Well, I may be a vegetable, I said. That may be so, I said. But I am a happy vegetable.
Who can argue that?
The conversation was long overdue:
That was a huge mat, I said to Ozzie. Ozzie was grooming Aristophanes, the dog I rescued when I was in Greece, and which now calls her home, his home. He did not like men, she said. I have these images of him in my head of being beaten by multiple men. The one who abandoned him was about 25.
So he really needs a lot of special emotional care. Very high strung. Still thinks and behaves like a puppy. I can’t imagine him just all laid back. But I can. That’s because Ozzie has worked miracles with these dogs.
Jenna was — you could see her ribs popping out — starved when Ozzie got her. Jenna now eats whatever she can get a hold of — yet she’s not fat. She is a compulsive eater. Because she has been accustomed to not knowing where and when her next meal is going to come from.
And Aristophanes is afraid of men. He has his men trust issues. So you must appeal to him intellectually. Behavior Modification. Continual Positive Reinforcement. (He’s very smart!) Now if only he could bring me my coffee from the deck! Wouldn’t that be awesome?
HOLIDAYS
I say to Ozzie:
Ozzie, I just want you to know that I will be checking out for the next couple of days. So don’t expect much from me in the way of concrete performance. I may appear to you like a Zombie. But I can assure you I am not.
THE END (for now)
Brute force, obviously, doesn’t work.
SEX FROM HELL — A Topic Explored On Even Days
4:00 AM — On A Moonless Night.
Finally!
The crack of dawn has arrived. It is 5:07 AM and the sky is a very dark shade of blue. I can see Mikey more clearly now. Before he was shrouded in a shadow. I am trying to think of the the color I am really seeing here through my paints. There is a certain shade of blue. Not Prussian. Something else. Very, very dark. The darkest blue, perhaps. (I am so bad with details!)
OUR BEST FRIEND, THE DOG
They’re up when the birds are. They’re up at midnight. They’re up at 9 PM. And they never get mad at us for living life that way. They love us unconditionally.
When we harm them, we harm our ourselves. Being cruel to an animal is where I draw the line. You know, if it’s a person, they have a chance of defending themselves. But to be cruel to an animal that is below us is simply unacceptable!
We hear the first symphony of the birds. The sky is kind of gray and a discordant sound emerges from their mouths. Nothing seems to be in sync. And then there is a silence. Moments later, the second symphony begins, and this is a bit more harmonious. This symphony has several movements, each becoming more harmonious as day breaks, waiting for the first glimpse of the Sun.
TUESDAY MORNING
I woke early. 5:30 AM. The weather forecast was wrong again. Supposed to be sunny. Cloudy instead. Still I sat in the canvas chair for hours. I probably could have sat there all day, just like my Buddha. I could have. But I realized there was one thing that could stir me enough to get up — the scent of a rose.
