When Greyhounds collide...

...they snarl at each other. So we found out on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Ocean Beach. Taking your dogs to the beach is a treat in so many ways. Obviously the best is the unbridled joy the dogs find running down the beach, loving every second of sight, sound and smell. Today was the most crowded the beach has been in more than twenty-six years of wonderful experience with sunny days and San Francisco's most popular beach. And there were more dogs of every size, type and temperament--each one intent on doing his or her favorite thing: chasing sticks or balls, running into the water, faithfully following his or her owner--or in the case of our dog Argie, (pictured above)--chasing other dogs. As a recent and beloved addition (see earlier post: The new dog) we're just discovering Argie's potential when he gets a good clip going. We've only been able to speculate at Argie's bloodline. Even to casual observers, it's clear that there's a lot of "greyhound" going on. There's obviously some "sight-hound", too. That's why Argie spotted him first.

The black breyhound was cantering toward us: the black dog's eyes locked on his owner, craning his neck as the owner was trying to keep up. Argie froze and fixated on the approaching dog. The moment the black greyhound spotted Argie, it was Game ON!

"I think we got ourselves a race-track here, Folks!" The two dogs gave themselves over to their genetic inheritance and raced each other in ever-tightening circles to the delight of some, the horror of others. The absolutely jaw-dropping demonstration of how fast Greyhounds can run and avoid obstacles was on display for everyone to see. As their last lap was coming to a close, they collided slightly with each other and both let out a ferocious snarl before trotting happily back to their owners with a genuine look of "did ya see me beat him there???"

Dogs show us our truest nature...just watch how easily they go with theirs.

Jesus...you're big!

One of the few truly indelible memories of my life will always be the "reveal" of this unexpected and breath-stealing moment. Our local friend got us inside this still-being-built church on a high hill in central Mazatlan. Our local friend led us into this domed room, the Crucifixion was hidden behind the blue curtain. She stepped up to the base, and yanked a rope. We were stunned into silence. It lasted a long time. I felt tiny. Our friend in the lower left-hand corner is a graphic representation of my own self-awareness at this unveiling. A beautiful, terrible, mysterious and redemptive "quality" fell over the room. The pews hadn't yet been built-the room was still cavernous, but what struck me was that Jesus was already here and HE WAS BIG. I think if I had come into this church as a little kid for the first time, I might have been scared shitless by this huge, overwhelming, bloody, tortured, dying man on a cross. One thing is for sure, I will never, ever forget it. Now, when we went to the lower level, there was a collection of the various Latin American Incarnations of the Blessed Virgin...stay tuned...

The Cat Overlord

This is the photo we took when we were taken on the tour of the house. This cat is still part of the house and kitchen, just hidden beneath a very thin coat of white paint. Not visible, but still there...for sure. Even, or I should say, because of Buster, our dog, we knew that the cat was still looking, looking, looking...

How to buy a house in Mexico

People think we're crazy. Mostly, I think, they're right. Sometimes it takes a long time to see that there's a gray area, where they're right, but you (we) are right, too. My husband said to me some many months (more than 2 years) ago, "I need a hobby" and I told him to redo the backyard if he suddenly had all this energy and ambition to commit to a hobby. "No," with a thoughtful glance to the ceiling and his index finger balancing his chin, "I found this cute little house in Mazatlan Mexico on a website called "buyinmazatlan.com". WTF? I thought such silly thoughts at that moment-like "OOOOO KAY, so, what are we gonna have for dinner?". I was in for such a crazy ride (even though I had no clue in those last moments before my future was -already decided-revealed to me.) He had already planned the first reconnaissance trip--we flew to Mazatlan on a Saturday morning very early (8am I think), landed in LAX, a short lay-over and then on to Mazatlan, about 3 hours, arriving at 4pm local time (one hour later time change). The plan was to meet the realtor, see the house, see a couple others so we could compare, go back to the hotel-(La Siesta-a whole blog about that later). Have dinner and drinks. Talk about it to death. Wake up. Go see it again--(ok, I had no idea where it was, but my husband, with his innate homing-pigeon compass walked us more than 10 blocks in completely new territory right back to the house, approaching it from the opposite direction -see pic above). "This could be ours, if we just had the courage to go for it". We walked back to the hotel, drank the best margaritas I've had in Mazatlan, got our taxi to the airport. We got home at 11pm on Sunday. We were gone and back in a little more than 24 hours. We even caught the Oscars in LAX. We had a lot to talk about in the next days.....

Right Turn...Mazatlan, Mexico

I'll come clean. It took me a long time to muster the courage to commit to writing a blog. I've watched, lurked, commented on my dear friend Ann at Forest Street Kitchen. I admired her for doing her dream. Yet I felt a tug each time I read her blog or those she recommended. I could do that. I wanted to do that, or something like it. It took seeing the movie Julie and Julia to realize that the whole "tugging"* was really about writing a diary. Of course, it's public, but that's actually a great ground-rule--it makes you think first and proof-read--so you can live with yourself after you hit the "there's no return SUBMIT" button. *puh-leez!

