Confessions of a Student Dog-Lover

I am broody. So very broody and it really is quite embarrassing. Every time I see a dog of any breed, size or colour my heart melts and I just have to say 'hello'. Whilst many other girls in their early twenties 'coo' over babies I am that girl who is completely obvious to the toddlers doddering around with cute grins on their chubby faces.. all I want is a puppy to cuddle. I'm not sure how normal this is. 

In fact this little obsession may have got so extreme that I might have 'borrowed' someone's puppy this afternoon. With permission of course... though I think I might have worn out said permission after the little french-bulldog-pug-cross (that's a mouthful!) was still sleeping on my lap a full 30 minutes later. If only I could have stretched to taking him home for the evening!

I believe the issue is this, having grown up with dogs in a family that took on new puppies every year to train for the charity 'Guide Dogs', I have taken for granted the presence of a canine companion in the home. Last year when our German Shepherd passed away (to read his memoir see 'here') it was like losing a lifetime friend I still feel my heart wrenching a little when I meet other people with short haired German Shepherds like Kray. I shall never forget him.

An Ode to Words

Last night I was on a huge ship cruising from the ports of Sri Lanka through the Indian Ocean and the Suez Canal bound for England. I have spent my time with a small group of boys taking part in their adventures and witnessing their discoveries about the passengers on board...

... Last week I was on an island somewhere in the Mothering Sunday islands in another dimension. Here a young man is trying to rebuild his community after a devastating Tsunami wave wiped out his family...

... And the week before that I was in South Africa many years ago trundling through plantations in the colony before the abolition of the slave trade.

This summer I have travelled to distant lands, different worlds and alternative dimensions. I have travelled backwards and forwards through time and met an array of complex and fascinating people. I have experimented with the mind, learnt new theories and made discoveries about myself and most of this occurred in the late evenings with a mug of hot chocolate in a dimly lit room. I feel wiser, older and more self aware and the price I paid for it was marginal. 

There is something so magical about the pages of a novel. You see it in the eyes of many customers as they browse amongst shelf upon shelf in the bookshop. Their eyes brimming with opportunity, thirst for knowledge or lust for adventure. The four walls of the shop provide them with a playground for their desires. 

I am not a writer, I lost my ability to create life and stories with my imagination with childhood but I love to listen to the stories of others. I'd rather eat words than food and food prepared by another is always far better than the food we cook for ourselves. 

The point of this little rant is that there need not be one. Most of us have amazing opportunities in life. I have travelled to many beautiful and fascinating places in this world and I will without a doubt do so again but for those times when we cannot, for those days when we would rather be taking a few more risks or just need an escape, find yourself a bookshop and disappear into a novel. The world around you will fade away and the destination? That all depends on you. 

xoxo