Dogs to the Rescue

I'm out of town, and it's been a long day . . . but still I watched Oprah's interview with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry tonight.  All three seemed honest and earnest and, in Meghan's case, sad.  Clearly she's become a target for the British tabloids and, at the same time, unsupported by the royal family.  To say that she's endured racist attacks is an understatement.

The interview wasn't totally depressing, however.  My favorite line came at the end when Oprah asked Meghan and Harry about their lives now.  Harry talked about his love for his growing family and his pride in his wife, and then he added, "The dogs are really happy."

This made me smile.  There's hope for Meghan and Harry.

Honoring Snowflake

The photo of Ted Cruz's dog Snowflake, alone at the front door with the family on vacation in Cancún, created a familiar image: that of a dog, forlorn and abandoned, without his people friends nearby.  The picture isn't even a close-up, yet you get a sense of how Snowflake felt.  Or how you think Snowflake felt.  Dogs have long conveyed human emotions, particularly to those of us who've lived with them.  Even my porcelain and brass dogs have something to say:

Here's one that belonged to my dad.  Apparently a cocker spaniel, he displays on his side an image of the Statue of Liberty's crown and torch with the words "New York."  I assume that my father bought this as a souvenir when he visited the city as a kid.  There's a certain nobility about this dog, even with the distracting tourist image: his earnest face, his steady stance, and his gaze into an unknown future.

This scottie was my dad's, too, though she's more worn than the spaniel.  She reminds me of Snowflake, Ted Cruz's dog, though her house is more appealing than his posh, uninspired facade.  In contrast, her cheerful orange door stands out against a green wall and a bright blue roof.  Nonetheless, our scottie is chained unhappily outside.  Her misery is palpable.  Still, I'd rather be her than Snowflake.

I think this is a Boston terrier, which, though usually white and black, can also be white and brown.  My dad probably had this little guy because he reminded him of his dog Jiggs.  Though his house isn't as colorful as the scottie's above, Jiggs isn't chained.  His demeanor is completely different: bold and energetic, Jiggs is poised for adventure.

The last two are mine, bought when I was a child as I searched for dogs that looked like our Sparky, though neither of these resembles him.  He was primarily a lab, while these are spaniels, and he wasn't missing a leg.  Despite Sparky #1's disability, though, he doesn't complain; his loyal, obedient watchfulness is impossible to miss.

Sparky #2 seems sad, but not uncomfortable with his sadness.  He's curled up, meditative, pondering his life with humans.  No doubt we made him sad sometimes, but not as sad as Snowflake must have felt when the family left for Cancún.

Dogs and Cats Unite!

Something light for a change. . . the Bidens are getting a cat.  We've already learned about their two German shepherds Champ and Major, delighting those of us who love animals.  The thought of three pets in the White House is almost dizzying considering how deprived we've been these last four years.

Would it have made a difference to watch Donald Trump head towards Air Force One with a golden retriever by his side?  Or see him in the Oval Office with a tabby cat curled at his feet?  Probably not, but we might have smiled now and then instead of feeling anxious every time he spoke.  After all, even Richard Nixon had Checkers (and, as it turns out, Vicky, Pasha, and King Timahoe).

But better days are ahead.  Joe's one of us, whether we prefer dogs or cats.  His choice of both echoes his calls for unity, and here's a way for us to get along.  For as George Eliot said, "Animals are such agreeable friends they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms."

To My Readers. . .

I've decided to suspend my blog for awhile.  I've come to realize that the loss of my beloved dog Cassidy has caused me to reassess who I am and what I'm doing.  He was, above all, a joyful creature who worked his way into the deepest part of my being.  His passing not only breaks my heart but also raises new challenges for me.

I'll be back in some form.  I may focus on the political parodies that I like to compose or I may find that a new presidential election--coming sooner than we think--will revive my interest in the Washington circus, which has become petty and uninspired.

In the meantime I thank you for your support these last three years, and I'll look forward to resuming my work soon.

In Memoriam

Cassidy

July 21, 1998 - July 1, 2013

Beloved Companion

Joyful Soul

In Suburbia

On my morning walks in our neighborhood, I often notice sounds more than anything else. 

Here's what I don't like:

1. Lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and all varieties of yard noise makers

2. Car alarms

3. Unidentifiable animal sounds

4. Footsteps behind me

5. Dogs barking

Here's what I do like:

1. The calls of the mourning dove

2. The thwack of newspapers hitting their driveways

3. Airplanes overhead

 4. Children's voices

5. My dogs barking

A Dog's Life: Cassidy

"An animal's eyes. . .

. . . have the power to speak a great language."

- Martin Buber

A Dog's Life: Sundance

 Here's Sundance lying on a skirt I left on the floor one day. . .