Right Turn, Mazatlan Mexico--I was looking through my photo library and picked this picture we took at Olas Altas Playa in Centro, Mazatlan Mexico. We've been to Mazatlan several times and to this day, I can't tell you how this city in Mexico, surrounded and overshadowed by so many other far more famous cities happened to capture our attention and hearts. I wish I could really figure it out, but, as it happens, we invested ourselves and bought a sweet little house in Old Mazatlan. I will tell you all right now--Mexico is a wonderful, friendly, beautiful, enormous, mysterious and extremely afforable country and neighbor. More to come....(I'll keep you hangin' on)

The new dog

This is Argie. Named for his country of birth, Argentina, he is, as far as we know, without pedigree. However, he does have a certain cachet in that he is foreign-born. This he shares with his "elder" brother, Buster, who was born in England and does have a bit of a pedigree (tell you about that later). Now, since the two cats who live here were both born in the USA and really couldn't care less about the airs the dogs put on being "foreign and all that"(then again, maybe that's just being a cat) there wasn't any sort of American-born "critter buffer" when Argie came to live with us. Buster had met Argie before, but only when Argie was part of a pack that Buster only visited every once in a while. Though I tend to anthropomorphize as far as our puppies are concerned, I can't help but think that Buster must have been thinking "what the hell are you doing in my house?" when we adopted Argie as our own. Buster and Argie have made peace. It didn't really take that long. Frivolously, we chalked the early altercations up to some leftover "Falklands Islands" misunderstanding. It wasn't until we translated for Argie that Buster meant "Las Malvinas" that he finally understood we felt his pain. Both Buster and Argie just want our love, as unconditionally as they both offer it to us.

Dogs instinctively know and lead us down the path to peace. We just have to pay attention.

Buster and Duckie

Who says cats and dogs don't get along. Anyone with both species in their household knows that this is a myth. At left are two best friends, Buster and Duckie. They met, not as puppy and kitten, but as adults. Maybe because their previous owners each had, in Buster's case, cats in the house, and in Duck's case, dogs, that these two took to each other right away. It is not uncommon to find them sleeping side-by-side. Nor is it strange to see the affection each has for the other. I gotta tell you, sometimes I prefer their company to that of human beings.

US Open Wrap-up

It's over. Monday night. There's no roof yet over the main stadium at the US Open, Flushing Meadows, NY...the rain came at the end of the tournament, instead of the first five rounds, as usual. The unexpected champions--Kim Clijsters, unseeded, wildcard--well, you know what happened on her journey back. And then there's Juan...and then there's Juan. The big guy smacked his way, fearlessly, into the final, then a chance to win and then...he won! In the tennis world, there's one language--English. If you don't speak it as your mother tongue, then that's just one more thing you have to master if you're going to break into the top echelon and give "winner" interviews. Now this is why I decided, after my husband reported the same, that I don't like Dick Enberg anymore...because of a time constraint, Dick Enberg gave short shrift to the 2009 US Open Men's Singles Champion, Juan Martin del Potro who only wanted to give a quick shout-out IN SPANISH to his Argentine audience. He (Dick Enberg) would never have cut Roger Federer off from giving a quick "thank you" in Swiss German or French or any other language to his world-wide tennis fans--in fact, the runner-up from the Women's Singles competition, Caroline Wozniacki was given the microphone to speak both Danish and Polish to her fans...what a shame and an embarrassment, Dick Enberg, really--the US Open Champion deserves way more respect from us mere mortals (and the Big Network) than you gave him in the name of "network constraints". That's why I love Tennis Channel and Jimmy, Martina and Leif. They get it. You don't. Pity.

Serena Williams-an afterthought

By now, the video footage of Serena Williams berating the lineswoman for calling a footfault on Serena's second serve at 15-30 in, what turned out to be, the final game of the match against Kim Clijsters in the Semi-final of the 2009 US Open, has been seen around the world and debated by all manner of journalists, TV talk show hosts and the blogosphere at large. I would add my two-cents as well. First, the footfault call was atrocious-it wasn't even clear on replays whether Serena actually did commit a footfault. Secondly, the timing was terrible--I felt like the official was inserting herself into the match--especially as it was not an egregious fault (if it was a fault at all) and Serena is not a player who is known for foot-faulting. That said, I cannot believe Serena went after this defenseless linesperson with the vitriol and intimidation that was seen by the entire Arthur Ashe crowd and recorded for the entire world to see. Get a grip, Serena--take it up with the umpire, if anything. Serena robbed Kim Clijsters of her victory and tarnished her own reputation. I have seen that Serena has now apologized to her blog audience, but her post-match interview and subsequent statement hardly constituted remorse, contrition or anything close to owning her outlandish behavior. I don't agree with Mary Carillo that Serena should be suspended from competing, but I do feel that all prize money earned in her singles result should be forfeited. And she should apologize publicly to the lineswoman (who should be given a desk job now!).

Congratulations to Kim Clijsters for her Championship. Our new Tennis Queen Mother.

I cannot believe what I saw happen just now. Serena was not serene. She could have won. She should have won. Kim deserves her win. God, I love tennis. Anything can happen, and , usually does, after a fashion. A Belgian Mother and a Danish Teen for the 2009 US Open title.

Pizza Dough---make your own favorite

Fresh pizza dough....you can do anything with it.--I will post a picture of each home-made pizza on this posting. Starting now...

We back now.

Saw some dolphins off Ocean Beach--Dolphins--Really!!!

http://sfist.com/2007/08/08/sfist_photo_the_6.php

Copy and Paste this one--it was FABULOUS.