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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 2011)
h ------------------------ voices ■-------------------------- ■ 28 % / AN I SEPTEMBER 16.2011 WWW.JUSTOUT.COM Body Becoming Soul 0 -L -D . It’s not a four-letter word. Yet cli ents who bring 12-, 13- and 14-year-old Labrador retrievers, poodles and German shepherds for chiropractic assessments bristle it I slip and mention the uO ”word. One client specifically directed me never to say it in her dog’s presence, though he couldn’t have cared less it I hurled the epithet in his direction. W ith the grace that comes of a brain unen cumbered by a prefrontal cortex, he was free to live fully in the moment without fear or judgm ent related to his age. Dogs— and cats—of all stripes and sizes carry signs of passing time to my office on a weekly basis: knobby elbows and knees, tight hips, weakening muscles, thinning heads, graying faces, cloudy eyes. They push to stand with an effort, sink heavily to the floor to rest. Bladder control occasionally misfires and urine dribbles, always to a chorus of apology. Dogs sleep 23 hours a day, cats grow radically picky about their food and both lose precipi tous amounts of weight. As I watch people tell these stories, I see eyes rimmed with tears; they know days with their friend are waning. Animals exist in their own right and for their own purpose, but while walking the last lap of life, canine and feline friends offer lessons for us about the elegance of acceptance. Over the years I have become especially fond of the ones Over the years I have become and worthy of our embrace. Senior pets bring tears to my eyes. W ith especially fond of the ones who totter graying eyebrows and bony protuberances, these ripened spirits lead me to the edge o f about on last legs. ... I see bodies the legendary Rainbow Bridge as their bodies shape-shifting before my eyes. fade. W ith one hand on a skinny elder beside who totter about on last legs. I see more than me, my other hand can reach— like magic— protruding spines and scrawny hips, I dismiss into the multicolored light. The power of it outhouse-y smells, I forgive lack of depth per explodes in my heart, just a little, expanding ception resulting in fingers getting chomped the space in there, growing that tired muscle a along with biscuits. Instead, I see bodies shape- tad bigger and a tad stronger each time. shifting before my eyes; these ancient ones are W hen a cat grows old, it signals the end of in the process of becoming pure soul. our shared days and somewhere not so far in I want to mitigate unnecessary pain that the back of my mind, it signals the end of my comes with prolonged exposure to an un own trip on planet Earth one day. I fight for healthy lifestyle we often confuse with aging. balance between conflicting cultural expecta To that end, I preach a natural diet— for dogs, tions— I’ll color my hair, climb mountains and and cats, and people alike— along with mod chase after sex as if I were 20 on the one hand; erate and regular exercise and the judicious I’ll just give up on exercise, eschew eating de use of vitamins, supplements and noninvasive cent food, and develop the degenerative diseases care, like acupuncture, chiropractic and herbal of modern consumer society on the other. medicine. Seeing our pet friends plagued with More and more, I want to become like the disease due to a soiled environment and overly white-faced senior dogs I am honored to know. processed food should ring the alarm and Accept the dashes of gray that show up in my show us that we need to change big things in hair and the wrinkles that decorate my eyes the world. But oldness, of itself, is unpolluted and mouth. I want to run with abandon until warnings from weight-bearing joints alert me to take it easy— then run again the next day. I don't want to chase lost youth with anti aging creams, liposuction and Botox. I do want to walk and hike and run every day in the company o f fine human and canine bud dies. I want to break local bread, and savor it slowly, with two-legged and four-legged com panions by my side. I want to rejoice in the beauty o f a blue sky and abundant produce on my plate. W ith all that in place, I hope to live a lot more years, which means, yes— I’m go ing to be OLD. W hen I get there, I want the term to stand up proud, no longer apologetic for its very ex istence. Old is creaky and tired, old has a few scars, old needs glasses and sometimes pees on the floor. Old is ripe, old is sage, old is a veteran at this thing called life. I’ve seen many a senior canine with a far-off look in their eyes. I’ll trade a little time hefting a weak old body for a shot at seeing what they see. Old is a beautiful three-letter word. O ld is body becoming soul. JW has walked the last mile with three canine companions and found the journey sad and sweet. Currently, she is sur rounded by a bunch o f young punks. Catch her at animotionchiro.com. M ary M a n d e v il l e ------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Advertising opens doors to new customers Call the jU S tO u t sales dept jtn y u r t WWW.PÎOH-MXOOP a t *. pe<t)ple’s X X FOOD (0-0* SEPTEMBER 1IST ^ J v 9 PM Dog < Planet's Besf friend g o t t o m b y day. top b y night. At least, that's how we like it. g n j o y C e l l a r Door's h o u s e - roa ste d cof fe e d o w n s t a i r s b y dawn, th e n b y dusk, All-Natural Pet Foods Earth-Friendly Pet Supplies Local & Hand-Crafted to learn h customers door 10% of Profits Donated to Rescue Organizations Ü 2148 N Killingsworth St 503-477-8381 nopopaws.com l IDFR PR! 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