Tethered

by Pam Mandel

Liv Fun: Vol 6 – Issue 2

He’s always ready to go before I am.

I check multiple times for my phone, the house keys … do I have everything? I check the weather because I want to be dressed for it; he never seems to get cold. He looks in the back door, disappointed to see my shoes are still on the stairs … what is taking me so long? When he sees I’m not ready — and he knows I won’t be, has he not learned? — he rolls his amber-colored eyes and heads to the gate anyway, as though he’d go without me.

Harley is my walking companion; we’ve been doing this for over a year now, almost every day. We cancel only in the most extreme of weather or if one of us is sick. We missed a date during a windstorm recently, and I had to cancel for a few weeks to recover from an injury. We walk, rain or shine, in the pale summer twilight or the dark afternoons of winter. We walk for at least 20 minutes, but if it’s a nice day and the calendar is open, we’ll take our time. Maybe we’ll jump in the car and head to the shores of Puget Sound or to a nearby park for a change of scenery.

Harley has brown hair with a lot of white in it. He’s three years old, or maybe he’s four; I don’t know for sure. He’s 12 pounds of rescue dog, a mix of Chihuahua, and some kind of terrier, perhaps. He barks at other dogs, he is afraid of trucks with diesel engines, and he is deeply ambivalent about anyone who isn’t me. He’s an imperfect dog, and I would never have guessed I could love a critter that isn’t human the way I love him.

Harley came home with me on a whim. I’ve always been a dog person, but I’ve also always enjoyed an untethered life. Harley’s arrival created a whole new set of responsibilities. He needed training and walking, and thanks to his excessive loyalties, I would be the one best to provide for him.

Read Entire Article

Liv Fun

by Leisure Care
Summer 2017
View Table of Contents

Tethered
by Pam Mandel

He’s always ready to go before I am. I check multiple times for my phone, the house keys … do I have everything? He looks in the back door, disappointed to see my shoes are still on the stairs … what is taking me so long? Harley is my walking companion; we’ve been doing this for over a year now, almost every day.

Read More

Tales From the Edge of Competence

by Tammy Kennon

The ominous blue glow of the new GPS was the only brilliant thing in the cockpit. It was 8 p.m., and I stood shrouded in doubt and a blanket, trying to ward off a late October chill. The grand launch of my new sailing life was a few hours away, and I had chosen this moment to learn how to use the technology that would guide me from the dock in North Carolina to southern latitudes, dreamy white sand beaches, and turquoise water.

Read More

Breaking Down Borders

by Elana Zaiman

In March 2016, my friend Ellen introduced me to the work of the Saturday Sewing Sisters. This group of women from the Sarah Allen Sisterhood of the Women’s Ministry of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church in Seattle gather one Saturday each month to sew washable feminine hygiene kits for girls in Limbe, Cameroon, one of Seattle’s sister cities.

Read More