It's one o'clock in the morning as I throw on my snow boots and jacket and tramp out into my back yard, trying to get my new puppy to use the bathroom. While he follows me willingly through the snow to the corner of the yard, he becomes more intent with chewing on the bare branches of the low-lying bush than doing his business. "Hurry up!" I say. This is the command that they recommend you say while you try to house train your dog so they will come to recognize that as a sign to get on with it. He looks at me, then buries his entire head in the snow. I sigh.
Up again at four thirty, since puppies can only "hold it" for three to four hours, he follows me again through the snow out to the corner of the yard. I wait while he sniffs around and plays with the branches of the bush again. The moon is making its descent now, hanging in the sky just over the tops of the trees. It casts a blue-silver light amid the shadows, making the snow shimmer. I exhale, and the steam of my breath it lit with a ghostly light as it dissipates quickly into the cold air. I think of the line from Jack London's <i>Call of the Wild</i>: "Night came on, and a full moon rose high over the trees into the sky, lighting the land till it lay bathed in a ghostly day."
The puppy looks up at me, then looks into the trees. I look up with him, looking at the snow perched on the boughs of the pine we are standing under. It creates a blanket on the tree and the tree is a shelter over us. It's incredibly quiet and still. There are no sounds around us - no wind, no traffic, no animals stirring - there are no sounds except the crunch of snow under my boots and the light snuffling from my companion.
I look down at him again. "Hurry up!" I say. He looks at me again, then goes back to playing in the snow. I know I'm in for mid-night poop duty for another month or two before he is potty trained. Sleepless nights, yes, but a mysterious chance to overcome my fear of my own backyard in the dark. This unfamiliar place is even more unfamiliar by night, the shadows all wrong, the light reflecting back off of the snow onto the trees and the house makes them look almost sinister. I am disoriented by the darkness. After the puppy has done his business, we trudge back in to warmth and bed.
Precisely why I have no interest in ever having a puppy (only grown-up dogs!), since I paid my dues like this with kids :-)
ReplyDeleteThese excursions, however annoying, sound like they will be quite instructive, both for overcoming fears but for also gaining some different perspectives on this place.
I admire you're willingness to properly train your puppy at the expense of sleep and comfort! I'm also (a little) envious of the outside motivation your puppy provides you to explore your backyard at times that you normally wouldn't. I, too, have a fear of my own backyard at night. I have never been in my backyard in the winter after midnight. Your post inspires me to give it a try. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteKatie,
ReplyDeleteI also am impressed by the dedication to train a new puppy, especially with how cold it is at nights! Kittens are a little easier with having litter boxes, but I guess it's a give and take, because until they get the hang of it, a lot of the litter gets scooped outside of the litter box...
I liked reading an entry from the night time. I consider myself more of a night owl, and I love the quiet you can find, as you mention with no sounds of cars, no wind. My favorite part-
The moon is making its descent now, hanging in the sky just over the tops of the trees. It casts a blue-silver light amid the shadows, making the snow shimmer. I exhale, and the steam of my breath it lit with a ghostly light as it dissipates quickly into the cold air.
I could see exactly what you mean. One of those picture moments that makes 4:30 in the freezing cold worth it :]