Executive Reflections

By Dicky Ol’boy, President
Pipe-Up, Third Congress, August 2012

This month's reflection is on Rufus our dog.  

My wife and I adopted Rufus about a year ago. The vet surmised he's around 7 years old.  He's around 50 lbs., a mix of wolfhound, and not sure what else.  Rufus wakes up happy, stays happy all day, goes to bed happy, even has happy dreams (finally catching a squirrel I imagine).   How can he be happy all the time?   I'm not.   Who is?  Rufus is.  And it's contagious!  He seems to say, "if you feed and shelter me, that is provide me trust,  I'll share my secrets with you."  With eons of Nature and wisdom under his evolutionary belt he has many secrets.

One of our great pleasures is relaxing on our little back patio.  I sit in the shade, pipe in hand,  filled with a lighter summery tobacco,  a chilled libation, meat on the grill.  In the parking lot next to our OTR building Rufus stroll by while keeping an eye on me. He's playing the watch dog. He loves to feel useful---he never wants to be left out of anything. The hot sun warms his  bones, and probably makes it uncomfortable for any tick or flea who might find Rufus comfortable lounging.  Finally he returns to the patio, hot as a paving stone, panting.  When my wife sees him panting she says he's smiling,  I guess she's right.  He nudges my hand with his snout and says let's go!  For Rufus every day is a great adventure.  It's as if he's saying, "what a thrill to be alive, this is life, a day we'll never see again, let's enjoy it...get off your ass man!"   So off we go on a walk.

He's never happier than when we're on the go; a hunting, instinctual thing I'm sure.  The kaleidoscope of smells we encounter are a thrill to him.  Competition for territory is fierce.  He marks all he can.  Our favorite walk is to Avril-Bleh the butcher on Court Street.  They always give him a treat!  And from there to Straus Tobacconist.  We sit on the bench outside the store, I enjoying my pipe, maybe a new tin, and Rufus shmoozing for pets from passersby, as happy as ever.