Myrrhlyn Goes Kayaking

What a day to forget to bring my camera along, our dog Myrrhlyn’s first kayaking trip! Late Saturday afternoon we took Myrrhlyn to the Sebago Canoe Club, hauled our sit-on-tops down to the dock, and with Myrrhlyn in the cockpit of my wife Vicki’s kayak we paddled out under the Belt Parkway Bridge into Jamaica Bay. We beached just beyond the bridge to see how Myrrhlyn would handle the beach and surf. He loved the beach, stayed close to us, but would not walk out into the water from the beach. He did, however, climb up into the cockpit of my wife’s kayak which was half on the beach and half in the water. Balancing himself as the kayak rocked to and fro while he worked his way out to the stern, he jumped from the stern into the water, waded out until he had to swim, and then swam out to as where we were standing about knee to thigh deep. He did this three times.

With dark clouds building and evening approaching we loaded Myrrhlyn back into Vicki’s boat and headed back to Sebago. Midway we rafted up and Myrrhlyn climbed from Vicki’s boat into mine. After paddling with Myrrhlyn in my boat for awhile we rafted up again, had Myrrhlyn climb from my Kayak back into Vicki’s, and then headed into the Sebago dock.

Back at Sebago we hosed down our boats, our gear and Myrrhlyn.

All in all we probably spent less than two hours at Sebago, but it was two hours well spent. We are now convinced that Myrrhlyn is indeed a water dog. I have yet to determine if he is a mountain dog.

Introducing Myrrhlyn

Drum roll please!

Myrrhlyn came to live with us Thursday. He was being sheltered under the name “Dusty” at Wilma’s Orphan’s Inc. “Dusty” was also Hermes’ name when we adopted him and Wilma was my mother’s name. More synchronicity?

We went to visit Wilma and Dusty a week ago. After our visit Wilma processed our application, contacted our references, and approved us adopting Dusty.

Wilma delivered this cute bundle of canine energy Thursday morning. The photo of Myrrhlyn at right is not the best picture but it is the first, taken as he was approaching our home.

We had been thinking about names and had narrowed the choices down to three or four but decided to wait twenty-four hours after Myrrhlyn came to live with us before finally deciding. He have chosen a Welsh variation of the name of the magician, seer, and teacher of Arthurian Legend, a variation which also alludes to one of the gifts of the Magi to the Christ Child, a gift often used for the embalming, funeral incense, and Christian liturgy. The Welsh variation also recognizes our love of Celtic tradition and lore as well as interest in Celtic Christianity.

Myrrhlyn has been with us for nearly 48 hours. He is affectionate, intelligent, has a lot of puppy energy, and has had very few “accidents” in the house. His vet records estimate that he was born March 24, 2009. He appears to be a Chocolate Lab but is certainly a Labrador Retriever Mix.

Crossing the Last Crevasse

Over two weeks have passed since our dog Hermes (photo right) died. Though I have previously posted to this blog about his death I have procrastinated writing a suitable tribute. Perhaps I have been hoping that as more time elapsed between his death and my writing this tribute that the interim would either offer me more perspective or lesson the grief, or both. Now I am confronted with the likelihood that a puppy will be coming into our home within days. While no dog can ever replace Hermes, I think I need to cathartically write now rather than later in order to make some psychic space for the fourth dog in our life.

Hermes was rescued along with another dog from under the porch of an abandoned house during a snowstorm by Andrea in January 2005. Even though Andrea and her soccer coach husband Matt already had two small children and two dogs, they took Hermes in, and called him Dusty. Andrea and Matt took Dusty to a vet for his shots, hoping to find him another home.

A few months later a few young women from the soccer team at the college where my wife served as Chaplain brought Dusty to a Blessing of the Animals Chapel Service. Dusty and my wife almost immediately connected. He came to our home shortly after for a trial visit. By the next morning I had renamed him Hermes, after the talking dog Character in Jostein Gaarder’s #1 international bestseller Sophie’s World. I was teaching undergraduate Introduction to Philosophy at the time as adjunct faculty and had been using Sophie’s World as the primary text. The rest, as they say, is history.

