Mr. Wilson Made it Home!

Mr. Wilson Made it Home!
Mr. Wilson

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Weird Guy Walking



Here is an excerpt from the book, Mr. Wilson Makes it Home:

 Weird Guy Walking

     Cheryl sensed my dissatisfaction with my walks, mostly due to the infrequency of them and the resulting shrinking waistline of my pants. The less I walked, the more my pants shrank. Weird but true. I didn’t want to burden her with the real reason I stopped walking to the beach.
     “You need to walk more,” she mentioned on day when I was moping around the house.
     “I have nowhere to go,” I replied, quite content to remain mopey.
     “Walk to the gym, you used to love to do that.”
     “I don’t have time.”
     “Make time, you have to stay healthy.”
     “I am healthy.”
     She glanced at my expanding belly, then into my eyes. I betrayed nothing, knowing that any sign of weakness would lead to more salad and less meat.
     “We should get a dog, then you would walk more.”
     “And, maybe people wouldn’t hide their wives and daughters when the tall weird guy who walks alone came by their house.”
     “That’s your imagination.”
     “It most certainly is not. A middle aged man walking alone through a neighborhood makes people worry.”
     “No it doesn’t, what is the matter with you.”
     “I know how people think.”
     “People thankfully do not think the way you do.”
     “Then how come nobody says hi when I’m walking by myself, but when I had the dogs with me everybody did. People in cars would actually stop and ask what kind of dogs they were.”
     “Because people like dogs more than they like people.”
     She had a point. And, she knew that she was going to get me a dog. And that dog would be Wilson.
     I think that if we had been able to stay in the house we loved walking wouldn’t have been an issue. I had a giant yard to walk around in, gardens, a cabana with all the amenities, which I dubbed “The Love Shack,” next to the pool, a big shed full of shovels and rakes and dirt in bags and fertilizer and hoses and parts of things that I had no idea what they were, a giant dog pen, horseshoes, a badmitten net and plenty of weeds to pull. Plus, I was a familiar face in the neighborhood, and people would remember me as the guy who used to walk the dogs, not the weird guy walking.
     That house was magical, and we missed it. Moving can be fun and adventurous when you are doing so for the right reasons. Getting a bigger house, a better neighborhood for the kids, a different location for a new job are all great reasons to move. Not so great is moving because you can’t make it down the stairs you once flew up and down carrying basketfuls of laundry, or up the stairs at the end of the day to get to bed. Stairs shouldn’t be a big deal to people in their thirties and forties, but they were, and they had to go. Along with the stairs went the accumulation of years of living, and collections of things, and the result of countless hours decorating because we loved it, not because the walls were bare.
      It was Cheryl’s house, and her touch made it more than a cape with a nice yard. It had soul. At Christmastime I would come home from work exhausted, and find the tree up, the banisters wrapped with garland, lights everywhere, and best of all, seven Christmas trees. Every room had its own tree. Some were big, some were small, some bore fruit, others birds, and the big one held the family treasures.
      Often I would get home before sunrise, when everybody was in bed, and I would walk around the place I called my home, and look at the things on the walls, and perfectly decorated windows, and flowers and plants just right, and see my dogs in the yard, and know my family was there, and knowing that they were in such a good place made being away from home a little easier.
     If I could do it over I would work less, and when I walked through my house when everybody was asleep I would feel more a part of what I loved so much.





Thursday, March 19, 2015

Mr. Wilson on KAZZ FM, California

Marie Hulett from The Pet Place Radio program asked me some great questions about the writing of Mr. Wilson Makes it Home. You can listen to the interview here:


http://www.blogtalkradio.com/petplace/2015/03/17/the-pet-place-radio-show-orig-airdate-2-7-2015

Thank you, Marie, it was a lot of fun talking about Mr. Wilson, the cat who was rescued and bit the hand that saved him and lots of other stuff!




Saturday, March 14, 2015

I Smell a Book!

I put the book in Mr. Wilson's favorite spot. He's not sure if he wants to read it, or eat it. Or maybe toss it abound a little, run through the house and let us chase him. I've never met a creature who appreciates order more than Mr. Wilson. If his schedule is interrupted he's just not the same happy go lucky dog he is when it isn't.

Funny how he managed to fit into our schedule and make it his own. He knows when it's time to go, when it's time to play, when it's time to rest and when it's time to eat. I read somewhere that a dog's sense of smell is so different from ours that they tell time by the aromas in their mind.

When I leave the house without him my scent is strong. As the day day progresses it dissapates, and at the point in time that my scent triggers in his mind the time of my arrival back home his expectation rises, and he anticipates my return.

I wonder if he can see the book, and differentiate it from others by smelling his picture on it. Unlikely, but the more I learn about dogs, the more I realize I don't know.





Monday, March 2, 2015

Successful Event!

My brother Bob was out with his wife, Mary, doing the Saturday shuffle, groceries, gas for the car-the stuff we all do when we have time when he remembered that me and Cheryl were nearby, hosting a pet adoption event at Pet Supplies Plus.

"Let's go see Mike and Cheryl," he said to Mary, "but don't even think about getting a dog!"

Hmm... Probably should have reminded himself that he wasn't going home with a dog! This is Bob and Bruin, the newest member of The Morse family!

Seven dogs found homes at the event, and lots more found interested people who will hopefully follow up with New England All Breed Rescue and The Cranston RI Municipal animal Shelter. I met the people behind The Pawprint Press, two high school kids who devote most of their free time at the shelter and publishing a newsletter showcasing the pets available for adoption there.

Kelly O'Brien, the owner of NEABR showed up with an army of volunteers, most of whom happened to be her kids, and what awesome kids they are! I enjoyed their company most of all, even more than the adorable puppies and dogs that they brought with them. They sat with the dogs that weren't getting any attention, helped with this and that and were simply a joy to be around.


The more I learn about these pet adoption events and pet rescues the more I realize just how much I like people. It would be easy to focus on the dogs; they are wonderful, but it is the people who put in the work to find homes for these little critters who inspire me, and make me want to be a better person, and devote some of my time to making the world a better place.

There is joy in this world, true and real. It is in abundant supply. It is right under our noses, and anybody can absorb it, and make it part of themselves. It is contagious, and when you get a little it becomes infectious, and the more joy you give the more you get back.


When we adopted Mr. Wilson we received far more than a scruffy little dog. We became part of a family of people who inspire us, and exude happiness, and make us better people. It is an honor and privilege to be part of something that is far bigger than ourselves, and the endless pursuit of things and comfort.


Thanks to everybody who came to the event, worked to make it happen and especially to those who helped a homeless dog make it home.