You don't often find a young person who is sensitive enough to relate to a dog, smart enough to know how to pick him up securely, and strong enough to carry him. But Hannah, the owner of my friend Charlie, embodies all of these qualities. She hefted me with grace and confidence, and then proved she could do the same with Charlie.
This girl will go far.
This is the container that my head got stuck in tonight.
The image below is a schematic simulation. No actual photos exist of me in the heat of my predicament, because when Thomas found me he thought he'd better not waste any time before rescuing me, given his assessment that I might be running out of oxygen. Here's how events unfolded: [This is a re-enactment extrapolated from cellphone records, so times are approximate.]
Though I had not seen Murphy in over a year, it did not take much exposure to him on a recent evening for me to perceive that he was still the same in the ways that matter. More than that, I realized -- as if hit by a guided love missile -- that Murphy is a dog of unceasing interest to me.
....So direct in expressing his desires...
...So comfortable with his preferences....
So confident that he deserves a place at the table.....
Impressed, intrigued -- indeed, overcome -- I trailed after Murphy.
Murphy did not have much interest in me, however. In fact, his demeanor towards me was uncannily similar to my own typically indifferent response to other dogs and distinct preference for associating with humans. It's never easy to to be on the receiving end of "It's not you; it's me." But I understand where Murphy's coming from.
I joined other Angelenos who trekked to Inspiration Point to take in the first sunset of the year.
On the way up, we passed a man and a woman on a bench who were caught up in the joy of a marriage proposal and acceptance.
Like that couple looking forward to their future together, the rest of us at Inspiration Point turned our faces to the west, and embraced the year to come.
It is wintertime at the bluffs, which makes for a couple of seasonal changes:
1) Lots of natural beauty.
2) A changing cast of characters. Oliver and Winnie's family has left for their Colorado vacation home. Meanwhile, we've seen new attention from Dale, a gentleman who only comes to the bluffs in the winter so he can photograph the winter sunsets. (That's Dale in the photo above.)
Because Dale is back, his dog Augie (also in the photo above) is also back at the bluffs every night, shadowing me like he thinks I've got a hot stock tip.
Augie has irritated me for years. So when I heard there might be a cow at the bluffs, I thought carefully about how to proceed. I knew that if Augie found out about it he would want to interfere in my investigation.
Cleverly, I turned the tables on Augie by pivoting and following him as if I had nothing to investigate and it was up to him to come up with leads.
Augie jumped at being the leader. He dragged me over to see another white dog. I feigned interest, then moved away while they were distracted.
Finally I was free. I stopped for a quick pee, then hoofed it to the other end of the bluff to look into the cow sighting.
The reputed cow turned out to be not a cow but a dog. Yet that didn't matter to me. I was so relieved to be handling the investigation on my own that the cow could have been a horse and I would still have been ecstatic.
You can call me the Solitary Investigator.
Walk #35 of the Secret Stairs book was heavy on the religion front. It took us through an area of Hollywood that had in the twenties been the home of a number of religious movements that had also developed housing for their followers.
First up was the Vedanta Temple, an attractive if slightly forbidding edifice. We encountered a foreign gentleman outside who informed us that the Temple includes living quarters for about ten persons. He stated that he himself had been a guest there for the previous two weeks, but gave no additional context.
From the Vedanta Society we moved on along some steep hills and past some interesting architecture.
After going up a short flight of stairs, we ended up to my surprise on Alcyona Terrace, right in front of the home that Thomas' friend Daren had lived in when the two of them met as four-year-olds.
I sat on the steps and reflected on the passage of time.
Before it could turn into another Proust moment, we moved on up the street to see a number of buildings all related to the Theosophical Society, an eastern religion whose southern California headquarters, named "Krotona", were located here from 1912-1926.
The original bungalows and apartments erected for Theosophical Society followers are still there. The original Krotona building is also now an apartment complex. We walked in and saw an attractive central courtyard with one lone koi manning a pond.
Thinking that we might bond around the common experience of being pets, I tried to make eye contact with the koi, but I wasn't sure whether he (she?) noticed me. Koi tend to be inscrutable.
Leaving the koi, we continued our walk past more former Krotona buildings, and then past a Spanish Revival castle that had once been the home of Barbara Stanwyck.
In a yard, we noticed a gorgeous egg sculpture.
At the end of the loop, we continued on to Gower and walked in the direction of the Hollywood sign to Carmen Place, so that we could stop at the Monastery of the Angels, a Dominican nunnery where Teresa bought some pumpkin bread baked by the sisters.
My owner initially cruelly required me to wait outside, but the kind ladies running the gift shop insisted to her that she go back out to get me and carry me inside with her. You can always trust a religious order to stand up for the small and powerless.
Kai was looking sedentary on a bench while his owner made phone calls.
I encouraged him to hop over and interact with me.
He found that daunting.
So we tried to fit him through the open area between the seat and the bench.
I did my best to coach him.
But some dogs aren't meant to do new tricks.
A young man died last week in an inexplicable car accident.
His friends came to the bluff at dusk to remember him.
It was heartbreaking to watch these young people coping with mortality and loss.
I hoped that the bluffs provided them some quiet comfort.
I was excited to help Sam celebrate his birthday.
The present-opening was enthralling. I watched carefully to learn appropriate etiquette.
The celebration culminated in cake and candles. Formidable!
We took a trip to Ojai to visit our relatives. Below is a picture of me with some of them.
From my perspective, the evening was problematic.
From my hosts' perspective, I was not the easiest guest.
What threw me was the presence of their puppy, Annie. Annie did a lot of swiping at me with her paw to try to engage me in play. Each time that paw came toward me I got nervous and snapped.
It got to the point where, as depicted in the photo at left, I growled when Annie even looked at me.
Things went downhill from there. I was not my finest self.
I began begging to be picked up. The more anxious I got, the less safe I felt anywhere but in my owner's lap.
I made it through a reading of Peter in Blueberry Land, but when my owner put me down so she could play with the young master of the house, I freaked out.
It was time to go home. I was not proud of my performance, but I was relieved that it was over.
People frequently say admiring things about my prodigious intellect. What they may not realize is that the gray matter packed tightly into my petite brain cavity is not always used to positive effect.
To wit, a recent series of diabolical poops I have been making indoors, with absolutely no justification since the doggie door is literally within sight of my chosen spot.
I am a complex dog. Underestimate me at your peril.
Teresa's husband, Roger, and daughter, Janise, came along on the Secret Stairs Franklin Park East walk.
Roger turns out to be a softie who picked me up and carried me along up the hill behind my owner, who didn't even notice or think to question how I was doing such a good job keeping up.
On the downhills, however, he left me to my own devices.
In the course of the walk we encountered a ferret. I myself have never seen the appeal of ferrets. Just another rodent, I would say. However, Janise and Teresa were quite enamored of this ferret that we met.
Janise was very careful to make sure I got lots of attention too, so I didn't feel jealous of the ferret, just incredulous that anyone could ever find it cute.
