Our young pup, Kirby the Beagle, has recently discovered a new passion in life, car rides.  The only rule is simple, Kirby may ride along on random trips around town, as long as he does not leap out of the car and run around like a ninny.  There you have it.  One rule.  He gets to ride along, as long as does not jump out of the car.  Simple.  Effective.  Life should be good.

Well, earlier this week, Kirby happily bounded into the car for a trip to the municipal brush site.  Simple trip.  Take bag of leaves to site.  Empty bag of leaves at site.  Return home.  Plenty for Kirby to see and a clean tiddy backyard for David.  Life was destined to be good.

Upon arriving at the site, there was only one other car accompanied by a man emptying his leaves.  I opened the back of our car to get our final bag of the season.  That’s when the Devil appears to have taken control of our pup.  Yep, as soon as daylight shown between me and the car door, Kirby bolted toward the countless piles of leaves.  Life used to be good.

Kirby experiencing his newfound freedom pranced and jumped up and down in the piles of leaves.  I soon realized that he was far too fast to catch by foot, so I took to commands.  Grumpily, “Kirby!  Sit!”  Authoritative, “Kirby!  Come!”  Desperate and whinny, “Kirby!  Sit!”  That’s when the other fella at the brush site turned to me and said, “It’s going to be hard to get him back.”  Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.  Life was anything, but good.

After a full minute or so of leaping about, Kirby finally stopped to notice that his owner was agitated and a wee bit unhappy.  That’s when Kirby plopped his furry butt down and waited for me to retrieve him.  Depositing Kirby back into the car (he likes to ride shotgun), I soon realized the brilliance of Kirby’s move.  Sure he broke the only rule, but he also provided a surprise out of the blue.  Kirby embraced life.  Kirby shared his silliness and joy with the world.  We should all remember to do the same.  Well, at least until you start making others really mad.  That’s always a good time to stop.  Remember, life is good.

“The popularity of Kombucha (tea) crosses all cultural, socio-economic, religious, and species boundaries!” 

– The Goodness Coffeehouse in Downtown Willmar, Minnesota

Kirby starring in his first advertisement (the mounds of the municipal brush site in the background).  My apologies to “Three’s a Company” for the use of the Regal Beagle reference.  I’m sure that Mr. Roper would forgive me.