When I first read this poem to try to determine if I wanted to share it in Owl Chatter, I wasn’t sure. But a second reading convinced me. Let’s see what you think. It’s from yesterday’s Writer’s Almanac. It’s by Paul Zimmer and is called “Dog Music.” Woof, woof!
Amongst dogs are listeners and singers.
My big dog sang with me so purely,
puckering her ruffled lips into an O,
beginning with small, swallowing sounds
like Coltrane musing, then rising to power
and resonance, gulping air to continue—
her passion and sense of flawless form—
singing with me, but mostly for the art of dogs.
We joined in many fine songs—”Stardust,”
“Naima,” “The Trout,” “Jeg elsker Dig,” “Perdido.”
She was a great master and died young,
leaving me with unrelieved grief,
her talents known only to a few.
Now I have a small dog who does not sing
but listens with discernment, requiring
skill and spirit in my falsetto voice.
When I sing her name and words of love,
Andante, con brio, vivace, adagio,
at times she is so moved she turns
to place her paw across her snout,
closing her eyes, sighing like a girl
I held and danced with years ago.
But I am a pretender to dog music.
Indeed, true strains rise only from
the rich, red chambers of a canine heart;
these melodies best when the moon is up,
listeners and singers together and apart,
beyond friendship and anger,
far from any human imposter—
songs of bones, turds, conquests,
hunts and scents, ballads of
long nights lifting to starlight.
Different guys respond differently to fatherhood. When my Caitlin’s Danny was about to have his first child, our Zoey, I could tell he was nervous about the whole business. I secretly hoped he would have that moment that I had when I first held Caity, early in the morning back on May 17, 1986: an explosion of love that blows all those little things you worried about right off the map. But there was certainly the chance that he wouldn’t. That it would overwhelm him in a different more troubling way. As it happened, he’s a great and loving dad and they have four incredible kids now, kinehora.
The Times ran an article this week by a man who regretted becoming a dad, who missed the life opportunities he had to give up. I’m not going to sit in judgment of him. As I said, different guys have different reactions to it. But I did like the letter that Andrew Ginsburg of Wellfleet MA wrote in response to it. Here’s what he said:
“I regret reading Miguel Macias’s essay about his own regret of being a father to an 18-month-old. As a 44-year-old father of three young kids, I have no patience for his self-pity about his loss of personal time and freedom that every parent in the history of civilization has experienced.
“His assertion about parents that ‘we are supposed to love it, to think it is the most wonderful thing we have ever experienced’ is simply untrue. While joyous, being a parent is also harrowing because kids are challenging. Each day is emotionally draining, and our time to recover at night is often interrupted.
“But our job as parents is to raise happy, kind adults — not enjoy every single moment of the relationship. Rather than moan about your own lost dreams, open up ‘Goodnight Moon’ and make your daughter’s that much sweeter.”
Here’s Zoey. I saw a sign in a store window years ago that said: “Spend time next to people who feel like sunshine.” I took a picture of it and sent it to Caity with the caption, Zoey.
The puzzle today gave me a good workout, though Rex rated it “easy.” (Arggggh.) It started right off in our Dirty Old Man Dept. The clue at 1A was “Consideration when donning an off-the-shoulder dress,” and the answer was BRA STRAPS. But it quickly got serious. At 15A “Defiant protestor” was REFUSNIK. Commenter JNKMD shared this info on it: “Refusenik is a very specific term referring to Soviet Jews who in the early 1970s were REFUSED permission to leave the Soviet Union to emigrate to Israel.” [Probably shoulda known that.]
Did you know the “Tragic heroine of Irish mythology” was DEIRDRE? News to me. She’s more fully known as Deirdre of the Sorrows, and was typically the last person anyone at school wanted to invite to a party. Jeez Louise, what the hell is she doing here? Very pretty, though — that’s part of the legend.
How’s this for a turnaround? You know how a lump of coal is what you get from Santa if you’ve been bad? Well, at 37A, the clue was “Traditional Scottish New Year’s gift, representing warmth for the year to come,” and the answer was COAL. Go figure.
But everyone’s favorite clue/answer today was at 38A. The clue was “Marked Twain?” And the answer: DOGEARED. (Get it?)
And, last on the puzzle, back to our Dirty Old Man Dept, at 28D, for the clue “Film character with an iconic gold bikini,” the answer was LEIA, as in Princess Leia. The bikini itself, as part of a seven-piece set which included jewelry, sold at auction for $175,000. Carrie Fisher said she felt uncomfortable wearing it, that it was too revealing.
Did you think the campaign was going to get ugly at some point?
According to an article in the Times today, Trump reposted material that claims Harris engaged in oral sex to advance her career. Trump’s repost specifically states that “blowjobs impacted” her career. Previously, Trump shared a video that included a song parody stating Harris “spent her whole damn life down on her knees.”
The Times says Trump has acknowledged that some of his advisors have urged him to stay away from such personal attacks, since they can alienate women and moderates, but he said he won’t be listening to them.
God bless America.
See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 