Let’s ease into today’s post with this story from yesterday’s Met Diary in the NYT. It’s for you dog lovers out there (Hi Norrie!). It’s called “Pausing” and it’s by Jungeun Lee.
Dear Diary:
I was crossing a busy four-lane street in Brooklyn with my 14-month-old Norwich terrier, Danbi, at about 6:30 a.m. We were heading to the park.
An older man pulling a cart piled high with recyclables paused and looked at Danbi. I smiled and was about to pass, but then he spoke.
He told me he had once had a dog too, for 18 years.
“I still miss him so much,” he said. “I look at his pictures on my phone every day.”
Cars passed by. The city was waking up, but in that moment, his voice felt set apart, quiet but full.
I told him that I understood. I had said goodbye to my 22-year-old dog a year ago. Danbi had come into my life not long after that.
The man looked at her again. I saw something in his face shift.
“Your dog must’ve been happy,” I said.
He didn’t answer right away, just nodded slowly. I nodded too, and we stood there in a brief silence that didn’t feel empty. Then we parted ways.
Danbi and I turned down a tree-lined side street. The morning felt a little heavier, but also more tender.
Sometimes all it takes is one pause to remind you that love, even after loss, has a way of crossing back over to you.
It’s a Simpsons-themed puzzle today! Cowabunga! At 70A the clue was “Cry from Homer” and the answer was D’OH!. And four theme answers all ended with a d’oh, phonetically, but spelled in different ways. SUPER NINTENDO, JUSTIN TRUDEAU, RED BORDEAUX, and COOKIE DOUGH.
Commenter Anoa Bob lamented that Brigitte Bardot wasn’t used for a “d’oh” ending. She’s still among us at 90. She quit show biz way back in 1973 and has devoted her life to animal rights, receiving many honors for her work. Charles de Gaulle called Bardot “the French export as important as Renault cars.” Come on, Charlie, those cars didn’t come close. Phil refused the assignment, claiming her beauty defeats the camera. He grudgingly submitted these. He’s right, but we’ll take what we can get.
During the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, Bardot called Sarah Palin “stupid” and “a disgrace to women,” but her politics, in general, have not been admirable, in our worthless opinion. She has been fined many times for inciting racial hatred and is associated with the far-right forces in France.
About 15 years ago, I used the expression “You only live once” in an exam question, and several students wrote in the margin: YOLO. That’s how I learned the acronym popular with the youth. (It’s fading out.) Anyway it was an answer in the puzzle today and egs commented on it:
“When I saw YOLO, I got to thinking that Yolo County, CA surely must have adopted something like “Yolo — because You Only Live Once” as their County slogan or motto. Not so. However, I did find out that Yolo derives from a Native American Patwin word meaning “place abounding in rushes.” And I guess that one who lives by the modern YOLO creed is in a place abounding in rushes (adrenaline chiefly). So the great circle of life is again shown to manifest in a four-letter crossword answer.”
Forgot to mention our buddy Paulo Pasco crashed out of Jeopardy! in his 8th contest. He had a chance but needed his opponent to blow Final Jep and he didn’t. Still, seven wins and close to $200K in winnings is pretty damn good. Bravo Paulo! He’ll be back for the Tournament of Champs at some point.
Katya Lindor always wanted to play the National Anthem at Citi Field on the violin. So she married Mets shortstop Francisco and convinced him to pull some strings. [Get it?] It made the news. Check it out, especially to see their gorgeous kids.
Breaking news from The Onion:
Grizzled Band-Aid Weathers Third Shower
“Can you try to catch our waiter’s eye?”
See you tomorrow Chatterheads. Thanks for popping in.
The Wellington Files 