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dog. We were on the road with me singing in bars, and a dog meant sneaking him into motels and all kinds of hassle. I explained this to her and two weeks later we had a dog. How does that happen?
It was a little one, and we traveled awhile with it. Then one day we noticed he was walking funny and shaking. We took it to the vet. He said it was distemper, and there was no cure. We had to have him put down. So then we bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, and she wanted finches. I hate seeing birds in cages. To me, birds are meant to fly and be free. She insisted, so I built a huge bird cage out of two by fours and screen. At least the finches could fly a few feet. Leilani hated the cage because she couldn't get the finches to hop on her finger. I think the finches lasted longer than our marriage, which isn't saying much.
And finally, Satch. I got married again when I was forty, to Kelly.
Actually, we weren't legally married but we were together 15 years, so I think it counts. She is a nice woman and she and her family had always had dogs. One day after we moved in together she persuaded me to take her to the pound and get a dog. The people there said the one we chose would be a small dog, maybe 30 pounds or so. Wrong. He grew to be really big. I got to name him, and I chose Satch, after Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong and Satch Saunders, the basketball player. Satch was neurotic and scary. Kelly had been with dogs all her life and she couldn't figure him out. I read books, tried to out-think him, and we failed to even get him to come when we called.
I'd be sitting peacefully, reading a book, and suddenly he would burst into frantic barking. At nothing. Maybe a dust mote or a sunbeam. I would levitate out of my chair and then wait for my heart to slow down.
We lived in a tiny house on high bank waterfront in Suquamish, Washington, across Puget Sound from Seattle. I used to take Satch down the long flight of steps to the beach and if there were no people I would let him run free. One day he disappeared behind a large rock and started barking furiously so I ran down there and he had an older couple treed on the rock, scared to death. I actually tackled the dog and got him back on the leash, apologizing profusely.
Kelly and I split after 15 years and Satch stayed with her. I saw him one time after that, old and half blind, and....quiet. Finally.
So you see, pets have not brought happiness to my life. They've brought sadness, bites, blood, rabies shots, fear for little kids around me, and when I was a kid, tears for when they were suddenly taken away. One more short note, Jintana is not enthused about dogs either. When she was a little girl (she's only five feet tall now so she must've been tiny) she got attacked by a soi dog and still has a scar over her eye. When we went to Bali on our honeymoon, we could not walk the streets because Bali has soi dogs too and they scared her.