Time to Read

I spend a lot of time in the car every day. At least, it's much more than I would like to be spending. It's gotten better since I transferred to a closer college this fall, but I'm still averaging close to 2 hours driving time every day. That's two hours that I can't be studying. That's two hours that I can't be trail running. That's two hours I can't be dog training. That's two hours where I sit almost motionless, strapped to a horrid cushioned chair and stare out a window. Believe me, those two empty hours are painful in a schedule as busy as mine. It's like starving to death in a roomful of poisoned cupcakes.

...or something like that.

Switching gears:

I have always felt that reading is very important. Books are powerful. I firmly believe that the books we read have a huge impact on the way we live our lives and the people we become. Through books, we can access concepts and ideas that we wouldn't necessarily have encountered otherwise. We can meet people and do things and go places that we never could have gone before. And from these hypothetical experiences, we form conclusions about the world and about ourselves that are important, and that change us.

....You may be wondering why I'm writing all this. What could this all possibly have to do with Novel, CCI, or Puppy Raising? Just hang on and I'll get to that. I promise.

You can imagine with what frustration I watched for the past few years as my list of books to read grew ever longer and my minutes of time to read grew ever shorter. Or I should say non-existent. What's worse is that I'm a very slow reader. I would think about this as I drove all those endless empty minutes to school, and to work, and back again.

And then I discovered - or rather re-discovered - audio books, and my life-enjoyment meter jumped about 50 points. As a kid, I was always always listening to a "book-on-tape." I'd listen to them right through the night because my sister would turn them on to go to sleep...but I would never fall asleep.

My 2 hour daily stint in the car was redeemed and I started chugging through my book list at an alarming rate. And now I'm chugging through the Public Library's audio book section. I'm going through about one book a week and it's great.

All that to say this: I recently finished a book that really got me thinking. Maybe you've heard of it. They've made it into a movie that's coming out in December, and no, it's not the Hobbit. Although that is a good book. But it's fiction. And this isn't. It's called The Lone Survivor.

Do you remember, a while back, 2005, there was a big news story about a rescue helicopter full of Navy Seals that got shot down in Afghanistan? They were going in to rescue a 4 man Seal team that had been ambushed by the Taliban. The news report at the time stated that there were no survivors - but there was one.

His story, and that of the men who fought and died beside him that day is truly breathtaking. I'm not kidding, I would get to school and then sit there in my car in the parking lot with my mouth hanging open, just staring at the CD player. The courageous, super-human valiance, the awesome magnitude of these men's sacrifice for their country is impossible to convey.

As I listened, I, of course couldn't help but think of my own brother who is in the Special Forces, or of the Special Forces veteran who gave us all chills at CCI's Southeast August graduation. I am sure that he got the longest spontaneous standing ovation I have ever witnessed - and he deserved every second of it.

My point is this: There are some truly amazing people in this world who give literally everything they have in a selfless effort to create something they very often don't even get to enjoy. It is a very small force of good against a massive expanse of darkness and cruelty and indifference. In light of this level of service, what can I possibly do that could hope to have an impact? How can I show my gratitude? And if I can - because I must - how can I join them? It is an elite group and half-hearted-ness will not suffice. The answer is as simple as it is profound: just raise puppies. It sounds silly. Childish even, but in a world where "only your very best counts, but every little bit matters," it's the best shot I've got at this whole make-a-difference thing.

And it does make a difference.
And it's a difference for the better.

And that, my friends, is why I am a puppy raiser.