Hermes was not a good dog. HE WAS A GREAT DOG. Our Hermes never talked to me in this life, except with his love, companionship, loyalty, protectiveness, and barks, but it seemed that his vocabulary of words he could understand when we spoke was constantly increasing. He was fiercely loyal and protective. He was a good, well behaved puppy and a great companion on a lot of hikes in West Virginia’s Otter Creek and Dolly Sods wilderness area as well as New York’s Shawangunk range. He went backpacking with me at least twice, and car camped with us at the Cape Hatteras National Seashore campground on Ocracoke Island, NC.

It is said that tragedy and bad news comes in threes. Not long before Hermes died our good friend Whitney’s dog Ellie died. Elle and Hermes were doggy friends. A couple nights before Hermes died, Ellen’s dog Nina died. Ellen is a member of the church I serve and her dog Nina would often come with her to church events, so in many ways Nina was a canine friend of the congregation. Hermes death was the third death of a dog we knew in the period of just a few weeks.

I do not at all believe in superstition but as an amateur Jungian I do place some credence in synchronicity. While Hermes’ death being the third death of a canine we knew in a matter of weeks might be counted as coincidence, I cannot count as mere coincidence the fact that Hermes died two years to the day after he moved to New York City. Nor can I ignore the fact that the day after he died a thief stole a statue of Saint Francis (far right in photo at right), patron saint of animals, from off our front stoop. What I am supposed to learn from all this has yet to be discerned. Meanwhile, my wife and I still have not made any decisions about where to scatter Hermes ashes. There is still time for that.

In preparation for writing this post I have read, for at least the third or fourth time in the past thirty five years, John Muir’s classic short story and tribute to a dog named Stickeen, a dog that travelled an Alaskan glacier with Muir in 1880. Unlike Stickeen, Hermes never crossed a narrow ice bridge over a glacier’s crevasse. Hermes did, however, cross streams by walking and swimming, scramble up rocky slopes, and sit out thunder storms with me as together we hiked and backpacked. Thus, in the spirit of Muir and borrowing Muir’s words about Stickeen, I fondly and teary eyed write about and in tribute to Hermes “Doubtless he has left this world—crossed the last crevasse—and gone to another. But he will not be forgotten. To me [Hermes] is immortal.”

Kudos to Companion Cremation Services

When our first dog Sunny died he died at our home in West Virginia’s eastern panhandle and the next day I drove his body to the crematorium. When our second dog Cassi was euthanized by the vet at a clinic in central West Virginia her body was left there to be picked up by a crematorium. When Hermes died at home lastweek we wondered what the options were for cremation in the New York metropolitan area.

I discovered on the ASPCA website some very helpful informtion about what to do when a pet dies at home. The information included a link to Companion Cremation Services.

I called the number for Compion Cremation Services, explained our situation and needs, and was told someone would come to our home in a hour or two to pick up Hermes’ body. An hour and a half later, John D’Arienzo arrived. I experienced him as professional, sympathetic, and even pastoral. My wife experienced him as pleasant, quiet, and introspective.

John arrived carrying a large canine body bag because I had informed the female on the other end of the phone when I called Companion Cremation Services that Hermes had weighed around 80 pounds. John asked for some basic information about Hermes and about me but there was a minimum of paperwork, a one sided form. I escorted John upstairs to the bedroom where Hermes' body was lying under a window air conditioner, I helped John place the body in the body bag. He zipped up the bag and together we carried the body bag down the stairs and out to John’s SUV.

John informed me how much the pickup service and cremation would cost but never asked for payment. He said I could pay late, that the ashes should be available in about a week, and that someone would call when the ashes were ready. This was a Tuesday Morning.

The following Monday I received a phone call informing me that the ashes were ready. I think John would have delivered them but I wanted to pick them up, in part as part of the grieving process but also because I wanted to see the Companion Cremation Services facility myself.

Companion Cremation Services is affiliated with D'Arienzo Funeral Home, Inc. in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. Located on a somewhat quiet and mostly residential side street, the facility was clean and modern looking. I was particularly impressed and comforted when greeted by Winston upon entering the facility. Winston is a dog. How appropriate, I thought.

