my new lovers

Guess I found another sacred space. It may be loud and a little stinky, but it's full of furry, little lovers. I go to visit them almost every day. I fall asleep thinking of these guys and wake up excited knowing I get to see them again. Oh, the hours I've spent loving them :)

I have been volunteering at the dog pound for a few weeks now. This surprises some people considering what I witnessed on my first day of training. I watched as the guy who was teaching me the procedure to walk the dogs got his hand suddenly and severely chewed by a chow chow (no pun intended). Blood squirted everywhere as he screamed fuck! fuck! My teacher fled to the emergency room for stitches and I haven't seen him since. I hear his hand is still healing.

Regardless of that drama (which I believe was a valuable lesson in responsible dog handling), I've kept my heart open to these guys. They are so desperate for human contact, physical touch and quiet moments together. But I use protection--a pair of leather gloves, at least until I get to know the dog better.

This has been my best idea yet. Call it free therapy. Sitting in the California sunshine playing with Rover, then having him snuggle into you and lie down on your lap...OHHHHH. Ecstasy! I like taking the nervous guys (often shaky little chihuahuas), holding them tight against my chest and feeling their shaking bodies finally relax. It's then that they start making eye contact and often try to grab a kiss.

I feed them some treats, then pet them and scratch their bellies if they want. It feels just as good for me as it does for them. I fall in love with a new dog practically every visit. And by now I must have 20 lovers. But what the hell. The more the merrier. I've got enough love to go around.

I'm happy.

white inspired

The snow.

The snow!

It was very late in coming this winter, but today was worth the wait. It started as the tiny blustery kind of flakes that blow sideways and even manage to get up your nose. As the day wore on it shifted to a slow-motion cascade of white fluff that fell on the night like a curtain of sweet winter silence.

It beckoned the winter baby. And naturally, she grabbed her dog. Dogs love winter, right?

I thought he would be as excited as I was to get out in it and run around. However, as he saw me pull his doggie jacket and 4 little doggie boots from the hall closet, he headed swiftly under the couch. Being that I am even more strong-willed than he is, the boots went on, velcro tightened one by one, and soon we were heading down the freshly shovelled driveway into the not-so-freshly plowed street.

Suddenly he wished he was much taller. He didn't quite know what to do with all this snow, or how to act like a real dog dressed in a red coat and 4 booties with reflective stripes sewn right in. I pictured him hoping we wouldn't run into any other dogs who would see him dressed like this.

Obviously I didn't care how I looked. As I walked, my thighs were frozen, but nothing else was. My hat was flattening my hair, but kept my ears warm. And my frumpy down jacket is absolutely priceless in this weather, no matter what my daughter says. Without it I wouldn't be able to bear the winter, let alone enjoy it like I did tonight.

We got halfway down the street when the dog took a turn. He wrestled with his boots, trying to shake them off. Apparently they cramped his style. I think they made him run funny too. In fact, from behind he looked like a rabbit. When one boot finally disappeared in the snow, I had mercy and took him home. Then I went back out to look for the missing boot and didn't come back for 45 minutes.

It was just so magical out there. Everything was quiet, muffled by the snow. Couldn't hear the cars for nothin. I shuffled through foot-deep snow, light and sparkly like diamond dust as I kicked my way along. The pines were holding every ounce of snow they could possibly bear. Wow. I walked down a path usually busy with dogwalkers and kids riding bikes, past a babbling brook, not a soul in sight.

No sign of life, but so alive.

I rounded the corner and came upon a house with all white Christmas lights that shone through the falling snow. White, white and more white. I looked up to a streetlight and noticed how incredibly beautiful the snow looked falling beneath it. I felt like this moment had been waiting for me. Do I have to go home yet?

To anyone who shoveled two hours ago, or even one hour ago, your work was in vain. The edges of your sidewalk and driveway have disappeared again, rounded by the new snow that fell as soon as you turned around to put your shovel away. But it's so much more beautiful this way.

I don't care that I have a road trip tomorrow morning. I don't care that I'll have to shovel again, maybe twice. It feels protective in a way. Certainly something new and pretty. I may not be too happy to see it in March, but today for sure it can stay.

P.S. I found the missing boot.

post-Christmas delivery

Everyone around here has been impatiently awaiting the first snowfall, praying we would have a white Christmas. Well, it did not make it in time for Christmas. But yesterday afternoon, it finally started snowing... and sticking!

I dressed extra warm and grabbed Snoop's leash, a poop bag, and off we went for our nightly walk. I just have to say one word about that walk...

~ H E A V E N L Y ~

Not that I am a huge fan of winter, cuz in February I'll be cursing the stuff, but with the snow came a magical beauty to the neighborhood, a quiet calm, a cozy blanket of white that suddenly brought on some warm and fuzzy feelings that I associate with Christmastime. I was happier than happy, content with the world and my life, at least for this moment, and thankful for all the blessings that surround me, none less exciting than this snow.

Part II - I had the pleasure of sleeping over at Rob's house last night. When I got up at 4am to pee, I looked out his bathroom window onto his one-acre backyard. It was a winter wonderland!! It had snowed a few inches more and it was coming down in big, fat flakes. I was in awe. I climbed back in bed, he stirred, and I said to him, let's go out and play in it!!