May 8, 2025

Through The Eyes of Our Puppy

By Steve Gwisdalla

At the beginning of this year, we rescued a puppy. One of our good friends fostered four pups from a local rescue organization. I made the amazing mistake of going to see them at their home before one of our son’s basketball games. Two weeks later, our pup was home. One of the foster parents’ sons named her Clarice. They were watching the old Claymation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer we all watched as kids, and he named her after Rudolph’s girlfriend.

Clarice was born down south. The foster parents said Texas. The rescue vet we took her to for her shots said Miami, Florida. Being a shelter dog, and barely six weeks old when we got her, Clarice’s view of the world was rather small. Seeing her experience things for the first time is quite lovely and at times frustrating. In my quest to continually advocate for more joy, watching these moments of firsts for her, even the frustrating ones are beautiful and, in a word, awesome! Even when she ‘discovered’ a few of our houseplants.

Now that the weather is warming up, outside things easily grab her attention. A bumble bee buzzing around my yard full of dandelions. The first butterflies. Birds landing and flying around our yard. Deer, turkeys, rabbits, and yes, even Mr. Pheasant have all had the ‘pleasure’ of meeting the ever-curious Little Miss Clarice. Even though I have her complete attention when I am getting ready to throw her favorite tennis ball, that attention is easily placed on anything moving if by the wind or by a creature. The awe she sees this world in and the innocence that everything is her instant friend and play pal is both refreshing and energizing. My soul smiles every day at her discovery of something new. We have adopted a fur baby that reminds me daily to advocate for more joy, even in the smallest things.

To find amazement in small things is a lost art in an adult world. To those experiencing things for the first time, we adults often smile when a young child tastes ice cream for the first time, or at a tee ball game when a kiddo gets their first hit. If you want to see parents smile like children, go to a grade school orchestra performance or a dance recital. Watching others experience joy brings joy to those watching. Even the missed notes or steps are perfectly forgivable. The moment allows for mistakes. If only the adult world were so.

What if?

What if we could choose to advocate for those moments every day of our lives? Maybe not a dance recital every day, but taking thirty seconds to watch a bumble bee fly from flower to flower? How do they even fly? They defy the laws of physics. This is the season of rebirth. Deer will soon have fawns. Baby birds will be calling for their parents to feed them. Green is finally popping up all around us. My friends, take a few moments each day to see the world for the beautiful place it is. When you hear kids being kids, listen and smile. When the softball team gets ice cream after a game, look at their faces. Win or lose, ice cream always brings smiles. Maybe the best way to advocate for more joy is just stop once in awhile and let those moments that are happening around us affect us. If you ever meet Clarice, she will advocate for more joy with kisses and requests for belly rubs. If only life were so simple for us all!