. . . do clothes make the dog, or does dog make the clothes?

A Dog's Life: Washington Waggers

Have you ever noticed that politicians look like dogs?  Take the quiz below and match the photographs with the following public figures: John Boehner, Michele Bachmann, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Dick Cheney, and Paul Ryan.  Answers appear at the end (though multiple interpretations are acceptable--except for the basset hound and the bull terrier).

A) Afghan hound:
          

B) Basset hound:

C) Toy fox terrier:

                     

D) Chinese crested:

          

E) Bull terrier:
                                                                                            

F) Collie:
                                                                            
Answers: A) Nancy Pelosi  B) John Boehner  C) Paul Ryan  D) Michele Bachmann  E) Dick Cheney  F) Joe Biden

A Dog's Life: Cassidy & Sundance

"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. . .

"In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear.  They are not brethren, they are not underlings;

they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth."

- Henry Beston

A Dog's Life: Barney

If you haven't yet seen the portrait that George W. Bush painted of his dog Barney, click here.  I had no idea that our former president had such artistic ability; the rendering of his beloved dog is unusually well done.  In releasing the portrait, President Bush also made a statement about Barney, who died not long ago:

"Barney and I enjoyed the outdoors.  He loved to accompany me when I fished for bass at the ranch. . . Barney was by my side during our eight years in the White House.  He never discussed politics and was always a faithful friend."

After so many years feeling at odds with President Bush, I've finally found common ground.  He hits the hallmarks of a friendship with a dog--faithful, silent companionship--emphasis especially on "silent."  How wonderful to have a friend who expects no discussion, no explanations, no clarification, no rebuttals.

He simply is.

A Dog's Life: Sundance & Cassidy

From Walt Whitman--

"I think I could turn and live with the animals; they are so placid and self contained;
I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition;

They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins;

They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God;
Not one is dissatisfied--not one is demented with the mania of owning things;

Not one kneels to another, nor his kind that lived thousands of years ago;
Not one is responsible or industrious over the whole earth."

A Dog's Life: Cassidy

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."

- Anatole France

A Dog Lover's Life

I had intended to gather interesting quotations from the weekend and post them this morning.  I was prompted by Maureen Dowd's column yesterday in The New York Times, where she rightly applauded Joe Biden's negotiations with Congress and ended by saying, "He knows how to stoop to conquer."  I'm sure I could have found other such observations.  But then life intruded and I got one of those remarks from our dog's vet that makes time stop.  "I'm concerned that he has a brain tumor," he said of our beloved Cassidy.

I've heard similar diagnoses before in my life, sometimes directed at me and sometimes told to me about those I love.  The effect is always the same: the taste of food dulls, the light around me sharpens, and memories flood in.  Life in the moment and on the edge.

In the midst of this, I appreciate above all the kindness of our vet, the love of family and friends, and the wondrous and wonderful companionship of our two dogs, Cassidy and Sundance.  They've brought to my life miracles beyond anything I could ever have imagined, gifts of a lifetime.

Living on the edge is the least I can do for them.

A Dog's Life: Sundance

From Emily Dickinson: "You ask of my companions.  Hills, sir, and the sundown, and a dog as large as myself that my father bought me.  They are better than human beings, because they know but do not tell."

"My little dogs. . .

. . .heartbeats at my feet."

- Edith Wharton

A Dog's Life: Another Girl and her Dog. . .

. . . are friends forever.

A Dog's Life: Cassidy

"Why did dogs make one want to cry?  There was something so quiet and hopeless about their sympathy.  Jasper, knowing something was wrong, as dogs always do.  Trunks being packed. Cars being brought to the door.  Dogs standing with drooping tails, dejected eyes.  Wandering back to their baskets in the hall when the sound of the car dies away."

Daphne du Maurier, Rebecca

A Dog's Life: Sundance

"No animal I know of can consistently be more of a friend and companion than a dog."
- Stanley Leinwoll

A Dog's Life: "Dharma" by Billy Collins

The way the dog trots out the front door

every morning

without a hat or an umbrella,

without any money

or the keys to her doghouse

never fails to fill the saucer of my heart

with milky admiration.

Who provides a finer example

of a life without encumbrance--

Thoreau in his curtainless hut

with a single plate, a single spoon?

Gandhi with his staff and his holy diapers?

Off she goes into the material world

with nothing but her brown coat

and her modest blue collar,

following only her wet nose,

the twin portals of her steady breathing,

followed only by the plume of her tail.

If only she did not shove the cat aside

every morning

and eat all his food

what a model of self-containment she

would be,

what a paragon of earthly detachment.

If only she were not so eager

for a rub behind the ears,

so acrobatic in her welcomes,

if only I were not her god.