My best friend is a dog. He is a purebred Siberian husky and his name is Lakota Sunrise. Lakota for his father Lakota Brave Heart and Sunrise for his mother Tequila Sunrise. I mostly call him Koty. Koty has been my constant companion since he was eight weeks old. He flew to me on December 1, 1999.
He saw me through the long years of caring for my mother and now he brightens my day every day. Koty is a tenderhearted boy and I have never known anyone with the joie de vivre that he exhibits. If I had a dollar for everyone who asks me how old my “puppy” is I would be a millionaire. Lakota is a master at living in the moment.
Today I realized that I have been living so much in the moment with my photography I haven’t been with him very much even though he is with me every step of the way. I have just been dragging him from one place to another telling him to hold still. I’ve been so totally focused on "my" moments he has been left behind. The realization did not make me pleased with myself. So, I determined that Lakota and I would spend the day just we two. I would not even take my camera with me.
We had a grand day. Most of it spent combing the beaches. Koty raced around in the sand, smelling all the delicacies the ocean had thrown up on the shore. I reveled in his delight and enthusiasm for the mundane. We sat together and watched the waves roll in. We were in the moment together.
It got me thinking about living in the moment again. And what I thought was; living in the moment is all well and good but not to the exclusion of our companions and loved ones. One must be careful and not selfish in their pursuit of a full life. Maybe we ought to make the effort to spend more conscious time in the moments of those we love?
© Kinsey Barnard
