Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A Haircut is Often the Answer

Today, Adam, my Recognized-by-the-State-of-California-Domestic-Partner, took our cancer ridden pooch, Louise, in for a very short summer cut.

She came home completely frisky and behaves at least three years younger today than she did yesterday. Let this be a lesson to us all. When you are old and filled with disease, keep up your grooming. Also helpful: have something to look forward to. For Louise, it’s her blood pressure medicine wrapped in a bite size piece of country paté.

Having ancient pets helps us all with great life lessons, the simplest, of course, being mortality. I suggest buying your five year old a gold fish this week just so you can teach her about death.

One of the best things about growing up quasi-Catholic was seeing all those dead bodies laid out in coffins. (My particular favorite wake was when my Great Aunt Rose, recently deceased, threw herself onto the corpse of my great grandmother, yelling, “Mama, take me with you!”)

Death, death, sad, funny, endless, timeless death.

Death is a serious visitor in our house. But this haircut, this jaunty do, has lifted the spirits of our dog and ourselves. Petco, we thank you for the respite.

4 comments:

Rebecca Waring said...

A cute new do always makes me feel frisky.

Todd HellsKitchen said...

It's a day at a time, for all beasts. The dogs "get it!".

Cheryl said...

My girlfriend is trying to convince me to get the furriest of our cats a buzz cut for the summer. I'm just not convinced that it's the same for cats, though. It may not be a "jaunty new do" so much as a "reason to seek revenge by shredding the couch."

Anonymous said...

Yesterday, walking downtown, I saw a cat with a "poodle do". Big puff of a tail, ankle furs, outsized furry head and scalped everywhere else with black and white patches. It's always all about us. Aren't we clever? Aren't we amusing? Aren't we creative? Mother/Judith