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Recently I took Inkling hiking while scouting locations for a freelance gig. I love hiking with the pup, but she does introduce a challenge to getting photo and video content; there’s a lot of coaxing involved with getting her in the right shot. Now don’t let that sound negative, because it’s actually a great thing. It allows me to patiently work on commands and cooperation amidst distractions. The difficulties aren’t negative, they’re just, well difficult. She also has a tendency to introduce new mishaps and misadventures into the mix.
During one of our recent hikes, we began walking across an easement, between two fields, to get to a nature preserve. Inkling spotted a snake and darted off, giving chase to the reptile, directly through a barbed wire fence! Hoping to avoid the looming entanglement, I lurched her back from the fence, losing my balance in the process.
As I fell, I reached out to catch myself on the fence, preferring a barb to the palm instead of the face. I’ve had a tetanus shot, I’d be fine. Of course, as I fell, I realized that along the top row of barbed wire, there was also an electrified wire. That’s right, I fell directly onto an electric fence! Hello mishap number one. Ouch!
I don’t know if you’ve ever been shocked, but it’s unpleasant. It feels a lot like getting thwacked with a baseball bat if you ask me. But this wasn’t my first time, and after a few minutes and some ibuprofen, Inkling and I started up again. There’s no use in letting a mishap ruin a good hike, and damn was it a good hike.
We had a great time strolling through the woods. Sometimes she gets excited and distracted by her surroundings, but I can’t blame her. She is, after all, a puppy. All in all, we both enjoyed our day hiking.
When we returned to the car, I poured her some more water, and we both took a long drink. I reached down to pet her and noticed a tick crawling up one of her legs. I pulled it off, only to find another. Uh oh, mishap number two!
As we drove home I continued to find ticks on the pup as she snoozed in the passenger seat. I called Clarissa, who picked up some tick shampoo so we could bathe the pup when I got back. Needless to say, she wasn’t happy about that, but she weathered it well. She’s a good dog.
Why am I telling you this story? First it’s a nice reminder that you and your four legged friends need tick prevention when you’re in the wild. But more than that, we had a good time despite the mishaps. Which is the best way to approach life.
Seriously, shit happens and things go awry all the time. Are you going to let that stop you from enjoying yourself? I wouldn’t. Laugh in the face of whatever goes wrong, come through it stronger on the other side, and have fun no matter what disaster has turned up. Your life will be all the better for it.