50
Jewell
I followed
Indiana Jones's example and named myself after my dog. Sometimes I use the name
Jewell as a nom de plume.
I say that
Jewell was my dog, although she started out as DD's. DD was in high school, and
Jewell was a puppy when they found each other. The Roly poly puppy, basically
all black then, chewed on my diamond ring on the way home and earned the name
Jewell even before her personality told us she was one.
I wouldn't
have parted with that dog for anything except to save my kid's lives.
While we
were still living at Rancho Santa Fe, CA, Jewell contracted Parvo, a dangerous
disease to dogs, probably because, as a pup, she had the propensity to munch on
about anything available. Now, they have a vaccination for Parvo, but then, all
we could do was wait and have her quarantined for a while. During that time, I
wandered into the canyon below our house praying that she would survive.
She
recovered and put aside her puppy ways of munching and became a beautiful lady,
a gray Malamute-shepherd-husky. A perfect dog.
She and I were
a part of the caravan that snaked its way up the long state of California into
Oregon when we moved back here after the girls graduated from high school, and
both were accepted into the University of Oregon in Eugene. Lisa accompanied by
her boyfriend drove her Rabbit vehicle. DD and a friend drove her (not new) Porsche,
and Neil drove a Rider Rental truck loaded with our belongings. Neil was still
working in California part time, so he was traveling a lot. I was the den
mother to three students going to the University while Jewell and I spent our
lives together.
When I
studied The Course in Miracles, I found a card that said, "Live
forever, you holy Son of God." I know it sounds like swearing but say it
kindly. I kept saying that to Jewell. However, when she was old and infirm, I
tried to take it back and release her, for it was hard for her to let go. I
grieved terribly when she died. I don't like to take a life to its end, but
Gabe came soon after, and we got the puppy Peaches, who used Gabe as a
footstool to get onto the bed with us. That seemed to please him, and I believe
it prolonged his life.
Jewell and I
were a team. We went hiking into the forest behind our house on Hendricks Hill
when the land was wild and unfenced, where I imagined a fern grotto (my name) beside
the path was harboring fairies, and an old rose garden hidden in the forest produced
large rose hips in the fall. Why would a rose garden be hidden in
the forest unless once there was a homestead there, or indeed, fairies had
planted it?
I loved all
our dogs, but Jewell planted a diamond in my heart.
Live
forever, you Holy Daughter of God!
Mary Trump has written about her uncle for years in The Good in Us. In it she has told that he has been a bully all his life. Now, she wonders why in the world the polls say the Presidential race is 50/50.
A comment from one of her supporters:
“It’s not Trump
they want; they will get rid of him in a minute. It’s the puppet Vance.”
Oh, my heavens.
Remember Plato? That guy born approximately 428 BC?
Plato suggests that ideas are the only constant, and that the perceived world
through our senses is deceptive and changeable. Because
Socrates,
his teacher, constantly questioned the values of society, criticized
politicians, and proposed ideas that made the establishment nervous, he was
finally put on trial for corrupting the youth and for not worshipping the
correct Gods. Plato’s dialogue The Apology portrays Socrates
defending himself against the accusations of the state. After being sentenced,
he willingly drank hemlock, saying, “I do not fear death.”
After the oligarchy was overthrown and democracy was
restored, Plato briefly considered a career in politics, but the execution of
Socrates in 399 B.C.E. soured him on this idea and he turned to a life of study
and philosophy.
Good plan.