Six Legs
Don’t ask Willow or Gideon how many legs they have. They would not be able to answer, because to them, this is a non starter. This is not a differentiating moment. This kind of appearance calculus is something their species’ owners do too often. But Willow and Gideon recognize also that this is one of their many jobs – they teach by leading. Simple classifications like numbers of legs, color of skin, gender, class, religion, and yes, even age, are often, when it counts, of little relevance.
Most especially during “Magic Hour.” This is the interlude at the Ninigret Dog Park in Charlestown, Rhode Island when they get let out of the box with wheels and into the verdant playground with their other friends who think exactly same way. The salt pond’s fresh air invigorates both dog and person. It is a special place. Green lights all around at the dog park.
Willow came to Rhode Island only a few months ago via Egypt. She was rescued by an underground animal organization that swept her off the streets of Cairo, already missing a leg. This live angel on earth, the woman orchestrating saving homeless dogs off the hot city street, heard this spectacular long haired German Shepherd had been hit by a car. Because dogs are not as highly venerated in Northern Africa as they are in some parts of the United States – New England humans generally go mad for canines – Willow, who had no name, was in extreme danger of being put down. Tim’s wife heard about the Egyptian animal rescue on the other side of the world by scouring social media. She contacted the American living in Cairo and Willow soon boarded a plane. Willow did not hobble up the gangplank. She soared.
Tim likes to share the story about how he found himself during the ice cold winter, in between record breaking snow storms, driving to New York City’s JFK international airport. He was nodding his head, ‘yes, yes, yes,’ when his wife was explaining how she had chosen this particular dog. They had lost their entire pack to the course of life, one by one, years earlier, and it was high time to welcome another member back into the family.
Getting this wisp of a medium sized dog – she could not have weighed more than sixty pounds – through U.S. customs had also been a challenge.
“These papers are in Arabic!,” the Homeland Security Officer complained to Mr. and Mrs. Quillen after pulling Willow out of cargo and putting her in a special room. They had to be translated. “Why is she missing a leg?” he wanted to know.
The rest was easy. Willow embraced her new country, home and is a regular at the dog park. She likes to skirt around with her elegant almost elegiac long snout, greeting the two legged visitors with a nuzzle and a gentle look. Recently she’s taken to sitting in the front seat as Tim’s co-Captain. She must have known he needs one on the job of his monitoring the entire 300 acre federal preserve for the Town’s Department of Public Works.