I had a Lover's Quarrel with the World

I Had a Lover’s Quarrel with the World

That is the epitaph on the grave of Robert Frost, buried in Bennington, VT.  He was four times a winner of the Pulitzer Prize and America’s Poet Laureate, at least unofficially, and his poetry is studied across the world. You may not know the title, Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening but you do know the concluding line, “The woods are lovely, dark and deep but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep and miles to go before I sleep.”

Frost was also, from all accounts, taciturn and sometimes as hard as the New England granite that is scattered across the landscape.  He once wrote, “Forgive O Lord, my little jokes on Thee, and I’ll forgive Thy great big joke on me.”    We don’t just have a lover’s quarrel with the world but with God, wondering if the joke is on us for believing in a God who loves us more than life itself.  For the questioners, the skeptics, the ones who, like the distraught father pleading to Jesus for the healing of his son with the confession, “I believe, help my unbelief” take comfort in Frost’s epitaph. I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.  It is written in the past tense, not because of Frost’s death but perhaps, because, in the end, the lovers made up.  

            This blog is entitled God and Dog Travelogue but I haven’t mentioned too much about Jack and Kelsey, who are the reason for this trip. They have been with me every step of the way, except for those unenlightened souls who don’t allow dogs in their facilities.  Jack and Kelsey and I drove from Bennington to Stowe, Vermont yesterday.  Along the way I was deeply moved the see a number of side roads named in honor of fallen soldiers.  I passed by roads with names such as Pvt. Ford or Pvt. Fallow.  It wasn’t until I passed by a road named Pvt. Frog Hallow that I realized I had been deeply moved by a series of private roads, all marked Pvt.

            I chose the inn in Stowe solely because they accepted dogs.  I had no idea of what a treat we had in store for us.  The room is huge, almost the size of my living room and kitchen put together.  The dogs have plenty of room to stretch out and play.  However the biggest surprise is that behind the inn is a large meadowith the proverbial babbling brook and a covered bridge – all in our back yard!

           

            One of the things our dogs teach us is to live in the present.  I had an itinerary all planned out but junked it once I saw Jack and Kelsey’s reaction to their new surroundings.  Jack rolled on his back on the grass and Kelsey didn’t hesitate to explore the brook.  I was going to see Dog Mountain but decided to postpone it after seeing Jack and Kelsey’s enthusiasm for their temporary home.  Dogs teach us to savor the present moment and that is one of the lessons that I’m here to learn.  So we walked along the paths and took our time with the world – or let the world take its time with us.