I’m in Boise this weekend at Jason and Sarah’s house dog sitting Porter. Gone are the days of flying to Napa and living the good life for a short time while taking care of the dog. Now, it’s just a quick 45-minute drive down the interstate and I’m here. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining. It’s wonderful to have them living so close and I can see them pretty much whenever I want. It’s just that dog sitting seems to have lost its cachet when you’re in your own backyard and the things you can do are available to you all the time. No trips to wineries for tastings, no dinner reservations at Michelin Guide-starred restaurants, no occasional celebrity spottings. Now it’s a trip to Fred Meyer to stock up on groceries and Netflix binge watching. But that’s okay.
Looking back on this blog that I started writing when I first started dogsitting, Porter and I have had some interesting times. Now, we’ve both settled comfortably into middle-age. Giving it further thought, I’ve discovered some interesting (and distressing) similarities between Porter and myself.
I guess if I had to have a spirit animal it would be a chocolate lab - not a dolphin or an eagle or any of those other animals you see pop up on those Facebook quizzes that want to show you your spirit animal match to some awe-inspiring creature. I already know mine and it’s a chocolate lab.
Right now, Porter and I are the same age - 56. He’s 8 in dog years but multiply that by 7 human years for every dog year and he said 56. I just read an article that stated that formula isn’t really accurate, for the first year of a dogs’ life is equivalent to 15 human years, but I like my original formula and I’m sticking with it (and looking at the chart in the article shows Porter is 55, based on their calculations so, big deal, one year off). It makes me sad to think of how quickly dogs age and how fast their life goes by for, next year when Porter is 9 he’ll be 63 in human years and I’ll “only” be 57.
Not only do we now share the same age, we also share a lot of the same physical characteristics.
Our once athletic figures have now thickened (although I did get a jump on him in that department). It takes us longer to come to a standing position when we’ve been laying on the floor or getting up from the couch. When we’re out walking and our legs get tired, we both tend to limp on our right leg. Like a lab, when’s it comes to walking or running, I’m built for endurance, not speed. And at the end of that physical activity, we both enjoy a good nap. We feel no guilt in stretching out on the floor or the couch and watching the day pass by.
We also need to pee every 10 minutes, even if we’ve had two sips of water, as evidenced by Porters constant need to go outside for a quick wee and my constant trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
And don’t get me started on our snoring...
