Reflecting on Jax
It’s been just over a year since we got Jax. It was March 21, 2009, a Saturday, that we went up to Maine and came back with him. He wasn’t a planned dog, and I didn’t think I was ready for another pup with Gus’s death so recent and fresh, but he fell in our lap that day, and now I sincerely feel like he’s always been our dog. After writing that, I realized I said something remarkably similar about Comet in 2008.
He’s every bit the hardcore athlete we hoped for, and he gives Comet a real run for his money. He’s slightly dampened Comet’s enthusiasm for being chased, since he catches him much more quickly than when Jax was a puppy. Still, each would rather be right around the other in the house or even out in the woods.
It may feel like we’ve spent a lifetime with Jax, but I remember with great clarity the little hell puppy he was when we first brought him home. What I don’t remember so clearly are the times when he put on a cute sleepy face like this. I assume I took this picture during a very, very rare bout of brief exhaustion brought on by a long walk and a play session with Comet.
This is the dog who will always stick in my memory, the fiery, white-blazed guy who seems to be made of springs and mischief, forever bounding about, ears akimbo, with a glint of focus and a hint of insanity in his eyes.