Strange Dogs in Golden Gate Park

Whoa! Golden Gate Park again today - three times in a row! For Pops, a guy who hates routine and repetition, this is kinda strange. He says, "I've lived in the City for 30 years, and I still don't know all of Golden Gate Park! It's fun to explore!" Truth is, he's been kinda limited as to where he can take me 'cause of that pain in his butt. One thing about pain and sickness - it forces you to change your ways! We've been goming to Golden Gate and Buena Vista Parks a lot lately 'cause he couldn't drive, and these are in walking distance. 'Xept today we drove to the Polo Field. Must be feeling better! How quickly he reverts to old ways!

On the way, he says, "The further out you go in the Park, the quirkier the people you come across."

"O-K..." I thought, "we're out here, what does that make us... I mean, you?"

Then he says, "But I never would have gone to all these places if it weren't for you, Nikki."

Well, what can I say... I love you too, man.

When we got to the Polo Field, he lets me off leash, and we play this game where he runs up and down the stairs between the bleachers and I, like, try to "follow the leader" on a different flight of stairs. I get so excited sometimes I just dash over to him and bark and paw him and he laughs and gives me a treat and... aw, I'm getting breathless just thinkin' about it.

Then we walked around some more and we saw these huge dogs with people sitting on top of them, and they were all kept inside these fenced fields and some of them make this weird, "wheh-heh-heh-hen" noise and I saw them eat all this dry grass. Yuck! Now green grass tastes good, I like green grass. Anyway, it's all very strange.

People's Park

Today is the second time in a row that we went to Golden Gate Park. Pops calls it "People's Park" 'cause everyone is out here - joggers, dog-walkers, dogs, cyclists, crazy people, old people, young people, homeless people, Chinese, Italians, Russians, Latinos, African Americans, rich folk, poor folk, commuters driving through - so into their own thoughts they don't even notice the birds and the trees. Coupla times they almost ran me and Pops over. Grrr-r-r...!

Today we went into the park through 6th Avenue, past the white guys practicing kung fu and the Chinese ladies dancercizing to Elvis' "Jail House Rock" on the boom box, and the poor homeless guy in between, trying to catch some zzz's next to his cart. Pops says, "You gotta have an open mind to like San Francisco... or... you gotta live in San Francisco to get an open mind." Yeah, he talks funny like that a lot.

Then we walked past the de Young, and the Music Concourse and as we went behind the band shell, we heard this funny "Brraap" sound coming from behind some trees. It was a group of elderly Chinese doing a Taichi Fan Dance! And the noise was from when they all opened their fans at once. They were all dressed so drab but the fans were a bright red. It was so cool! We watched them till they finished their set.

Yesterday we went to Stowe Lake and after we crossed the old stone bridge onto the inside island, Pops let me off leash. Then I got to go after what I really came for - squirrels! 'Course I never catch the little buggers, but it never stops me from tryin'. "Keep Hope Alive," Pops always says. Then he laughs at his own joke. I don't see what's so funny about it. I don't give him a hard time for lookin' at women. And he never catches any either! Ha ha ha ha - I just thought of that!

Writer's block

Writers' block - isn't that the street where all the writers live? Ha ha - as you can see I'm very blocked. Truth is, nothing much new has happened in the last week or so. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying things haven't been fun, but how much can you say about another day in the Headlands, at Land's End, the Presidio, Buena Vista Park, etc., etc.? It's all good, all the time! Pops' the one with all the drama. For me, it's a dog's life - eat, sleep, play, repeat. But even Pops' drama is not much to write about. He hates talking about his ailments. "That's a sure sign of old age," he says, "when all you do is talk about your aches and pains." Well, the poor guy has been in pain. Sciatica, or something like that. Good thing for him he has me to go walking with, 'cause walking really makes him feel good. He's been sleeping on the floor next to me at night. I like that!

Hey, did I tell you what a big hit I was at the Nihonmachi Street Fair? People stopped at our booth just to look at me. No one paid any attention to Pops and his friends and whatever it was they were selling... "art" or something... The little kids were a bit of a pain but I can tolerate. All the pretty women who came to fuss over me and pet me - now I can get used to that! Pops likes that too, but he kept saying, "What a waste of a chick-magnet." I think he was P.O.'ed 'cause he's married... and too old anyway... so I gotta enjoy it for him, see? After all, I'm his best friend!

Okay, well, I'm getting sleepy... sun's coming out... sorta. Maybe when I wake up, everything will be sunny.

