In Austin

I'm OK sleeping on the fold-out Ikea sofa-bed in the living room of this apartment in Austin. But there was a dead roach on the floor and so I climbed into my son's bed. It's a queen size bed and Murphy lay in the middle, and my son and I on either end; I was pressed against the wall in a narrow length of space because Murphy had his back toward me and was pushing on me, as he stretched and stretched and stretched comfortably. I didn't want to wake up either of them so I lay still and imagined I was sleeping in an enormous bed and woke up feeling extremely refreshed, as if I had indeed slept in great comfort. And perhaps that is what saw us through the sordidness of our childhood. our ability to imagine a world of beauty -- and life was beautiful.

Murphy and I went for a very early morning walk and the streets were deserted, not a sound from any house, not a car or human or animal stirring, as if the neighborhood were under a spell.

I do want to get back to Houston by Tuesday evening so I don't miss my zumba. Ever in the company of males (husband or my sons) and because I'm highly reflective, I tend to act like a male myself and my strides are like those of a man. In zumba, I learn to move seductively and feel the magic of being woman.

Yadav

Yadav in Costa Rica (click on picture to enlarge).

I'm in Austin with Murphy. I don't know where my other boy, Yadav, is. The battery to his cell phone is probably dead because I'm unable to reach him. How could you have named him Yadav?, Indians often ask me. It's a low-caste name, some say. I abhor the caste system and I love the name, Yadav, and that's all there is to it.

Usually I drive to Austin under 2 1/2 hours, without stopping midway. I ought to have been a truck driver. I can drive for hours and hours and feel might chirpy. In the rare event I feel tired, I make a high-pitched n-ng sound with my tongue. That's a superbraincharger. I remember the time when Marlene and I were driving back from Austin after a concert by Raviji and Anoushka. It was pouring rain and visibility was near zero. Anu, can you really see?, Marlene would ask me as we drove down the 290. Trust me, Marlene, I have unusual vision. And just in case another driver's storm vision was not as good as mine, we'd both make this high-pitched n-ng sound, as if temple bells were ringing in our mouths, to be extra alert.

With Murphy in the car, I had to make three stops, walk him, water him, and then he'd cozy up and go to sleep. It was a beautiful drive. After a short nap on reaching Austin, Murphy and I went for a walk in the trails and said, hello, to all the dogs and their owners. Later, we went to Petco on Red River. Once again Murphy and I were exchanging smiles and pleasantries with all the other shoppers. Murphy is really helping me coming out of the zombie state I had gone into. Sure, I had the book launch but I had to continually pump myself with Pepsi and Coke and etc to feel good. And over the many months, I was beginning to look puffy.

For dinner, I picked up some carry-out from Aster's -- great Ethiopian food!

Found the Owner -- Yay!!!

This morning, Ayanna and I drove around putting up posters with a description of the lost black Labrador and our phone numbers, on the posts of all the stop signs in our neighborhood. I was the driver and Ayanna was the poster-paster. It was a cold, windy day and we just had to hope that the posters did not get blown off.

Later this evening Ayanna knocked on my door, 'Anu, the owner is coming to get his dog.'

Were we excited!

Some minutes later, a black car pulled into my driveway and out stepped a white-haired man. He hugged the black lab, felt the cricket ball sized lump on the underside. ‘This is our dog, Cash, all right.’ And then his hand reached toward his hip pocket, 'Thank you so much. How much do I owe you?'

'Nothing,' Ayanna and I said. It was reward enough for us to see Cash go to his owner. They live only one street away from ours. He is eleven years old and arthritic and perhaps does not go out so much, because on the second day Cash was with us, my husband and I went to that very street asking if anyone knew him. Drew a blank.

All's back to normal with Murphy as the sole owner of our affections.

In the Best of Health

'How are you?’ I asked her.

‘I’m in the best of health,’ she said. ‘I just have very high blood pressure but I take some pills for that. And I also have high cholesterol, so I’m taking some pills for that as well. Other than that, I am extremely healthy.’

