Everyone needs a hobby. I need many. My wife doesn't. She claims to be the ADD one in the family, but in the long run I have a harder time staying on target than she does. Sure, a quick trip to get ONE item at the grocery store takes her longer, the pretty colors call her name, but when it comes to something she's ready to focus that wandering attention on to, she might as well be a starving hawk seeing it's first field mouse in weeks. She needs to be dedicated, devoted to one or two ventures that provide pure elation at all times. I appreciate this attribute in that it guarantees her dedication to me... I hope.
Thanks to our marriage, I effectively distanced her (in a sense) from one of these few but intense loves of hers, snowboarding. Don't get me wrong, as a skier I think we have the greatest mountains in the world where we live now (except Alaska of course), but as a snowboarder who prefers rails and boxes to drops and nipple-deep powder, we tend to disagree on this particular topic. Perhaps she's in the right, since at 29 I know occasionally writhe in lower back pain caused by a slightly bulging sciatic nerve. Snowboarding in the Denver area is a year round activity. Like most of the rockies, there are available patches of snow on the 4th of July, or any other day of the year. The difference is the culture associated with snowboarding today is best defined through kids up and around there, who eat, breathe, live and work to spend a few brief moments a day on the slopes. After a year or two of over 200 days of snowboarding, it was a hard change for her and I appreciate her willingness to move. I also appreciate this attribute in that it guarantees her dedication to me... I hope.
So after a season of me trying to find a mountain that bests suits her... and failing... I've come to two conclusions; first, I'm going to have to stop trying to fit the Breckenridge peg into the San Juan's hole (that didn't sound right?!?) and second, we're going to have to find her something that she can love even more so...
The best way to replace a love is to actualize a long term dream. My wife, being the motherly sort, takes great joy in the care of others. And not just other people. Her parents home holds many interesting books of many fascinating pictures of her and her many brothers and sisters. Among the home-made dresses and self-inflicted hairstyles include photos of the parvo-stricken dog and a young girl walking a duck on a leash or sitting on her desk as she diligently finishes an evenings worth of homework. A love for animals, specifically dogs, and a joy in having something small and delicate to "take care of" combines nicely into a great addition to our lives.
And so enters, "The Smish."
The name/title/description/catch-all phrase "Smish" is, as usual in our quirky family, a conglomerate of many different words and events that has morphed and created itself into an actualized identity. I doubt myself the next Shakespeare, creating my own words when existing onces simply do not suffice, but "Smish" has truly become a mantra within our household. "Smish," which serves the purpose primarily as a proper noun and therefore warrants capitalization, takes it's origins from the English word, "fish." In context it refers both to the scale-covered water-dwelling member of the animal kingdom, as well as it's usage as a verb; as in, "fish around for trouble." Emphasis added to the word trouble. Throw in a small amount of child-like humor and swap some phonics in for others, and after months of fine-tuning, we have created the word, "Smish." Granted Shakespeare was much better at the job than we, proven by when he decided to "ass the ass" in power, and created the word assassinate.
Further descriptions of "The Smish," and her minions, collectively known as, "The Smishes" will, I'm certain, make their way into further posts, so I will save further explanation. But as any good ADD addiction goes, why have one when you have have two... or three... or four?!?
When Number four came along, we had narrowed it down to a set purpose. If you're going to do something, why not do it full boat, and with that we made our third attempt, albeit much more successful than the previous two, to launch into the wide world of Show Dogs. For those of you who have never experienced this slight niche of American culture, I will answer the two most common questions now... Yes, in many ways it is "really like that movie with the dad from American Pie," and; No, well bred dogs do not have tons of health problems. Regarding that last statement, in fact quite the opposite.
So here we are, a Toyota Corolla, 3 dogs, and hours worth of "family time" ahead, traveling the rugged Southwest in search of AKC Championship Points. Other times it's "Mom and her pup" off on their own excursion, as you could probably guess finding accommodations that accept multiple animals can be quite challenging. Above you'll also notice I said 3 dogs, we have 4. Here's the discrepancy. The frustrations increase thanks to my oldest dog, one I've had much longer than I've even known my wife. She tends to be on the "yappy" side, and that's putting it kindly. She is a topic of conversation for a future time, but needless to say, fear of being expelled from any animal-tolerant hotel, and potentially from showing dogs in the AKC thanks to being expelled from an animal-tolerant hotel, we have to find a location for her to stay when we leave... she has all but burned every bridge for all available free (friend) options.
