A friend gave me the book Dogs in Heaven – it was touching to read this morning over tea and breakfast. Today would have been Arlene’s 14th birthday. I realize now in hindsight, I was keeping her around for selfish purposes – her birthday (so arbitrary to a dog, really who can figure out dog years anyway?), and T’s family coming in June, and my own need to have her near me. The vet called…
Well if it is in the next few weeks you are guaranteed to be exhausted. Here’s the game plan: Today starts Jazz Fest – get your ticket in your hand. Brass Pass if you can still get one, which I heard you can, $350 not only gets you into 7 days of the best music in the world but also is a big donation to the best radio station in the world – WWOZ –…
I went to see Scott at Jupiter Salon and after 16 years of being a semi natural redhead, I had him change my hair color. It’s going to be a transition to get the red out and go back to my natural color, which is anyone’s guess at this point, but somewhere along the lines of a dirty blonde. I was getting a massage a few weeks ago when I made the decision. I had…
I was talking to some friends and neighbors on the bayou the other evening and said I was working on getting rid of some 10 pounds that were clinging to my middle for dear life. One said, “Well, what does Tatjana think?” And I said, “About what?” And he said, “If she likes you with those ten pounds then what do you care?” Last night, we ran into a friend going through a divorce –…
I was speaking to a friend the other day about love and she was saying sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth the effort because it ends in heartbreak. I was thinking about our conversation as I went through the long last week of Arlene’s life and wondering why do people do this? Get a dog, put it to sleep. Heartbreak. A friend wrote today about his own thoughts of having a dog: “I just don’t…
John F. Kennedy once observed that “Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion, without the discomfort of thought.”
Loca and I walked through the park this morning and noticed along the way, the things we haven’t noticed, there are ducklings everywhere! I couldn’t count how many. The pelicans and cormorants are gone, but one slick black cormorant had spread his wings in the middle of the lagoon and was drying off. All along the banks, I noticed the yellow-crowned night herons, Plenty of them. I was smiling for the first time and happy…
Last night, in honor of Earth Day and of Arlene passing, we held a small ceremony of recycling. Loca was honored with Arlene’s collar and told this was a very big responsibility. Bam Bam took Arlene’s little bed that Aunt Jer had given her a few holidays ago. Wolfie received her old big bed and since Wolfie is two weeks shy of her heart worm treatment recovery, she was welcomed into the house. Wolfie was…
Ashes to ashes on Earth Day. Arlene’s remains will be delivered to us in a week and then, we’ll have a celebration of her life – a sprinkle on the bayou, next to Cabrini where she chased the ball endlessly, by the American Can because she suffered with us all through that ordeal, and some in the backyard. Loca has been weirdly quiet. Wolfie is aware something is going on but she’s been isolated so…
RIP (run in peace) Born, April 24, 1995 Died, April 22, 2009 A lucky dog and a good companion passed this morning and now resides in a certain dimension of our minds where memories of joy and sorrow exist in equal measure. If the benchmark for how much you are loved is calculated by the number of nicknames one has in life – Leenie, Torreadora, Little Black Bean, Seal, Lil Shaver, Skater, Lucky Dog, Cardi…