Lakeside Animal Clinic

My neighbor's schnauzer, Missy, had four punctures on her torso when a great dane picked her up and shook her as if Missy were a rat. Roxy, the great dane on our street, is very sweet-natured, so I don't know what set her off. No one expected Missy to survive. But survive, she did, through the exceptional care and treatment she received at Lakeside Animal Clinic.

I knew of this, but I'm ferociously loyal and I was going to take Murphy to Sirocco's vet for his annual check up and teeth cleaning. But when I drove by the vet's place, I was starting to break down again, reminded of my last visit there, of the autopsy on Sirocco. It was time to move on, begin afresh.

In the lobby of Lakeside Animal Clinic, Murphy hoisted himself over the counter and sent a flying kiss to the receptionist. He certainly doesn't have hip dysplasia. 'You got a good one there,' Dr Wiltshire said of Murphy who tested negative for heartworm, tapeworm, etc, but his teeth will have to be cleaned yearly.

This morning I dropped him off around 7 am at Lakeside Animal Clinic and picked him up at 4 pm. Murphy gave me a wet, sweet-smelling breathy kiss.

***We had a microchip put on Murphy.

Lost/Found Black Labrador

A lost black lab stopped by to chat with Murphy but ran off when I tried to grab hold of his collarless neck. My next door neighbor and I enticed him with treats and I finally got him on a leash.

Description of Dog

Small sized male labrador weighing perhaps 70 pounds.

Black with a lot of gray on the face and muzzle and belly. I'm guessing ten or eleven years old.

Extra long nails.

Has a cricket ball sized tumor/fat on his underside.

Is he lost or has he been abandoned?

updates:
No microchip on black lab.
I had his nails trimmed at Lakeside Animal Clinic.
Ayanna put up posters of found black lab in Shadowbriar, Ashford Hollow and Ashford Village (I was the driver).

Murphy And Me

Two years after Sirocco died, I still could not open my heart to another dog, even though my husband and my son were ready for one. I would drive to CAP and SPCA but would always come home empty handed. On the morning of January 7 when I went to CAP, I found myself looking into the eyes of a Great Pyrenees mix puppy and feeling the stirrings of love. I was ready to take him home, but a mother and her two teenage kids were also taken in by the pup. Their golden retriever had died of heart failure three weeks before Christmas, the mother said. I stepped back, and let the grieving family adopt the pup.

The same evening, around 4.15 pm, instead of going to the gym, I once again headed for CAP, filled with longing and a feeling of restlessness. Along the way, I saw an extra large chocolate lab romping about in the front yard of a house. He looked so heartwrenchingly like Sirocco. I braked and parked the car in front of the house.

'Oh, could I hug your dog, please?'

'Sure,’ the owner of the dog said, and called out, ‘Murphy!’

Murphy came bounding toward us. I got down on my knees and hugged and hugged him and I began to cry. Two years of grief poured out of me. Between sobs I narrated the story of Sirocco, how he had died, how I had sort of died too, how our house had turned dark as a tomb.

Murphy’s Mama told me about Murphy. He was eight years old and had come to them last year. He was pre-owned. He was a darling boy, great with her two kids but hugely energetic and needed a lot more time than they could give him.

‘Oh, could I have him please?’

MM’s eyes opened wide and she seemed unsure of how to respond to my request.

Before MM could say anything, I spoke quickly. 'We could share him if you like…I am mostly at home…our house is fully fenced…when we bought our house it was with Sirocco in mind, it had to be on a cul-de-sac…all the main rooms had to be downstairs…even the study…your dog will be well looked after, you see…I never got to see Sirocco grow old…oh please?’.

Murphy, sensing that he was the cause of the excitement in my voice, was jumping all over me and licking my face and mounting his great big paws on my shoulders.

‘I'll have to talk this over with my husband,’ MM said.

'You can check me out on my website,' I said, giving her my name and phone number and my website address.

That night, MM called us. ‘Do you still want Murphy?” she asked.

‘Absolutely,” I said.

‘We love Murphy but I saw the joy he brought you and we feel that you'll be able to give him more time than we can. So, in the interests of Murphy…’

Ten minutes later my husband and I were at their house and returned with Murphy.