Durant Diary: Entry #2

Dire wolf. That’s what Durant was called today at the dog park. All in fun. And just based on his looks, not his demeanor which is so decidedly contained and mellow you’d swear he was smoking something.

A dire wolf, if you don’t know, is a creature that existed thousands of years ago, bigger than the current wolf and with bigger teeth and a powerful bite, a mega wolf. Interestingly, the dire wolf, once extinct, has been brought back from extinction from cells or genes or whatever from discovered bones and, apparently, there are dire wolf puppies frolicking somewhere.

So, it was not entirely outlandish that the woman at the dog park with a mass of gray curls held back by a big clip, who was walking one of those sweet, manicured little perky terriers, would liken our boy to a dire wolf. Because he’s pretty darn wolfy.

Everything about Durant is big and rough. His head, his feet, his coat. His coat kept him warm on the ice of the Bering Sea. I think about that as the temperature creeps above 75. We walk, he runs, he walks, we rest at the clearing. We act like we have all the time in the world. We have the time to avoid sweating.

A young Siberian husky came tearing down the trail aimed at our two dogs – Durant and Tempest. They both look up when the Siberian skids near them but quickly pick up their trot down the trail. The husky’s owner is frantic to catch his dog, chasing him while yelling to his young son to not go in the woods which his son is doing, having already disappeared. His husky darts between our two dogs. I say, “Our dogs don’t play.” This is the truth because, though retired, they are working dogs. I don’t explain all that. It becomes too long a conversation for me. Anything past ‘hello, cute dog’ falls in that category.

Home again, on the back porch, we watch the rain start. After circling for a bit, Durant lies down. He is a rough boy at my feet. We are just getting to know each other but already I am feeling that Durant will likely break my heart someday.

So, there is that to anticipate and much else to look forward to.