Little Miracles

Yesterday was a true Gift. I've been blue for a while now, as my pals the Kitteh Klan would say, I Haz a Sad.

But yesterday, I saw a bit of the Little Miracle.

Do you remember the very first time you met a wolf? (or HC wolfdog?) Do you remember that moment when you met eyes, and the world just ... stopped, and there was just you and that wolf? I do...

I was in 9th grade, a freshman at El Capitan High School. There was a *Wildlife Presentation* so, of course, I had to go. I finagled my way up to the front of the crowd, sitting down on the basketball court, that wood slick and shiny with the bottoms of many a young school chum. The bleachers were full, the auditorium was packed.

And in they came. I don't remember a darned thing about the handler except that he was a man, and he was kind. He let me follow the entourage like a puppy all the rest of the day. And my Teachers were very understanding, and gave me *excused absences* for the rest of the afternoon, knowing it would be useless to insist upon my presence, I wouldn't *be there* anyway...

There was an old lion, with a lovely dark brown mane, and a severely broken canine. He was so handsome! And very sweet.

There was a Golden Eagle, SOOO majestic! his eyes so bright and sharp and keen.

And there was a wolf. My heart just stopped.. My breath just disappeared somewhere in my chest, somewhere between my little lizard brain and my heart, my breath just vanished. I couldn't take my eyes off him. My eyes must have been the size of saucers and I bet my mouth never did find the hinge to close... I knew in that moment that I would forever and always be totally in love with this magnificent being.

The man talked about each animal, about their preferred habitat, about the dangers they were facing by unplanned developments. About how wolves were very nearly extinct. Then he walked all the animals one by one all around the diameter of the auditorium, walking slowly so we all could get a good look at them. I was in the front row, as you will remember. When it came to walking the wolf around, he got halfway through the semi-circular walk, until he got to where I was sitting. He stopped in front of me, stared at me with those so-intense yellow eyes with his head slightly lowered so he and I were eye to eye, face to mask... And then he sat in my lap.

And there he stayed. The handler tried to get him to continue his walk, but he would have none of it. He laughed a wolfy laugh, and made himself comfortable in my lap. I was in seventh heaven. I just floated away in sheer and utter delight, I could feel my heart pounding away in my chest, racing about like a bevy of meercats. And my cheeks ached from the big wide smile plastered across my face. After an eternity and a day which might have lasted 20 minutes, he decided it was OK to finish the Grand Tour and thrill the other side of his adoring fans. My life would never be the same.

I followed them around the rest of the day, as the man took the three Ambassadors from classroom to classroom. The wolf hung back and walked beside me for a while.

Fast forward 40 years.

So yesterday one of my regular customers at work came over to pick up some trees she'd purchased with her daughter, and her daughter's GodMother, who is from Germany. The GodMother (I can't believe I forgot to ask for her name!) noticed my necklaces, and said "OH! You must like wolves!" and I smiled, chuckled a bit, and said, yes, I share my life with wolfdogs. She said "What do you mean?" so I told her my Kidz were wolfdogs, part wolf, part dog. Her eyes flew open wide, and you could see the luminosity around her eyes, like a halo of the face... She said she'd always loved wolves! And she'd never met one, and had always wanted to... I asked her how long was she in town, and she told me she was leaving for Germany tomorrow morning. I felt urged to offer, so I asked her if she would like to come over and meet my Kidz. :~)

Mariam, her daughter, and the GodMom just left after a nice visit.

Since Dianne's Kidz are the first that everyone sees when they drive up, we talked about them first.. How Thunder was one of the tallest Woofers I'd ever seen, and how *we didn't mention Stormy's weight around him out loud* shhhhhhhh (they laughed :~) and how Shawnee collects boys, and how she is the Queen of all she surveys... They thought Dianne's Kidz were extraordinary. (which they are)

Then we went in to visit with with Spirit, who schmoozled all over them, many photos were taken. NIhki took treats from me, and was VERY interested! But was still a bit hesitant to approach. They loved it ! NihkiRoxie is quite the looker!!


Then I took them over to meet America. America just LOVES visitors! He schmooozled them all! He adored the GodMom, and kissed her and licked her arms, and tried to lick her face, but that was a tad bit too much for her... :~) I can certainly see the point, them's mighty long and sharp pearly whites nibbling on my nose. But you could see the light in her eyes! She just BEAMED!!! She looked like she could just float away .... I halfway expected her to start crying! I have seen that happen before. I'VE done it before...

I just made someone's year. :~) It really feels so good to know that all that hard work and dedication about socialization is paying off with such wonderful dividends... It still astounds me how amazing he is. And America just LOVES the attention, he is such a schmoooze.. :~) I love my Kidz....

I really am quite fortunate with all my Kidz...And one other thing this incident brought to mind... When you live with miracles every day, miracles become common place. Watching this lady's face as she interacted with her first wolfdog made me remember what a truly extraordinary Gift I live with every day... It brought the miracle of it all right home in my lap, so to speak :~)

>^,,^<