Simple joys

One of the fun parts of fostering is discovering the individuality in each new dog.  They have a certain gait, different vocalizations for different moods, a favorite wrestling pose, favorite toys...  This first week with Fern we've learned so much about her.  She loves to run and thanks to her supermodel length legs she is fast and sleek like a 20# spotted racehorse.  She also will leap off of things during these high speed runs and look like she's going to start to fly.  During these races she is so joyous that it is impossible not to have a sloppy grin on your face just witnessing the pure beauty of it. 

And then yesterday we learned that Fern loves tennis balls.  She loves to fetch them. She loves to squeak them if they have a squeaker, and she even loves to just carry them around in her mouth.  She will purposely set it down on a slope, leap forward and catch it and then do it all over again.  She'll roll it into a shrub just for the simple joy of digging in after it and emerging with her prize.

It may seem silly to the uninitiated but learning another creature's joy, even if it is just carrying around a mucky ball they found in a leaf pile or taking a flying leap off a 24" wall, can help us find that joy within ourselves.  It's a reason I hope that I will always be fostering.