One of my greatest pleasures is being a dog owner.  I have several of the four-legged  family members .  A couple of our pooches, over the years, could best be termed lapses in judgment but they all lived out their days with all the doggie spoils, care and love we could offer.  They would, in turn, endure the occasional set of reindeer ears, clown bow-tie or spoonful of peanut butter.  Lawn pooping privileges, after-all, are not free.

While making a somewhat usual stop through Bravo Farms in Traver to pick up a BBQ sandwich (divine) and bottled water (watery), I noticed a new face.  It was a cute mottled face attached to a four legged body.  She seemed to be waiting for someone.  She greeted me almost immediately as I stepped out of the car.

I asked Leo, (bbq-guy-extraordinaire) about this cute shepherd-ish cattle-herding-ish dog and he said she had been left there, tied to a post over-night.  By all appearances, she was well loved.  Her fur was soft and she was well-mannered.  She seemed quite taken with Leo.  That might have been attributed to the smell of various types of meat about him.

I thought about Precious (In my mind I call her Precious) all the way home.  I thought about whether or not she will find a good home where she can lay by the TV with junior or if she will end up at the pound.  I think about her looking out into the parking lot as if waiting for someone to come get her.  I think about her standing in line for a tri-tip sandwich.  She had no clue she hadn’t the proper change.

I’m not really angry at those who left her.   I think they did the best they knew how and simply ran out of options.  Not everyone has very good circumstances these days and I can’t presume to understand what they were going through.   The left behind something precious to them and hopefully she will be precious to someone else sometime soon.