I remember one of my first lab-spring run-off moments. Murphy was merely 4 months old. I was still a forestry graduate student at Yale, and loved walking the Appalachian Trail along the Housatonic River in Connecticut. I was doing a lot of research work on the forests along the trail. So, one early spring day we took Murphy (and Riley) for a walk. The river was raging. Murphy met a Black lab and the two of them began the lab ritual of: chase and leap.
Well, Murphy leapt and ended up in the river. For one flash moment I saw myself rescuing her in Long Island Sound near Milford, Connecticut. Her eyes were as big as cookies as I reached into the river to grab her by the collar.
It didn't deter her, though. She never was scared of water, moving or still.
Now, though, it's me that is more careful. Some of the rivers out here can really rage during run-off. But the good news is we had enough snow for a good water year, and that it's been (ok, this is not good news, but...) a cold spring, so we'll have ample snow pack for awhile.
Every time I see a raging river, though, I think of that little Yellow lab pup oh-so many years ago, waiting for a rescue. Murphy girl.
Murphy's Day.
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