The Practice of Keeping a Dog

This is a post to Nina the Pug, and to all people who keep the practice of taking care of a pet.


Every morning before I do anything else, I take Nina out for a walk. Sometimes it just 15 minutes around North Campus where I live, because I have to get to class, and other days when I don't work in the mornings we walk for an hour by the west river, smelling the fresh air and enjoying the cool breeze from the water.

I feed Nina her kibble and egg yolk (Ned eats the whites) twice a day, I give her a bath once a week, I give her a thousand pets every day, and she sleeps with me at night snoring, and I'm lucky if I can sit down at the computer, or grade papers in the living room without her jumping up on my lap.

We also walk at noon, and late in the afternoon we go on a long walk to stretch our legs and give us an appetite for dinner. On shabbat Nina gets a meaty bone.

In all that I give to Nina, she gives me more joy that I could give her.

This may sounds like a cheesy, trite thing to say, but I consider take good care of another living being to be a good spiritual practice. She gets me out of bed in the morning and out into the world. She's there jumping up and down and whining when I come home from teaching. She gives my life a routine, which I've realized is very important in times of transition and uncertainty.

thank you Nina, I hope we have many adventures together, our next being across the Pacific ocean!


(I wish I could post a picture, but the Free Proxy Server doesn't give me that option)