Monday, August 29, 2011

Edward, Under Pegasus


Edward, Under Pegasus

Midnight came on the heels of an eerie day when the earth shuddered and quaked, cracking nature’s molds like the thunder of Lear and pushing angels off the roof of the National Cathedral. Pegasus cantered across a moonlit sky to take up his autumnal position to the east of a swan while under the trees of the garden, in a nest of shadows, the big dog sat listening, then suddenly turning in a bolt for the door. Crashing through the mudroom, barreling down the hall, he leapt onto the bed with a thump of white fur. He ignored his usual spot at the lady’s feet and made his way up the blanketed bed to sit squarely in front of her face. She peered up over her book.
Edward?”, she asked.
The big dog stared.
The lady looked over at the man to see if he was noticing this most unusual behaviour.
He was.
Maybe he needs to go out?”, he asked.
He just came back in”, she replied.
And still the big white dog sat staring at the lady, a look of worry in his almond eyes.
I’ll go out with him”, the man said, and with a barely audible sigh, he put down his book and threw back the covers.
He opened the door to the garden and the big white dog followed him out into the night.
The lady waited.
Soon they both returned, the man shaking his head.
“I don’t know what’s the matter with him, but whatever it is, the owls seem to share it. You should hear them. They’re all out there calling - barred owls, screech owls, great horned. It’s odd.”
The big white dog nodded, wishing not for the first time for the great gift of speech.
He jumped right back up to lie squarely between the man and the lady, eventually falling asleep with his head across the man’s chest.
And the owls called out for hours.

***************

Epilogue
Over breakfast the next morning, the lady and man learned that the earthquake of the previous day had produced an aftershock at precisely the same moment of Edward’s strange behaviour.
Though far away from the epicenter of this event, he knew it was happening.
And so did the owls.
Such is the inherent symbiosis shared between animals and nature, a connection that one would assume, with their supposed elevated state, human beings would share.
But do not.

23 comments:

  1. Yes, I have heard of this before Pamela - truly remarkable - and we think we are cleverer than animals.

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  2. What a clatter that must have been with the owls discussing the earthquake and Edward, dear Edward, always protecting and watching out for the Lady.

    I hope you are out of Irene's path and harm's way.

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  3. A story I've never told before , and perhaps as a buttoned up Calvinist shouldn't , but you and Edward will understand it . The night in Italy we were nearly murdered was the night of an earthquake. Wilf and Digby rushed up together from the front door, where they slept, and by barking constantly got us up and out of the house a full two minutes before the earthquake struck . Quite uncharacteristic behaviour. In Aquila 50 k's away hundreds dead. We only had plaster down from the ceiling . An hour and a half later , after we had all gone to bed exhausted, the machine totting burglars arrived . For the first time ever the boyz had come upstairs to sleep with us and hadn't been at the door to hear the gunmen shoot the locks out . They were as dead beat as we were . Ever since then we've understood that PON's have the hearts of lions and the knowledge and spirit of something greater. I've tried to forget that night but your post reminded me o all this. From one PON family to another - give Edward an extra big hug from us tonight .

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  4. Sweet dear Edward and Pamela, I've had dear dogs and cat and other's ack that way and care for me.They have always been my bestof frineds and will always be.Many have passed over the Rainbow
    and truely missed. You and yours take care.((Hugs))

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  5. Pamela, I would love to share this story with my 5 1/2 yr old granddaughter who moved to Richmond,Virginia from Michigan. In her first three weeks, she has dealt with her first earthquake and now her first hurricane. She loves animals and would be thrilled to know they have a special sense of life. May I?

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  6. Sometimes the abilities of the creatures of our world astonish me.

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  7. Amazing, isn't it? Our dog behave similar when bad weather comes, and it comes fairly often....
    With the nearing hurricane he is besides himself and actually resides in the basement since yesterday.
    Nobody can get him to move....
    Poor creature, I wish I could ease his nerves...
    We are all boarded up, cross your fingers, please!

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  8. Like the elephants in Sri Lanka who broke their chains and carried people to high ground before the Tsunami hit. Humans think, animals know . . .

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  9. Hi Pamela,if I ever doubted my love for dear Edward this endears me more to him. From Edward's point of view, can one imagine the frustration being unable to communicate this danger to us. Just recently a wise man told me "to watch the birds at sunrise and at sunset, they face the sun. This is the only time of day they look/face the sun. The reasoning being that there is a vitamin in the sun at these times that benefits eyesight"
    Thank you for a beautiful post

    Helen xx

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  10. AS always beautiful Edward is in tune perfectly and without question... he’s got it all going on...

    thank you for your farie tales Pamela. I enjoyed the last post about little girls...I too had a huge love of Hayley
    Mills and all things Disney. I feel so sorry for the kids of today...where is the innocence? the moms are the problem...they are fullfilling their own insecurites through their little girls..how sad.

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  11. Fascinating - maybe one day we will learn to strip away what we don't need to find ourselves again in deep alignment with our wild knowing, I wait for that!

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  12. Hello Pamela:
    Edward The Protector!! It is so amazing how animals are in such tune with nature that all manner of things of which they ahare an understanding are quite beyond human beings. Perhaps when mankind lived an altogether simpler life, humans too would have been more conscious of the moods, warnings and rhythms of Nature?

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  13. Somehow, I knew where this story was going...:)

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  14. Your story and then Angus telling us his experence has sent shivers up my spine. Such amazing creatures are dogs, and we are so very privledged to have them in our lives.

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  15. All I can say is, they know much, much more than we do....I am hoping you did not have much of the storm. Thinking of you & the house(hold)~

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  16. Edward is a treasure and your words a gift!

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  17. There's so much more to animals than meets the eye, isn't there Pamela ? There is some sort of inner sixth sense that we don't have, that's for sure. XXXX

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  18. Animals are amazing, aren't they? They must think we're so dim when we don't understand their concerns. We're very lucky to have them in our lives.

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  19. Isn't this the craziest year for weather! I don't have a dear doggie, but have noticed some peculiarities in the wildlife - such as one of the young foxes standing on the back deck at the height of the hurricane blowing through, that was a bit eery!

    Love that Edward!
    Hugs - Mary

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  20. Wow! Just shows you how in tune with our World the animals really are. Dear Edward! How loving that he came straight to you, he truly is a gem.

    Thanks so much for your visit Pamela,and hope your week-end is good.

    Hugs Jane

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  21. I have heard of this before. Some say that animals can even sense before an natural catastrophe is to occur.

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  22. it was not an earthquake. we were on a walk, one of many we took each day. he dearly loved to walk. he stopped in his tracks. turned. actually i was still striding and nearly tripped over him. he stood there looking up at me directly into my face. i stood smiling, looking back. he wouldn't move. finally i got him to go on.
    i later learned, when i got home and could not remember how numbers worked... i knew them but had no idea of their sequence or what they meant... i had had a transient ischemic stroke. my little pon knew. zeke knew. their sense of life itself is beyond belief sometimes.
    i had no pain. no knowledge of what had happened to me. i hadn't said a word. i wish i could have known his words as he stared at me.
    he's gone now. last year on september 24th. and my heart still aches.
    tammy j

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!