"Git Along, Little Dawgie!"

~Photo by Nancy

Have you ever read the children's book "Flap Your Wings" by P.D. Eastman?

It's about two little birds who come home to their nest to find a huge egg sitting there. Where did it come from? A little boy, while walking along a path by the lake, found the wayward egg on the path and put it into the nest, assuming that's where it came from.

The birds adopt the egg and sit on it until it hatches. It's a baby aligator. Despite their differences in appearance, the birds love and care for the baby aligator, and name him Junior. They feed him worms and bugs, making Junior the world's first VEGAN aligator. Junior grows and grows.

One day, they decide he's too big for the nest and they attempt to teach him how to fly. As they push him out of the nest, they encouragingly shout, "Flap your wings, Junior....Flap your WINGS!"

Of course, Junior falls like a rock...but he falls right into the pond where he is instantly happy in the water. The bird couple realizes that in the water is where he belongs and that it is the place where he is most happy.

I thought of this story as Jack was disappearing down the driveway in the truck. He went to live on a cattle ranch.

We loved having Jack as our dog, but we realized recently that we had to get rid of him. There are many reasons why he was not going to be a good family dog, and why he was better suited on a Ranch. Now, instead of chasing cars, he will be able to heard cattle. Have you ever seen those dogs work? They are so happy! We realized that's where Jack's instinct wants to be.

We know he will be happier and that that's where he belongs, but we miss him already.

"Flap your wings, Jack....Flap your wings!"