cody bear’s friends

This is the story of a ball. A bouncy one, the size of tennis ball, designed to look like a soccer ball. It is also a window into two generations of my dogs: Loki, my border chow who died early but fit a few lifetimes worth of joy into her years, and Pickles, my new border collie puppy.

Loki loved playing soccer. A few days a week we would go to the park and she and I would tear it up with her futball. My mother had purchased a mini-super bouncy soccer ball for her one year. Yes, Loki and I played fetch with it, but whenever we went to visit Mom we took the ball with us and the two of them would get up early to play. Mom would kick the ball all morning while Loki fetched it or stomped on it and kicked it back with her paws. Over the years the ball got pretty nasty. Tooth marks, paint missing….skungie. Mom would buy her new balls, but she only wanted that crusty old spitty toothmarked ball.

When Loki got sick she stopped playing. The mini soccer ball was left in the yard while I spent my time keeping her still. It was difficult because she wanted to play, she was getting better, but I had to keep her rested. Months after he diagnosis, and after a severe feeling of recovery, Loki passed away one Sunday. Her indoor toys were put in an area of the living room not packed away. Of her four favorite toys, two were outdoor toys, one stayed in the backyard as a sort of memorial, but the mini soccer ball was forgotten. The ball stopped seeing action in June of ‘04. In late August of ’04 it had lost its dog.

4 years of hot summer sun and harsh monsoon muds passed, covering the ball. It sat under a tree while 4 years of leaves and bark covered it. It lay buried under the crazy, running paws of my Cody Bear at least 4 inches under ground.

Two weeks ago I adopted Pickles. The first couple days she lived with us she was too scared of Cody Bear to leave my side, but soon she started to explore the yard. Every day I would catch her staring at the ground beneath a tree. She would start to dig and I would say stop. She would walk away in search of a beetle. Again and again I found her staring at the patch of dirt. I would walk up to her and look, “what is she seeing?” Nothing.

pickles and the old soccer ball

Today I sat out back eating my lunch and Pickles was staring at her patch of dirt. She started digging but I did not stop her. Soon she produced the ball. She carried it to her secluded part of the yard. She ignored all other toys all afternoon. I eventually took the ball from her, half petrified and misshapen.

How did she know it was there? It certainly couldn’t still smell after all this time. Why did Cody Bear never know it was there?

Loki with ball in the background