best friend

My best friend, Jasmine, passed away yesterday. Some unknown illness took her in a matter of weeks. She was a loving soul and a constant companion. We hiked forty peaks together this season and had countless adventures in her eleven years of life. She was the perfect mountain dog, fearless, agile, athletic and never daunted by adverse terrain or conditions. She especially enjoyed sitting on the top of a peak scanning the incredible landscape below. She loved skiing in the spring and when it was time to go and I was clicking into my skis she became quite excited and would even yelp and squeal with joy in anticipation of the descent. Her favorite passion, however, was the relentless pursuit of chipmunks, squirrels and birds. She hardly ever captured one but was always game to give chase. Even though she was not trained as a hunting dog she would sense a hidden ptarmigan or grouse and freeze into the classic point pose revealing the hidden quarry. While we were hiking she regularly came back from her explorations to check on me and I got into the habit of saying this little poem to her. It seemed to soothe her and she would turn and happily trot off... "You're a pretty dog gon good little ol dog gon dog, dog gon it..anyway." I will miss her deeply.