Day: July 25, 2023

The Block Party Incident

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RDP Tuesday: Reconciliation

I  like people because my dog likes people.

He likes everybody no matter what I think of them, but there are a few times where he was put off by someone and wanted nothing to do with them and I figured they were serial killers or something monstrous like that.

However, there was also one time Hamish’s love and faith in humanity were tested.

During the Summer me and Hamish were at a block party and one of the Dad’s decided to take sneak up on his son and his friends ( the kids were around 7 or 8 ) with a Super Soaker.

I saw him weaving his way around some trees and acting sort of stalkerish  and I was ready for the Super Soaking to commence when Hamish ( my dog ) got on the pathway between the Dad with the Water Gun and the kids.

Hamish’s Hackles went up, he bared his teeth and for the first time in his life ( he was about 6 years old at the time ) he growled. He sounded like one of those big giant trucks that my friend calls ” Bro-Dozers ”

I thought the Dad would be really angry- but Hamish didn’t charge and he didn’t move. He just stood there like Cerberus at the Gates of Hell and honestly in that moment I didn’t recognize my own dog.

” Hey! ” the Dad called to his friends, ” Did you see this dog protect the kids? Damn! Anyone tries to hurt them  and this dog is going to shred them. ”

Before I could say anything the Dad threw in a hearty ” Good BOY!”

Once Hamish saw the Dad relax, once he heard his voice and I guess decided we were all cool, he wagged his tail and made a new friend. Hamish looked at me during this little bonding moment and he looked super happy- like at that moment his faith in humanity, which had been shaken was restored.

Hamish did spend the rest of the day around the kids- which was new for him because we don’t have a lot of little kids in our life, but nobody seemed to mind.

It made Hamish happy to do it, so I was happy too.

amm

Hamish Macbeth
Photo A.M. Moscoso
2014

Quiet Please

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This is copy of a painting by Leonardo da Vinci in the Louvre (inv. 775) which is dated to 1513-1516, at the end of the artist’s career. Scholars are now considering the possibility that the Walters’ version was actually executed at the same time, alongside the original. As in the original, the Baptist wears a leopard skin, usually considered an attribute of Bacchus.

If I could change one thing about Modern Society, I would make it ok to be alone.

It’s firmly ingrained into our social consciousness that if  you don’t have a cellphone or a ‘tribe’, if you don’t have  a million followers on Instagram or  thousands of friends Facebook if you don’t TicTok or Snapchat then ( gasp ) you MUST be some kind of  outcast and everyone must hate you.

I can live with that-in fact I do.

However, sometimes I leave my phone at home or I forget to turn it on and even though it doesn’t make alert noises often and it doesn’t ring at all, the world is so quiet- no- peaceful.

I wish it could always be like that.

But I do have my phone on most of the time- even though my dog hates it and so do I. I carry it around simply because it’s not okay if I don’t. It’s just one of those things that we are expected to do- like covering your nose when you sneeze or closing your mouth when you are chewing your food.

I’d change that if I could- not the covering your nose when you sneeze or covering your mouth when you are chewing your food bit, but the phone part. I’d change it no matter how loud people yelled or cried. For this I would give up a quiet and peaceful day or two.