Our Park Warden
by
Helen Smith
Retirement became a new way of life for my husband and me as we chose to live in the first over-55 Mobile Home Park opened in Manitoba. It is located in Ste. Anne's off Highway #1 and is called Paradise Village.The first friend we made was our Park Warden who is a 6-year old part collie, part German shepherd. He has been here right from the beginning of Paradise, when the owner's home was the only one settled at this location. He values his position highly and struts with a noble stance, head held erect with a certain aloofness, galloping with true sophistication.
The comfortable area on the deck of the office is often interrupted with people enquiring about this new way of living. When they proceed to explore, our Warden runs ahead, and suddenly, naughtily, collapses in front of their vehicle, making them come to a halt. Then nonchalantly he sniffs their car from front to end, at times returning to his resting position until he feels it is time to accept these strangers entering his domain.
When you walk to the mail or around the Village, he follows you, making you feel he is your special friend, only to have you find out he is extremely fickle. As soon as another walker arrives, he will suddenly take off in their direction and leave you flat. He will always come back again and never forgets you until he wants to.
He has a remarkable sense and can recognize elderly people. He will bark at persons past the child stage and try to scare them until he is sure they belong in the mobile they are visiting. Children are something else to him. He quickly wants to be their friend, romping and playing with them, and he knows instantly the ones he can stand up to and try to lick their faces. The falling cookie crumbs do not seem to mean anything to him when children are present.
Two years ago, three delightful geese were guests in the beautiful area surrounding our pond. Our Warden found it hard to accept these honking creatures who would snap at his nose when he tried chasing them. As weeks went by, he made every effort to welcome them graciously, even protecting them at times. The boys working at Paradise are very lucky as he follows them wherever they go. He even inspects decks and garages, probably giving a nod if they have his approval.
He can awaken you at night with a sometimes quiet and sometimes loud bark, and you know instantly that a raccoon, skunk, maybe even a bear is approaching the Village. He is very brave in this situation, protecting his area with courage. He does have his fears though; if a storm is approaching and the underskirt of a mobile is open, we may find our Warden hiding underneath until all is clear. Or if a car door is left open for any length of time when thunder is loud in the sky, he will jump into the back seat and be an overnight guest, as coaxing him with a treat will be to no avail.
One never knows when he will appear from a lane, and if you have your sprinkler going, he will stop and you can visualize from his look that he is thinking, "How will I get on their deck without going through the water?" No problem! He just goes along the edge of the next mobile until he reaches a dry spot in order to come hopping up those steps.
Yes, this Warden of ours even knows when you have visitors for dinner. His large brown, sorrowful eyes unexpectedly appear in the entrance of any open door or through our bow window. They look deeply at you and seem to say, "Please save me a plate". He even knows if you have visitors staying for a week or so, and will appear every day until the guests have departed.
At times he may lie for a while on your deck, and even enter your sun room apprehensively if you leave a door open. He will quietly stay and listen to anything a human will not want to hear, and the nice thing about telling him all your thoughts is that they will never be repeated; they remain just between the two of you. His head lifts and a certain slant to his eyes tells you that you really do have problems.
Even if we run out of leftovers and have only dog biscuits (which he is not in the mood for at times), we love our Warden. He can use our trees any time - but not the flowers.