It’s a trippy new digital documents library, where people can read and discuss original writings. If you’re an author, you’ll want to know about it, and if you’re a reader, you will too.
Chapter One of An Uncertain Age has just been featured on Scribd, and it appears in “Rising Fiction”!
Happy Holidays!
An Uncertain Age has been nominated for the 2013 Global Ebook Award in Spiritual/Metaphysical Fiction!
“a jewel of a book”…”enthralling”…”exquisite”…”a wonderful book club choice”…
Jackson was on his way to the park. Yet he graciously paused to look at my novel, An Uncertain Age. He was pleased to learn that it has just been released as a Kindle e-book! And that it’s climbing the Amazon charts in the “Hot New Releases” Literary Fiction and Mysticism categories. Little Jackson then hurried off, not to order a copy, as I had hoped, but because the bench was too hot on his paws.
To find out more, click here.
“are you a visitor?” asked
the dog.
‘”yes,” i answered.
“only a visitor?” asked
the dog.
“yes,” i answered.
“take me with you,” said
the dog.
~Robert Lax
For the past six months, I’ve been documenting my spontaneous encounters with the diverse dogs of San Francisco. What started as a whim became a sort of quest. I’ve learned that one cannot judge by appearances: the most ordinary-looking dog often has an extraordinary story. And so it is with people. The dogs that I met were tolerant, kindhearted, and authentic. They amiably wander the city, as shaggy mendicants, yet giving more than they take. They’re capable of heroism. They do tricks. However they see this world, I’m certain that it is not the same world we see. Sidewalks, the pull of the lead, if one is good, a treat. I suspect that they do not feel owned at all. These goofy, loyal pets are perhaps our guardians, and not the other way around. At day’s end, they still dream of rabbits, an ancient chase.
I don’t know what I’ll focus on next in this blog. Something to do with my book: God? Uncertainty? Please stay tuned. And don’t be surprised if the dogs return…
Lulu the Schnoodle is a dog of an uncertain age–forty-something in dog years, if there is such a thing.
Chili, last seen here, has fallen on hard times. First, a Great Dane had jumped him. Then, once he’d got his dozen or so stitches out, he had a mishap in Crissy Field. The blue collar is there to protect Chili from himself.
Moxie’s name was originally Foxie.
It’s amazing what one can accomplish. Although Moxie is a small dog, she was not daunted by that six-foot fence. They say she jumped, then pulled herself over. She’s on Facebook.
Out of all the dogs at Family Dog Rescue, they picked Charlie because “he fell asleep in my son’s arms”.
This is Honey Bear.
She knows how to give high fives.
Boo Magoo is a Brussels Griffon Yorkshire Chihuahua mix. He’s a stray, who would have been put to sleep, if not for Rocket Dog Rescue.
Posey and Gemma are friends. They like to chase skateboards.
Whoaaa! Here comes one now!
On my way home from the shelter, I encountered Bernard, a dog of means. “He’s a small prince with long ears,” explained his owner.
I got to go inside the little glass room to visit Muir. After he had jumped all over me, and playfully refused to do everything the volunteer asked of him, he quietly returned to the door. It was as if by magical thinking he might get the one thing he really wanted: out.
Please note: The blogs from Feb 13-Jan 27 feature dogs I met at Maddie’s Adoption Center at the San Francisco SPCA.
Roxy, in dress and coat, was about to go for a walk.
Here she poses, as if for a glamour shot.
Bongo was seated in the SPCA’s waiting room. He was there to meet a dog called Sunflower.
I was told that he looks like a coyote, especially when he runs. He’s shy of people.
The SPCA’s office dogs work among the desks and rolling chairs.
Surely they sense their own good fortune?
This is a dog that any child would love.
Dipsea, a blonde Labrador, had an intolerable roommate.
Fortunately, she had just charmed not one but two different families.
Meet Capone and sidekick Helio (with ears flapped back). Capone, determined to be the center of attention,
uses his blue collar to advantage. One wonders about the canine fate that brought these two together.
Maddie’s Adoption Center reminded me of an assisted living place. Sadie seemed quite comfortable in her shared room.
Ranger had a nice room with a view. But he was understandably distressed. He kept pacing in a circle, around and around.
Sometimes he’d pause to howl in a whisper.
I didn’t catch her name. Let’s call her “Fluffy”. Whatever name she had, before, is different now, and will likely be changed again.
I thought of that song, “How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?”, as Kirby and I regarded each other. For a small adoption fee, one can have a faithful friend.
I found Rebel in “Dog Hallway 4/1”. All the rooms have these round openings, through which treats can be passed.
Here Rebel confronts a ghost dog.
Nap-time. Check out those pink paws…
The following blogs (Jan 27-Feb 13) will feature dogs I met at Maddie’s Adoption Center at the San Francisco SPCA.
The adoption center is a clean, bright, bustling place. Although the accommodations are humble, the dogs here are treated as royalty. They’re fed, kept warm and dry, and their battle scars are conscientiously looked after. From the other side of the modern glass cubicles in which they find themselves, they hear encouraging words from strangers. (Should I bark? some seem to wonder in response. How can I not? Yet what is there to protect but a hollow, green and deep…) Spotting a volunteer with leash in hand is a coveted moment. The dogs’ individual natures are encouraged, if not indulged, by the bighearted staff. Saint Francis’s influence as the patron saint of animals is also felt: it’s probably no coincidence that the San Francisco SPCA is “the birthplace of the no-kill movement”. Nevertheless, each dog is in transition, coming from a place we may never know, innocently balanced (one can see it in the eyes) between hope and hopelessness.
So serene! And the mother of grown puppies. I never did find out why they named her Pork Chops.
Often an owner will try to “help” the photographic process by getting the dog(s) to fixate on something.
It doesn’t always work.
Mr. Roboto was named after the song by Styx. It goes like this in Japanese:
Dōmo arigatō misutā Robotto
Mata au hi made.
Thank you very much, Mr. Roboto
Until the day we meet again.
Nonie knows all about destiny. She claimed her current owner by running up to her on the beach one day.
Maya, the companion of Percy (see previous post), is said to be like a little old lady. She’s the “fun” police.
Bugsy was howling. Life kept going past and no one came. The corsage was not that at all; rather, it was a utilitarian “poop bag”. Like Bill Brooks (see January 11), and Bugsy’s own blood brother, he also suffers from separation anxiety. All because the breeder didn’t hold him as a puppy.
Roman and Genesis are Borzoi twins. Both were wearing crystal collars. They don’t bark.
