"Lulu"

WATER OF LIFE
a painting by Layla (Flora Edwards)

“Lulu”

Friday, May 2, 2008, 6:44 AM

Lulu goes to the vet at 9:40 this morning, Bill is taking her. They are going to Dr Kaufman who was her baby doctor. Altho Lulu did not live with us when she was a baby. She was Mike's dog. We did not get Lulu till Mike’s wife and baby back in Florida decided to take him back, and he said we could keep Lulu. We had been baby sitting her for the previous year, because Mike was in apt. which did not accept dogs. I don’t know how old Lulu was when she first came to us, I guess 3 years old. She was such a wild thing then, and had had such an adventurous life.

Originally things had started off well for Lulu. Mike had adopted her as puppy in Arkansas, he was then living with his second wife and her little daughter, and between them there were a lot of animals. There was Elvis which I guess was her dog, older than Lulu, and a cat, and lots of other animals. Lulu came from the sweet Arkansas woods, where her favorite thing was to walk across waterfalls. Lulu has those huge paws and can walk across anything.

When Mike was accepted into aircraft school here-- that means fix the airplanes, the outside, the skin of the plane, Tucson has the top school in the country for that-- the whole family arrived in their van, and spent the first night or first few nights camping out on Mount Lemon, because what motel will accept all those animals!

But they found an apartment very fast in Tucson which accepted all their pets and Mike began school. And his lovely wife stayed home and took care of the animals. Her little daughter was in school here, the nursery school at the air force base.

And then they moved to Avra Valley where they lived in a mobile home. But there was no fenced-in yard, so I guess Lulu was tied up on a very long rope. I know occasionally when Mike had time, he did take Lulu to the desert for fun and romps and long runs. But Lulu wouldn’t come back, he had to chase her all over the desert.

And at home Lulu was an escape artist. She didn’t like being kept in house, or tied on long rope. Basset hounds are well known for being escape artists. And I did finally get to see it with my own eyes. But fortunately for me, it was the reverse. We had Lulu and Skipper then, we were baby sitting Lulu. When we decided to give up that old couch, which was an old couch when James gave it to us, away to charity, since Bill had bought another second-hand couch from the lady he did yard-work for. When the men from the charity came to take it away, we wanted to have the front door open so they could easily get the couch out. So I brought Skippy and Lulu into my room here, and shut the door, while the men were in the living room struggling with the couch. And the instant Lulu realized she was locked in my room with me and Skippy and could not get out, could not get into the rest of the house, she simply flew over my desk, out the open window into backyard, and marched herself into the kitchen from the back door. She did not want to be away from the action, she did not want to be imprisoned, she wanted the run of her house. And so I simply sat on my other couch, holding Lulu by the collar, as we watched the men carry the old couch out the front door. And then I closed the door after them and let Lulu go. I was very lucky “escape artist Lulu” wanted to escape back into her home, she loved her home with us.

However almost as soon as Mike and the whole family moved to Avra Valley, his wife broke up with him. I don’t know the problem. He was Bill’s friend from aircraft school. Mike was very young, just in his mid twenties. I guess he went to the topless bars at night with the guys from aircraft school, they were all his age, only Bill was much older than all of them.

In any case she broke up with him, and Mike met a woman in a bar who has a little son, and he and Lulu moved in with her and her son, in a different mobile home in Avra Valley. And she worked and Mike worked, and probably Mike went to the bars in the evening too. And Lulu is an escape artist. I guess someone would open the door a crack for an instant, or a window for an instant, how can you not open your windows in desert heat! or on desert at any time of year! In any case the report would come back that Lulu was seen on Avra Road, which is the single big road which runs all thru Avra Valley, all the motor homes are scattered near that. And apparently Lulu would march herself along Avra Road for as long as she wanted, and when she got hungry and thirsty, she would simply walk in the open door of some house or motor home, where whoever lived there would be delighted at her arrival, give her big drink and offer her all kinds of food. Her favorite was pepperoni pizza. And when Mike would finally locate her, she would be eating pepperoni pizza and the owner would ask if he could keep Lulu. She was well-liked.

