A catalog of the stuff in my apartment
A supposedly good book that I do not especially like is My Dog Tulip, J.R. Ackerley’s well-regarded 1956 memoir about his beloved German shepherd. If you ask me, way too many pages have to do with trying to get the dog laid. I did, however, find this part moving: … what strained and anxious lives […]
The front of the holiday card my husband, Frank, and I sent out this year features a photo of us in front of some evergreens. The location where the image was captured is just outside of our apartment building. Full disclosure: The boughs over my head were digitally enhanced to appear fuller than they did […]
I wouldn’t describe myself as an early adopter of new technologies. I didn’t opt to receive my paycheck via direct deposit until an employer made it seem like I had no choice (is that legal, by the way?). I resisted the streaming of movies until my DVD player broke. I still have CDs. Mere mention […]
Turns out I was incorrect a month ago when I wrote that my dog, Lucy, hadn’t yet reached the final stages of her heart disease. She died on Wednesday, July 5, around 8:30am. It so happened that she was scheduled to get her annual leptospirosis vaccination later that day. But in the morning she began […]
My dog, Lucy, who turned 13 last month, takes two daily medications now—one for her skin allergy, the other for heart disease. The heart one is new. She had an echocardiogram a few weeks ago and the vet determined that the dog’s cardiac condition has worsened since the last check. I don’t think we’ve reached […]
I think my dog, Lucy, is allergic to Massachusetts. She developed a skin problem not long after we moved here last June. On three separate occasions since then she has had rashes—twice on her belly and once on her business. In case you are unfamiliar with the medical definition of “business” in this context, allow […]
With only a few exceptions, the toys belonging to my dog, Lucy, are made of cloth with squeakers inside. She had some plastic toys in her youth, but she would gnaw on them until she broke them up into little pieces. I was worried she’d swallow one of those bits and choke. So now her […]
In a literature course I took during college, the instructor once drew a parallel between The Odyssey of Homer and The Wizard of Oz. Each tale, he explained, centers on a protagonist (Odysseus/Dorothy) who takes a magical journey, relying on the assistance of one supernatural figure (Athena/Glinda) and plagued by the opposition of another (Poseidon/the Wicked Witch […]
My husband, Frank, and I let our dog, Lucy, sleep on the bed with us at night. She prefers to stay on top of the covers, curling up in one of the valleys created in the topography of the bedspread by the humans lying underneath. I like the warm weight of her cuddling except when […]
Instead of a collar, my dog, Lucy, wears a bra when she goes out for walks. I don’t consider this piece of equipment a harness because I think of a harness as having two straps—one around the chest and another around the torso with the front legs in between. For me, securing such a contraption […]
Indirect Objects 