people. I can only imperfectly aspire to what she so easily embodied each and every day.

So, dear girl, chase that ball and be pain-free where you are now. I look forward to having you by my side in God’s own time. Go free!

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We had breakfast with son Christopher at the Cracker Barrel in Lincoln first thing. Was great to see him and hear about his school work. We then sought out the AAA office for maps and finally Starbucks for some real coffee. We drove through Lincoln rather that around on I-80 and it’s really quite a nice town.

We got off at North Platte to have lunch and found Penny’s Diner right next to the tourist attraction Fort Cody. Wonderful steak and Philly steak sandwich. The Philly was the best I’ve had since Tom showed us what a REAL steak sandwich is in South Philly. We then found the Bark Park and the kids enjoyed some ball tossing in the heat. Once of the finest parks we’ve seen since Paradise, CA. We then visited the Golden Spike Tower at the Union Pacific Bailey Yard. Quite an operation and it was unusual to have the vantage point of being eight stories high.

It may be flat, but no more Nebraska jokes.

Wyoming tomorrow.

We then drove south and re-entered the US after two very interesting weeks in Canada. WE crossed the spectacular Makinaw Bridge and traveled a couple of hours south to visit Carol and Steve Smith, who have a farm in Empire, MI. As always, we enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere and their gracious hospitality. Carol served a whitefish dinner that was absolutely delicious. Allie and Kinnon had the chance to run free. The area of the Grand Traverse is really beautiful, as is Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, which Carol showed us on our last trip.

Today we drove down the west coast of Michigan, turned west through Indiana, and are now poised  in Illinois to cross the plains. We stopped for our first Butter Burger of the trip at Culver’s, accompanied by one of the finest blackberry milkshakes in the known universe. Made, of course, from their custard.

Tomorrow we plan to visit The Roosevelt International Peace Park on Campobello Island, NB, then we’re off for provincial and national parks in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Cell phones and our Mi-Fi card will be off, so postings may be sporadic for a while. We plan to cross back into the states at Sault St Marie on about June 26.

Our five day visit on the farm of Kevin and Cynthia near Amherst was relaxing and playful.Lots of great food, conversation and canine supervision. Ice cream and more ice cream and Cynthia’s marvelous cooking.

The tick situation prevented the usual romps in the fields by the dogs. Even with walking on the mowed paths, Kinnon was attacked by the nest of ticks, necessitating pulling thirty or so of the black bugs off the poor boy. We also let some of Nimmie’s ashes go at the creek as this was the last place she enjoyed herself last year, walking the fields and in the woods with Allie, Maya and Javier and their humans.

Yesterday we drove north to Freeport, ME, shopping at the Outlet and Flagship stores of LL Bean. On the way we enjoyed lahbsta rolls in North Hampton, NH on the advice of a friend who we had hoped could join us for lunch. Unfortunately, he was in the ER for gout and appendicitis. Get well, John!