Eventually it didn’t work out with that woman either, and Mike had finished aircraft school and they gave him a job and an apt, but the apt did not accept pets. And that is when he called Bill and asked if Lulu could stay with us until he found an apt which accepted dogs, and Bill said yes. Clio had recently gone to Heaven, we just had Skippy then, we had room. And Mike brought Lulu, the huge bag of dry dog food he said Lulu loved, and a very long wire. He said Lulu is an escape artist, and even tho we have fenced-in yard, huge, when we open the front door for even an instant, she will escape out. So we should attach her to that long wire in our back yard. And the first morning Bill walked Skipper, he did, he wound it around a tree and put Lulu on it, and went out to walk Skippy. But I heard Lulu crying, she didn’t like being attached to it, and I asked my Higher Self, and She said “let Lulu off she isn’t going anywhere.” And then because Lulu was so totally wild, my Higher Self said, “just lie on the bed, let me talk to you in your mind, let me love you and Lulu in your mind, she will pick up the vibe and it will relax her and settle her down.” Which is just what happened. Lulu flew up on the bed next to me, and I petted her while my Higher Self crooned love to her in my mind.

It worked like a charm. Lulu was transformed. Bill came back with Skippy and said “you let her off!” “Yes” I said “she is not going anywhere.” At that time I was feeding Skippy, “Skippy” brand dog food. It is the most delicious of the canned foods and was the only kind Clio was willing to eat. Before that I had to cook cheeseburger for her every night. It turned out Lulu hated the Iambs dry dog food Mike had brought, that huge bag, 50 pounds, which sat in the house for a year. Lulu either liked that petite can of gourmet dog food I found for her, or delicious people food. So that is what I served her. And I gave her full freedom, she had that huge backyard we have, and, as Bill said “the 3 bedroom dog house” we live in, and a side yard. And she was able to spend her days with me on the bed, with my Higher Self crooning love to her. Skipper was Bill’s shadow, and would be wherever Bill was. Except at night when Bill went to sleep, then Skippy liked to come in and sprawl next to me on the bed. Skipper was a huge wolf, not a real wolf, maybe part tho. A huge silver-haired beautiful shepherd x, with some wolf. Who we had adopted at the pound a year after we moved to Tucson and few months after we moved into the house.

We had Clio then, she had been with us in New York City, and Clio gave Skippy a hard time at first. Which he accepted, he let Clio boss him and deny him what he wanted. But Skippy is ten times her size, and one day he decided not to put up with it. He simply pounced on Clio and that was that. She was a small slender shepherd x, who had problem starting fights she could not finish.

After that Clio made Skippy’s whole life an entertainment package. She amused herself from morning to night playing tricks on him. Skippy, a desert dog who looked exactly like the desert wolf, had found himself a real little Italian firecracker, from Little Italy in New York. She was Latin to her toes. She would grab a cookie from the bowl of dog cookies. She had no interest in that cookie. But she would bring it into the middle of the carpet of my back bedroom when I was watching TV. Because she knew Skippy’s routine. She knew when Skippy would arrive to ask to be fed, or arrive for some other reason. And sure enough Skippy would arrive to innocently remind me he wanted a meal. He ate like a horse and liked to be fed 5 times a day. The instant he would arrive at my doorway, she would growl and carry on about the cookie, as if he had arrived to steal her cookie. Which is ridiculous, there was a huge cookie bowl in the kitchen, he could help himself to one whenever he wanted. And Clio had zero interest in hers. But she would keep that up for half an hour, until she got bored with game. Having a huge snarling fit each time he tried to make one move into my room.

She played games and tricks on him all day long. But mainly her favorite thing was to race the fence when a car drove by in the alley. She loved to race the fence with the car and shriek her head off as she ran with abandoned glee. Clio was the fastest dog in the world. She would stretch out her front legs and back legs and simply fly. She was a tremendous athlete in all ways. She was such a good ball player, that back in New York City, when a former professional ball player down on his luck, was throwing the ball for Clio, he pointed out Clio knew how to field the ball better than many shortstops, she knew how to situate herself in front of the ball. It is true Clio could catch anything, tremendous fly balls, even curves. She was an outstanding fielder. A little boy told me Clio should play for the Yankees, they could use her.

But when I had my huge fenced-in yard in Tucson, and Skippy from the pound for companionship, I stopped taking Clio to play ball in Tucson. Because she had new sport, racing the fence, each time the car drove down the alley. She would race out of the house each time she heard a car beginning to arrive, and be at one end when it started to arrive. And race it down the long alley on our side of the fence till it reached the end, and then keep barking at it. She had a ball. And when Skippy arrived he did it with her. But Skippy is a total klutz. He would run in the wrong direction, collide with Clio and knock her over. She would pick herself up with disgust. Skipper was the worst athlete in the world. I would try to throw him one very easy grounder in the yard, and he would chase the ball all over the yard before he got it. Clio would watch with total disgust.

After a long time of car chasing, both dogs would come in and sit like book-ends on the early american couch, that was the couch Bill bought from the woman he did yardwork for. Clio would be at one end, Skippy at the other, and they would stay like that till I went to sleep and Skippy would come in and sprawl next to me on the bed.

