BackWoods Drifter

This is the continuation of a story about A Man And His Dog.
Click here to go to the beginning. Or click the label to bring up all posts related to this story.

—

The cool thing about Sam was that she adapted. We moved into a house and Sam, never having lived in one, seemed to be house trained from birth. Apparently she just knew it wasn’t a cool thing.

Anyway, moving on – about the next 9 to 10 months as I was helping with the house. Sam was the job mascot. If we weren’t on the job we were off to the mountains. I had put the website WVOutdoors online and it seemed to be very hungry for photos. I didn’t mind though because having a home caused our trips to the mountains to be a more enjoyable experience. If it started to rain, we could go home. Things as simple as that.

I had borrowed a four wheeler from a friend and Sam took to that like a fish to water. She got up in front of me the very first time with her paws on the gas tank and that is where she rode from then on. I’d open the front door, tell her let’s go, and she would be headed for the four wheeler at a dead run. When we went to the gas station I could tell Sam to stay and she would sit right there on the four wheeler no matter who came up to her until I got back. Sam was the kind of good natured animal that just naturally made friends. People just fell in love with her. There were often people petting her when I came back out from inside the store.

Sometimes if I got the four wheeler in a precarious situation I’d have to make Sam get off. She would bark at me until I let her back on the four wheeler. Sometimes I pretended like I was going to take off, but there was no leaving Sam. That may sound cruel but if she could, she probably would have laughed. She probably would have called me a jerk as well, had she been able.

I mentioned earlier how Sam was afraid of everything that moved, except people. Well she was also afraid of some things that didn’t move. When we moved here, there was a ceramic chipmunk about 8 inches tall someone had put under the pine tree out front for a lawn decoration. Sam was absolutely scared to death of it. She wouldn’t go near it. The first time she started barking at it I looked at her and said you got to be kidding me. She wasn’t joking – it was big, ugly, and looking at her and she didn’t like it. Maybe if it had made some response to her barking. I think that it was bothered her, it wasn’t moving and probably it smelled funny.

It took about a month for me to get her to approach it close enough for her to see it was harmless. That was a funny experience to. I was kneeling beside the chipmunk and coaxing Sam to me. I wanted her to smell it directly. Oh how she didn’t want to. She wanted to come to me but not near the chipmunk. I could tell the split feelings was killing her. I didn’t force her and it actually took about four of those sessions before she finally approached me nearly on her belly. You know how dogs do. She was approaching from the side that put me between her and the chipmunk. I think not being able to see it helped her. Once she made the crawl to me I pet her and calmed her. When she did finally approach it I don’t think I have ever seen a dog extend its neck that far. If it was going to get her, it was just going to get her nose. She made sure of that.

In two years I had grown very attached to Sam. The experiences we had gone through. I just seem to be able to relate to Sam better than I did to most people at the time. Except for very rare occasions, Sam went where I went. That was a mistake that was a contributing factor in Sam’s passing.

As you can probably guess. I’m nearing the end of my story. I hope that when people read this you can understand how a person gets attached to an animal. I thought me and that little dog was going to grow old roaming the mountains together. That was my plan anyway. I used to tell my friends that either Sam or myself was going to have to watch the other die. I would have never parted company with Sam.

And that brings us to the ending…
Next post in this series -
A Man And His Dog, Friends To The End

—

I’m adding a photo here that would have been more suited for the last post in this series but I just found it. As much as I hate to admit, Sam and I called this home for a little while. I had a better tent or at least better looking tent but you can see the remains of it behind this one. I had just got this old canvas tent set up before taking the photo. The cabin tent was just a little further up the hollow, fifty yards or so. It was demolished by a severe thunderstorm the night before. Piece of advice – DO NOT trust a cabin tent in a thunderstorm. The old canvas tent survived a more severe storm just a few nights after this. It may not be pretty but it would stand up to a near hurricane or so it seemed. The tarp over the top was just added insurance. After the previous night, I was taking no chances. It was a rough night to say the least.

I didn’t think I had a picture of the cabin tent but surprise. If you are into serious camping, this tent is NOT the one to have. The problem I found with it also is that it had such a large footprint it basically had to be set up in a pretty open area. Might as well had painted a bullseye on it for the winds.

—

I’m not sure exactly when I will finish this story. It may be tomorrow but at least in the next couple of days. The last part is going to be the hardest part and I have to be in a very good mood to tell it. You will understand why when you read it so be prepared.

You might ask yourself why I’m subjecting myself to this. This blog is my diary… kind of. It chronicles a big part of my life in which Sam was a big part. I can honestly say I wouldn’t be blogging today had it not been for Sam and our adventures. That was the basis for my original blog. A man and his dog in the West Virginia outdoors. Hence, wvoutdoors.org which no longer exists. All of the photos I am displaying with these posts were used on the old site. It was a painful memory and with Sam gone I just didn’t have the heart to do it anymore. The website died with Sam. I’m hoping telling this story will get me past it and I can write with the same heart as before. Like I said – you will understand.

—

Next post – http://wvbackwoodsdrifter.com/2008/01/a-man-and-his-dog-friends-to-the-end/