All Dogs (And People) Deserve To Roll Around In the Green Grass

Jackson the Cocker Spaniel tells us to
stop and roll in the grass, and smell
the spring air.  

Here in northwestern Vermont, Thursday evening brought us perfect spring weather. The sun was out, the sky was a deep blue.

The air had the first hint of summertime warmth and a strong, steady breeze made the air invigorating, and kept the black flies to a minimum.

In other words, I had to get busy, busy, busy with the gardening, the landscaping, the yard care. Pronto.

Jackson the Cocker Spaniel would have none of that. He ordered me to go outside with him, pointed at the new green grass, and said he must lie down in it.

And stay there.

Yep. The dog told me to Sit! Stay!

I complied, but was antsy at first. But soon I watched Jackson rolling around in the grass, and then face the wind. His nose twitched in a thousand different directions at once, absorbing every scent in the gusts.

Soon, I found myself doing the same thing. Just enjoying the different fragrances that flew past me in the breeze. The musky smell of the daffodils. The organic tone of the nearby forest coming to life. The season's first sweet hint of lilac.

I felt myself truly relaxing for the first time in days during this busy season.

Jackson the Cocker Spaniel was right as always. We're lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy moments like this, so enjoy them, dammit!

Which made a video I came across yesterday all the more poignant. It was another one of those beagle rescue videos from the Beagle Freedom Project that have been circulating around the past few years.

The beagles had been kept in cages all their lives for medical and beauty product testing. The video shows the beagles experiencing sunshine and green grass for the first time in their lives.

These are the moments Jackson, me, and most of the rest of us take for granted. That the beagles in the video, at first terrified of the brightness and the soft ground, waited so long to enjoy that is disgusting.

I can arguably see the need to test medical procedures on animals, but lipstick and eye shadow? Please.

Soon, the beagles in the video come to life, and discovered what Jackson the Cocker Spaniel already knows and what Jackson had to remind me of the other day.

To have a truly productive life, you need to stop and have "unproductive" moments of springtime bliss.

That means rolling around in the grass from time to time, and literally stopping to smell the roses.

Here's the beagle video, I told you about, but warning: Kleenex alert!!