fist & paw

Sunday, August 10, 2014
Luke Robinson

To me it’s always been a symbol of strength and solidarity.  Just open your palm and it’s there.  It’s loyalty, allegiance, and at times a lean-to, the late at night shelter in the wilderness of uncertainty.

Murphy used to paw me so much I called him Pez and I was the dispenser for whatever he needed and wanted.

Today is the 3 month mark of our west coast walk and from my experience with Murphy I learned that the pyr paw sometimes means it’s time to tap out.

Hudson cannot continue forward on this walk.  Paw problems have plagued him from close to the outset and to our damnest extent we’ve tried to figure out why and exhausted all solutions. The cold damp climate?  Non-stop licking causing chronic inflammation and infection?  Some say there are microscopic sand burrs on the coastline and a whole host of other speculations.

But like any other father, still in the absence of a reason or a solution, a decision has to be made.

Hudson is being picked up today and transported back to Memphis.  Indiana and I will continue on with sadness in our hearts and the longing to be reunited will drive us the rest of the way.