Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The power and destruction on display two Fridays ago shook my family to its core. By the time the waters started to recede, I was thankful that all the trees around my house landed on the ground. Knowing others didn’t fare so well, the urge to do something sent me to dust off my chainsaw and try to help clean up. Neighbors were being neighborly, kids were unplugged from video games, and we could all agree that Helene was for the dogs. My dogs agreed, too, but for other reasons.

The trees that fell behind our house were large oaks that had been around for a century. During that time, they had built a large root system. When the combination of soggy soil and high winds met these oaks, they toppled with a crash. Those large root balls exploded from the ground, taking my backyard fence with them. 

The dogs, oblivious to the human trials surrounding them, rejoiced at becoming inside dogs for a while.

Our dogs spend most of the day in the backyard, napping and watching for intruders. As the cool air arrives in the fall, they start to howl and sing to welcome the long-awaited change in weather. While they are content to be outside, they would much rather be inside, sleeping on a rug or maybe even the couch. 

Roaming the backyard for new smells and critters is fun, but they would rather put that time into monitoring the kitchen for leftovers. The soft crinkle of a plastic bag will wake them from the deepest air-conditioned slumber. Any time our pups are in the kitchen, they might as well have the Police song playing in the background: “Every step you take,… every move you make,… I’ll be watching you.”

Where we could once skip a walk because they chased squirrels all day, I now get to take them on multiple walks throughout the day. These walks have kept them very well informed with the other neighbors’ dogs. Instead of reading their “pee-mail” once a day or every other day, they now read it multiple times a day. 

One new river birch that fell always has new posts for them to read, and they practically pull me there each time. I’m thinking too much information could be a bad thing in their minds. The signs and warnings I am supposed to look out for in my children for too much social media I am now looking for in my dogs.  

While our three dogs have no clue what happened with the storm and are probably happy for the destruction of their fence, I can’t say they are completely selfish. At times when I would start worrying about cleaning up, retaining walls, and water damage, I’d find a head on my knee to pet and feel comfort. I hope in these tumultuous days you too have been able to find a head to scratch that makes the worries flee because Helene was for the dogs.