Iva

I have to admire our dog. There is nothing that she loves more then "ball." She likes to bite the ball, chase the ball, and I am sure dream about the BALL. Unfortunately, this time of year playing ball is not as frequent of an event as Iva would like. She turns into a mud ball while chasing the ball. The thing that I admire about Iva is how she can sit and stare at you for hours. She is hopeful and persistent. She does not know the meaning of "no ball." She all hears is the "ball" part of that statement. To her we sound like Charlie Brown's teacher except for the key words in her life, "go, ball and park."

In our house we've had to be careful about saying "go, ball and park" because Iva goes nuts. We say things like, "Shall we play with the dog and the round thing?" or, "Let's move across the street to the field." All in hopes that Iva doesn't understand so she'll stay calm. If we can't agree to play ball and someone says, "ball" it just seems mean not to do it.

Wouldn't we all be a bit better if we could have the blind hope that Iva does? All she wants to do is exercise, run with abandon and play. What a great goal. Sometimes the "stare" works but Bob is way less apt to take her then I am. I cave. The look in her eyes says, "Take me out, play with me.......LOVE ME!" I can't resist most of the time. I mean, it's what she lives for.

So I say (for Iva) live in the moment, enjoy the little things that bring you great joy and focus on your goals (playing ball) not obstacles (Bob and rain).