John took a white cardboard box out of a gold paper bag, opened the box, and pulled out a gold tissue paper wrapped tin. In the tin was a sealed plastic bag of ashes. Also in the paper bag was an envelope containing a certificate of cremation. A black ribbon with the words “Beloved Pet” was tied to the bag.

I asked John what I owed and handed over my credit card. I thought the fee was very reasonable.

Should your loved pet die at home in the New York Metro area, I highly recommend Companion Cremation Services. They provided excellent service. Unfortunately, my wife and I still have to decide how, when and where we will dispose of Hermes’ ashes.

A Summit to Shore Week from Hell

Monday, July 27 to Sunday, August 2, 2009 was a Summit to Shore week. July 27th was my first full day off from my two part-time jobs in over a month, so I took advantage of it by taking our dog Hermes up to the Mohonk Mountain Preserve at the Northern end of the Shawangunk Mountains and together we hiked up to Bonticou Crag, one of the more prominent natural features offering one of the most outstanding views in the Gunks, and a hike I had been wanting to do for a long time. A week later, August 2nd, after Sunday morning Worship, I was able to paddle a circumnavigation of Jamaica Bay with my paddling friend and water blogger colleague Bonnie. A summit on Monday plus a shore on Sunday equals a summit to shore week.

This summit to shore week was week from hell, however, and as some readers may have notice, I did not post an entry all week, because five to six hours after Hermes and I were sitting on the summit of Bonticou Crag (photo right), Hermes was dead. The hike up to Bonticou Crag from the Spring Farm Trailhead was a moderate three mile circuit. Hermes showed no signs of having any problems as we hiked up to the crag. We rested several minutes on top before heading down. On the way down, however, Hermes started to drag. Even though he had drank his fill of water and we were descending rather than climbing, he was moving more slowly, wanting to rest more often, and panting almost constantly. I kept offering him water and he would drink his fill. By the time we made it back to the car I had to help him up onto the tailgate and into the car. I let him drink his fill of water, turned the car air conditioning on full blast, and headed home.

Hermes was a veteran hiker. He had accompanied me on several day hikes in West Virginia's Otter Creek and Dolly Sods Wilderness Areas, to the top of West Virginia's highest peak, Spruce Knob, and back, including a mile plus bushwhack through brush and thicket, and the Gunk's Sam's Point Nature Preserve as well as the Mohonk Mountain Preserve. Many of our day circuit hikes were over ten miles. He had also accompanied me on two overnight backpacking trips in west Virginia's Dolly Sods Wilderness Area. He had his own pack and would often carry his own food and water, but not this day. Hermes was used to hiking in wilderness and mountainous terrain. Our most previous hike was a circuit around the Trapps, hiking the lower and upper carriage roads the day after Thanksgiving.

When we arrived home and I went around to the rear of the car to allow Hermes out I noticed that he had evacuated his bowels. I helped him from the back of the car onto the ground. He could barely walk the quarter block home and I had to carry him up the steps to the house and up the inside stairs to the bathroom, where I placed him in the bathtub and bathed him.

Carrying him into an air conditioned bedroom I placed Hermes on a couple towels on the floor underneath a window Air Conditioner. He was still panting and no longer wanted to drink let alone eat. I was hoping the refreshing bath and quiet, air conditioned room would eventually calm and soothe him. Eventually my wife Vicki came home from work, joined us in the bedroom, and sensed that Hermes’ condition was more serious than I suspected. As soon as Vicki joined us Hermes breathing almost immediately became more shallow and slower and then he experienced some spasms, as if he was going to throw up. I went into another room to call the vet and while I was on the phone Vicki yelled to me that she though Hermes had died. I came back into the bedroom and confirmed it. We both broke out in tears.

Our best guess is that Hermes suffered a heart attack even though he was not yet five years old. He was a rescue and we knew nothing about his lineage or the first few months of his life and it is possible he had a congenital condition we did not know about and the vet had not detected. I will certainly be writing more about Hermes at a later time. For now I simply note that both Vicki and I miss him. While no other dog can ever replace him we are investigating nearby animal shelters for a dog in need of adoption that might bring some the joy and companionship into our lives that only a dog can.