In the morning when I woke up and poured myself a cup of coffee and got out a muffin to have with it, Skippy would arrive. He wanted the coffee, light and sweet. He wanted the muffin. So I would put it on the floor for him and go make myself another. He usually managed to get half the other too, half my second cup of coffee, half my second muffin-- you know how good dogs are at that! You always weigh which will make me happier? To have it for myself? or let them have it, so I can have the happiness of their happiness? And you always choose happiness of their happiness.

Even tho Skipper was not old, a few years after Clio went to Heaven, he went to Heaven too. Bill’s Higher Self told him it was because he missed Clio, he wanted to be with her. She had made his whole life a wondrous party, and she was a sweetie pie too.

When Lulu arrived Skippy had a companion again, but it wasn’t the same as his Clio. But Lulu gets along with everyone, she is so easy going. Skippy’s solution when Clio went to Heaven was to adopt Bill, he never left Bill’s side. And Lulu liked to spend her evenings cuddled up with me on bed, as I watched tv or read. The problem was when Bill went to sleep. Skippy would come in to evict Lulu, so he could get on the bed and sleep with me. He would come into my room and order Lulu off the bed. And I guess for the first month or two, she obediently obeyed his order. He would arrive, order her off, she didn’t want to leave, but she would get off. Skipper would get on. Bill was sleeping on the early american couch then, he liked the air blowing in from the screen door. And Lulu would just cling to him like a whippet, I don’t know how she did it. She would sleep with her “daddy.”

But one night Lulu decided, “why do I have to get off Annie's bed, just because Skipper says I have to, because he wants it.” She decided to stand her ground. This turned out to be a huge mistake. Skipper simply jumped up on the bed anyway, huge big Skipper who weighs a million tons, and is big as a wolf. And Lulu was in the corner next to the bed terrorized. She was afraid to move a muscle, she would not leave. I had to call Bill to come in and rescue Lulu. And after that when Skippy came in late at night, and said “time to get off, I want the bed!” she couldn’t get off fast enough. She went in to sleep with Bill, she hung on to his back like a whippet.

I think then Bill began to take Lulu on his walks with Skippy. The long walks, in the morning. But 9 months later when Bill went to the pound and rescued Happy-- Happy had been a stray his whole life, was emaciated and faded and had given up. He was so traumatized when we got him, he could not even eat. He would just nervously eat out marrow bones. I bought gazillion marrow bones for his first 6 months with us. And of course Skippy bullied him, Skipper was a bully.

But Happy was just Lulu’s age, and Happy was Prince Charming. Lulu fell in love with him at first sight. He was the loveliest being who ever was, he was a dreamboat. She and Happy would start to play in the backyard, and of course Skippy would try to join in, he didn’t like being excluded, he was jealous. But Skippy is such a huge klutz, plus a bully, all he would do would be to ruin the game. Then he would come in and order Happy off the marrow bone Happy had been enjoying. And Happy would have to cower in a corner, while Skipper licked it out with relish in the middle of the room.

Bill would try to walk all 3 dogs together, but that is when Happy would get his own back on Skipper. Happy had a trick. Which I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes: It must have been after Skippy went to Heaven, when Bill took Lulu and Happy for huge walk in wash at Fort Lowell Park. I must have gone along on the walk too. And when we got back to the parking lot, the car had a flat. Bill had to change the tire, or there was something he had to do to the car. Happy was on a very long leash, attached to Bill’s belt. I had Lulu on another very long leash. Happy’s leash was really long, Bill had bought climbing rope to extend it, so Happy could have maximum freedom on the walk. And Happy got bored as we were all standing around the car, it was taking long time. And then very casually, with no vibe at all, as if he was just taking the air-- completely casually and apparently diffidently-- I noticed his walking around, as we all waited, wasn’t random. He wasn’t like Lulu, just walking and sniffing and looking. He was actually-- altho it was practically undiscernible to see, his attitude was so casual and lackadaisical-- but in fact he was walking in wide circles around Bill, and the long leash was being wound around Bill. It had finally reached the point where if Bill took one more step, he would be lassoed and fall over.

And I found out from Bill that is what Happy would do to Skipper during the long walks the 3 dogs did with Bill. Skippy would be on that long long long leash, happily walking with Bill. Lulu is in a dream world of her own, and would keep trying to veer off in another direction. Her idea of a walkie is to march herself into every open door to house she sees along the way. Only Skipper is good as gold, and would behave himself perfectly on walk, would walk like normal dog, march along with Bill. What Happy would do, would appear to criss-cross randomly, but the next thing anyone would know, Skipper was completely lassoed and would fall over. And be furious as a huge bumblebee. And Bill would try to untie Skipper, but Skipper has mental problems, he would attack Bill. Happy would turn the whole walk into a catastrophe.

