Sunday, November 9, 2014

The Journey Doesn't End Here

As we begin the long drive back home to DC, it strikes me that the journey that began a year ago also goes forward from where it began. That so many new challenges and opportunities lie still before me, not behind. The friendships I've made, the ties of brotherhood forged with our community pack, and all the things learned still go with me.

I do have ideas about where to focus that seemingly boundless energy. As the 2014 titleholder, I got to see firsthand those things that stir my creative juices and resonate with my passions. I got to hear my packbrothers and sisters and learn what their experiences and visions are. I never have been one to rest on my laurels, but rather always looking for the next thing I can do or help with.

So, now, going forward, I feel it's important to support an initiative whose importance can never be understated. That, of course, is Project Touch  Base, started by my little brother Pup Figaro and my brother pup, Havok. I spoke about it during the Florida Puppy contest about this, and the reaction was overwhelmingly in support of it. This project needs our support - our brothers and sisters need us.

At the same time, I want to resurrect a project I started under MAKK but unfortunately let slide. That is the Pupping Out Project. Each one of us in this pack, pup or handler, has a story to tell. And those stories can be the door that brings another home to us. I heard many of your stories in my travels, and they moved me. Imagine the power that has for the pup or handler looking to discover themselves and a place to call home. The Pupping Out Project is a place to tell these stories, share them with others, and bring us closer together as one pack.

And, above all, spend more time with my family, both my immediate leather family and my packmates who have time and again shown me how lucky I am.

So, as one chapter ends, I'm already looking to the next... And maybe somewhere in it gravity and I will learn to peacefully coexist.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

One Year Later...



Tomorrow morning I’ll be starting the long drive down to Tampa/St. Pete. It was one year ago that I looked down that same stretch of road, setting out for International Puppy 2014. I didn’t know then I’d be coming back along that highway with the title. I didn’t know that it was to be the start of one hell of a journey, one that would turn out to be the journey of a lifetime. And now, 31,000 miles and one year later, I’m going back to where it started. And even though I stepped-aside back in July, this feels like a closing of an incredible chapter in my life.

I know I’m not the same pup I was one year ago. So many awesome things came my way, and I was fortunate and blessed to be able to meet so many incredible people. Each and every one of them left an imprint in my life, in my understanding and appreciation of our community pack. They all left me with an increasingly greater and deeper appreciation of just how strong and warm our pack really is. To be one of many who share as much as we all do, well… it’s nothing short of amazing, and I consider myself lucky to be a part of it all.

On this, the one year mark, I again thank you all for everything you gave me. I can only hope I was able to return or pay it forward enough.

-WuzzyPup Tripp-