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March 5, 2021: A Conversation with Ryder and Shadow

Ryder: Shadow, what is that you are chewing on?
Shadow: I dunno.
R: I think it’s a plastic plant container.
S: Hmm. I learn something every day.
R: This is because you are still new to this world.
S: Not as new as you think. April 14, I’ll be a year old.
R: You are still a puppy.
S: No, I’m now a dog.
R: Says who?
S: Says Alys.
R: Uh uh – she doesn’t know her head from a hole in the ground.
S: Better watch out. She loves you dearly.
R: She may love me, she may love you, but she isn’t that bright.
S: I’d rather have it that way than the other way around.
R: Now Pete, he loves me, he loves you, and he is very bright.
S: What makes you say this?
R: He can fix anything. Last night, he fixed the chicken coop light.
S: Alys could have done this but she was feeling kind of lazy.
R: That’s because she spent yet another day with the horses.
S: Yes, she does seem to take great joy in being with them.


Shadow looks up to Ryder

R: And she does take us with her when she goes trail riding.
S: Yes, she does.
R: And the horses are very patient with you. They do not kick when you grab their tails or walk too close behind them.
S: I’m learning to keep my distance.
R: The sooner the better. I was once kicked by Hrimmi – my eye socket was fractured. Once in a while it’s still achy.
S: Oww, you were lucky that you didn’t lose your eyesight.
R: Yes, I was lucky.
S: I heard Alys say this morning that you are my mentor. What’s a mentor?
R: I don’t know. Ask Tyra when Alys takes us down to the trailer tie up area. I think she’s getting ready to go out.
S: Yes, I will ask Tyra. She seems to know a lot about just about everything.
R: Actually, Tinni knows a lot about everything. Tyra knows a bit about everything.

(Five minutes later, moments after Pete tethers both dogs to the trailer hitch handle.)

S: Hey Tyra, what’s a mentor?
Tyra: You don’t know?
S: No, I don’t know; this is why I’m asking you.
T: A mentor is a guide, one who teaches another about a given subject.
S: You don’t say.
T: I do say.
S: So, Ryder is my guide?
T: Yes, from what I can see.
S: And what has she taught me?
T: How to play, how to scrounge for food, how to sniff out squirrels, how to open the front door, how to take up as much space as possible on the bed, how to be a good doggy diplomat.
R: Yes, I have taught Shadow all these things and more.
T: A huge job.
R: Indeed. It wasn’t a job that I wanted at the time, but it has worked out okay.
S: What? You didn’t want to be my mentor?
R: Nope.
S: Why not?
R: Because my life was simple. I had a good routine. I ate, took a morning nap, maybe went out on the trails, ate again, then went to bed. You were kind of a disruption.
S: But a good one, right?
R: Yes, Shadow, I cannot now imagine life around here without you.

Next: 65. 3/6/21: So Many Books, So Little Time

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