Kaleo

Since I've mentioned Kaleo several times lately, I thought I'd post a photo of him - let y'all know what he looked like. See? Tough act to follow, eh? But I guess this is the point I want to make. Up till now, I felt like I've been living in his shadow. And Pops is always thinking about him, even though - bless is heart - he knows he should see me for who I am and love me for me. But he can't help himself... and then he feels guilty about it.

Well, recently... somehow... we both came to the same realization - that when I was feeling like I'm living in Kaleo's shadow and when Pops thought he was clinging to the past, we were actually just feeling the presence of Kaleo. I mean, he really is here among us. Every time Pops thinks about him it's because Kaleo's spirit bumped into him or somethin'. I know I feel him around all the time. And I know Trina does too. Pops said the day he completed and installed Kaleo's memorial in the garden, Trina went right up to it, sniffed it and laid down in front of it all morning. She and Kaleo were real tight. They were the same age, so she played with him a lot more than she does with me. But she teaches me a lot of cool stuff. I love Trina Jieh-jieh.

Yeah, funny how things come around eventually. I'm glad my patience with Pops paid off. He's a good man and always comes around to the right thing... well, almost always. Sometimes it takes a few years. And now that he and I have both acknowledged and embraced Kaleo as a spirit living among us, we open our hearts to each other more easily. Sure, he still makes comparisons between me and Kaleo every now and then, but it's not a bad thing. It's more like growing the love. Sharing the memories. After all, don't we always see ourselves as reflections in each other's faces? How else are we gonna see ourselves?

Anyway, check out the photos. Whenever Pops and I go out, people we meet always look at me and say, "What a gorgeous dog! Look at those eyes!" Guess Kaleo used to get the same thing. Either way, Pops gets a big swell in his heart when that happens.

PrincessTrina and I

Let the pictures speak for themselves! Oh yeah... and Pops, too, but we don't need to speak too much about him! He did clean his face up though, and looks less like ET with a beard. Ha ha... don't tell him I said that! Well, Moms thought it was funny too. She never did like his silly goatee.

Memory

I've often heard humans say, in their infinite wisdom, that dogs don't remember things. Usually, it comes from dog trainers who rightfully tell people not to scold dogs for something they did two or three actions ago, but wrongly reason that it's because we can't remember past more that one action, that we can't generalize or do abstract thinking. Well, duh! If you tell me to stop doing something and I stop, why are you still yelling about the thing I was doing before I stopped? You do that to your kids? And you wonder why they're neurotic? It's not that we "forgot" what we did, but we're ready to move on. Besides, who's always looking for their keys, or glasses or half-finished cups of coffee? We dogs, on the other hand, know exactly where we buried our bones or where we left our favorite toys months ago.

But I'm not talking about such frivolous things here. Truth is, we remember a lot - all the important things, like kindness, good times. We remember bad times too, but we don't cling to them. Mostly we understand. I was never angry at Pops for remembering Kaleo. Sure, I'd stay away sometimes, when he's really lost in his thoughts. I respect his privacy and I never hold it against him. Because I understand. Someday, he will be remembering me too. I know I'll never forget him. Our bodies don't last, but our memories do. They are what keep us together forever. Some say that we are prisoners of our memories but I say, so what? Who needs freedom when love is what we really want?

The Early Days

Pops birthday yesterday made me think of my birthday, 'xcept I don't even know when it was. All I remember is not being very happy. I was lonely and always hungry, and I guess I must have just wandered off till I got lost. I wound up in some place where people gave me a place to sleep and some food, which felt really good at first but I was locked up with a bunch of other poor suckers and we couldn't go out to play or anything. Then, one day, some really nice people came and took me away in a car. It was my first time in a car and it was awesome. I was taken to see some guy in a white coat where I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was a little sore and missing some parts. Kinda weird, but the people were extra nice to me so I got over it. Then, one day, I was taken with a bunch of other dogs to meet a bunch of people, and that was when I met Pops, Moms and Trina. I was only one year old!

Trina and I started to play right away - right there in the parking lot! Everyone said, "Oh, look! They get along!" Then Pops took me for a walk around the parking lot and talked a lot with the nice people. I was put back in my crate, where I proceeded to chew up my leash - the second one I chewed up that day! Then someone else - a teenage girl - took me out for a walk but I didn't like her much. I had already started to like Pops 'cause he was real strong and he protected me from those other dogs who were trying to bully me. The girl didn't know what she was doing. When Pops took me out of the crate a second time, I sat down and parked my butt right next to his leg and leaned against him. He reached down and petted my head, and shortly after that I was riding in his car with him, Moms and Trina, on my way to my new forever home!

Well, that was over two years ago. The day was March 18. I consider that date to be my birthday.