Dog On A Root

- jim Young 20130318



On a hot summer day, a stray, aging mutt with no owner, lays in the cool comfort of the shade of an old tree.


About a foot from the base of the tree a small portion of a root lays exposed. But beneath the ground it extends many feet in search of water to sustain the tree, its boundaries set only by the reach of the branches above.

Somewhat intrigued, the dog paws the ground around the root, exposing it to the elements just a little bit more.

The dog has no delusions that this might be one of the many sticks that were once tossed for him to retrieve during playful interludes when he was pup and with a master.

And although he begins to gnaw at the root, neither has he mistaken it for a bone, as a disinterested passerby might assume.

Throughout the long day the dog will continue to worry the root gnawing and pawing away trying to expose it in its entirety.

This is not a quest in search of a pot of gold that one might hope to find at the end of a rainbow.

Nor is he chasing any windmills.

The dog doesn’t know what he’ll find at the end of the root or if he’ll ever even reach it.

But he doesn’t heed the scoffing of others who deride him for the seeming futility of his endeavours.

There is only one thing on this old dog’s mind.

The root must be exposed for no other reason than it’s there.

Once exposed, he will leave it alone out in the open for others to see the root as it really is.

And as others take notice of the exposed root – or not, the old dog sets off in search of another root.

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