After that Bill walked Skippy and Lulu together in the morning, and took Happy out for his own walk in the evenings.

Then on Christmas, maybe 6 months after we had Happy, out of nowhere, Skippy woke up perfectly fine. As always, he had his big cup of coffee with me, light and sweet, and his blueberry muffin, and Bill took him out for his walk. He was fine on his walk and loved it. But just outside the house, on the way in, he had some problem, he lied down. And that night he went to Heaven. Bill was devastated.

And to console himself he decided to devote himself to Happy. I heard him tell Happy “you will have all the treats Skipper had and more.” And this is true. He took Happy on 20 mile hikes thru beautiful desert. They hiked all over. Happy had everything, he had glorious life. I would take Lulu out each morning for little walk around neighborhood and we’d watch Bill and Happy, Happy would be riding shot gun in the truck, return from their glorious morning at Fort Lowell Park. Happy had been taken for glorious 3 hour outing in the beautiful wash behind Fort Lowell Park. Happy had the life of riley. Very occasionally Lulu was invited too. And very very occasionally she got to be special girl, she got to go in the red truck, be taken to Butterfly Trail on top of Mount Lemon for hike in the woods, or be taken on wonderful outing of her own. But Happy’s life was made out of fabulous treats, Lulu only got that infrequently. What she got was little walks around the neighborhood with me, which she loved too.

She didn’t get to be special gal all the time and have the wonderful life, till Happy went to Heaven on Bill’s birthday (ouch!) year and half ago. And then Lulu got it all, set off in red truckie every day. But Bill went to the pound and came home with Beanie two months later, few weeks before Christmas. And altho Bill took both dogs for many special wonderful times on the desert, Beanie is too much of a handful. He is a shrimp who thinks he is a goliath. Little Beanie will attack any dog which moves. Eventually Bill just took him for long walk in neighborhood thru our own wash. Because Beanie will get into the face of any dog they pass behind its own fence. The dog comes out to bark at Beanie, and Beanie is right in his face, and Bill can’t pull Beanie off. They have to go on a walk which doesn’t pass any dogs, which is nearly impossible. Bill is a saint to take Beanie for his walk each morning. Each time a dog is in his own yard, they have to veer off and change direction.

But Lulu became Bill's girlfriend during those two months of dark unhappiness when Happy had left us for Heaven. He spent the morning drawing at Fort Lowell Park, he was there all morning, and Lulu was his art partner. She lounged on the bed next to him while he watched tv. They slept together every night. He became very close to Lulu and took her everywhere with him. Whatever errand he went on, whatever store he went to, whatever he needed to get done, Lulu went with him.

Even when we went to Sunflower Market to go grocery shopping he said “can Lulu be invited too.” And either stood outside with Lulu while I shopped or came inside and sat at the little table with her.

When Beanie arrived, we knew Beanie was too much of a baby to be left alone at home, he needed his sister. And so Lulu stopped being invited when Bill and I went off to shop. But he still invited her along when Beanie and I were home. She goes to gas station with him, to auto supply store, to the charity store to look for books, or to Ace hardware.

Beanie is such a star it appears Lulu is eclipsed, that she is the moon to his sun. But appearances are deceiving. Beanie is such a bright star, such a totally joyous being, his joy is so effervescent and bubbles up. Just me getting out of bed and heading to kitchen for snack, is cause for Beanie to somersault with joy across the huge living room. He lights up all of our lives and Lulu’s too. Beanie is the answer to a prayer, when the darkness came, when Happy left us. He has filled our home, our yard, our life with brightness and joy, for Lulu too, for all of us.

He is the light of our life and arrived just before Christmas, the great Christmas present Bill brought home for all of us.

Lulu became transformed and so did Bill and Annie. Happiness personified had entered our home.

And altho Bill dotes on Beanie, how can he not! Lulu is still his girlfriend, they eat together, they sleep together, they watch all the games together, they are as close as two peas in a pod.

And I realized Lulu takes care of all of us, she takes care of Bill, of me, and Beanie. She is the mother of our home, and queen of the dogs. She is the velvety moon who watches out for all of us, who embraces the planet of our home with her sweetness, tenderness and love.... And shines the light by which we see in the dark, the lovely jewel in the night sky, to remind us all is well.... It is she who blesses all of us with her sweet warmth and keeps the tides in their place and the rhythm of our days...