Find the magic in everyday

“Magic is where you find it; the only thing that matters is that you take the time to look for it.”

~Tom Ryan

 This time of year in Michigan is  muddy, slushy, and grey! Odin wanted me to share some joy and sunshine with you, with an excerpt from our book "Furry Philosophy and Memoirs Set in Stone"

"When he sees a mud puddle he runs right into it, mouth wide open, slurping mud all the way. I can almost hear him saying, (to the tune of Dr. Seuss’ Green eggs and ham), “I like mud. I do I do. I like mud. How bout you?” The bigger the mud puddle the more excited he gets. When it is a really big mud puddle, you can hear him sing (to the tune of ‘I like big butts’), “I love mud and I cannot lie. No other doggies can deny, when you walk in with a muddy dirty chin, and dirt caked on your fur, you look hot. “

Needless to say if I see a mud puddle I’ll get Odin’s attention (to get him to avoid it), or put him on a leash. It is not my idea of a great time to be giving my white dog a bath every day. Often we do off-leash training. One day we saw a huge mud puddle, so I called Odin into a heel. We walked by the mud puddle and he stayed in a heel like the good boy he is. When we got to the end of the mud puddle I told Odin what a good boy he was and told him Yeaaaaaaaaa and gave him a treat. He danced around proud of what a good boy he was and I swear I could hear him say, “I was such a good boy. Let’s celebrate!” Then ran right back into the mud puddle, open mouthed and slinging mud every which way, in a grand celebration. OKAY….how can you get mad at that? Bath day it is.

On another occasion I was in the kitchen and I happened to catch something out of the corner of my eye and thought to myself, “Whose orange dog is in the yard?” The closer I looked I realized to my amazement that it was MY orange dog. He wasn’t just a little orange; he was bright, raging orange from head to the tip of his tail. I could not imagine what the heck he had done this time. Once I walked outside I realized it was bright, PUMPKIN orange. Odin had found the Halloween pumpkins we had put in the woods for the critters. It just so happened that the pumpkins turned to mush. He was so overjoyed he was running around doing the happy dance as if he was saying, “Look how handsome my new dye job is!” Needless to say it was another bath day for Odin.

As much as you may think the habit Odin has of getting into dirty mischief is an inconvenience you have to stop and ponder the happiness. When he does these things so joyfully it gets me thinking -Sometimes in life we become concerned with trivial things: what others think, how we look, keeping up on appearances. Maybe we should take this as a lesson to take the time to enjoy life while you can… even if it means getting a little dirt under the nails in the process. Try not to worry about what other people think; just do what brings you a little joy in life. Skip in the mud puddles while singing once in a while. Life is too short to worry about keeping up with the Jones’ or stress about the repercussions, aka the ‘baths’, which follow.

Odin reminds me to find the “magic” in every day"

Odin J. always looks so marshmellow fluffy after his baths