Sunday, Sunday

The cat has been in the same spot by the window all morning, even though it is a cloudy day. Maybe the UV rays do something for her.

I am having a great Sunday, mostly because there is not much to do. Only:

1) Write a birthday card
2) Nose around on Facebook
3) Run some old bills through a paper shredder
4) Clip recipes out of old food magazines and arrange them in this order.

• Soups, like balsamic-tomato soup and cold zucchini-and-cucumber soup.
• Light starter-type things like fried eggs on asparagus, bruschetta with fava beans, grilled bitter greens salad
• Comfort foods like lobster macaroni and shepherd's pie
• Elaborate seafood and meats, like steamed mussels with sausages and fennel and roast pork loin with Italian salsa verde, which is different from Mexican salsa

Notice that there are no desserts on this list. I just can't get excited about making desserts.

A very merry Christmas, and Lulu's remarkable recovery

An update on our very brave little dog's progress since the car accident in July. Many thanks to our veterinarian, Dr. Lee, and to the makers of the Thera-Paw Dorsi-Flex Assist foot wrap. He put her back together, and the device helped Lulu become a fully four-legged creature again.

Recovery timeline

July 30 - Lulu is run over by a car, suffering a broken hip and pelvis, plus smaller fractures and abrasions.

August - Dr. Lee is unsure whether Lulu's left hind leg can be saved, due to nerve damage. He lets the dog rest for a week and monitors the leg for response to stimuli. On the 7th day, there is still no response and we are faced with the decision of whether to amputate the leg. But Dr. Lee makes the crucial decision to wait a few more days. On the 10th day, the leg finally responds. Lulu undergoes multiple surgeries to rebuild her hip and pelvis, but the vet warns she may never walk on that leg again. Lulu's hospital stay lasts for three weeks.

September through October - Her hind legs in an atrophied state, Lulu can only get around with her front legs, plus a carrying device wrapped around her belly and lifted by hand. Eventually, she regains muscle in the uninjured right leg and starts trotting on three legs. Mom patiently does daily massage treatments on the injured left leg. After some time, Lulu starts to put pressure on the left paw, but in an upside-down "knuckling" position. She has to wear a rubber shoe at all times to protect the soft top of her foot.

November - Lulu gets a Thera-Paw Dorsi-Flex shoe, which corrects the knuckling. She likes it at first and tolerates wearing it. But after two weeks, she resists putting on the shoe and hides it in the ivy several times. Amazingly, her muscles have regrown to such an extent that she now steps on the injured paw mostly right-side up. But she still finds it easier to lift that paw and run on her three good legs.

December 25 - She runs easily on the injured paw (see video shot today), only occasionally lifting it. Merry Christmas, Lulu!

I don't blog enough

My reasons:

1) The stuff on my mind lately is not appropriate to blog about. Like personnel issues at our company. Especially on a blog with my name on it.

2) Blogging is a creative activity. And I don't do anything creative on a regular basis anymore. That includes reading. Not that reading is especially creative, unless you consider as creative the act of having new thoughts and feelings. The only things I do regularly now are go to work, make breakfasts and dinners, clean my apartment, and groom the cat.

Nevertheless, a short blog entry follows:

Yoga and beach volleyball yesterday have left me tired and sore today. But I feel good and happy to be alive.

Lulu is back at home after 2 weeks at the vet. She is recovering from leg surgery. My dad calls her the "iron dog" because she now has metal in her leg and pelvic joint. I'm going home this afternoon to see the dog and submit to the weekly family BBQ.

Obituary

Xiao Hei, a 150-pound Neopolitan mastiff who loved to eat noodles and roll in the grass after a bath, died yesterday of natural causes. He was 10 years old.

Adopted by the Loh family as a puppy, Xiao Hei spent his early years going to work every morning at Mr. Loh's warehouse in downtown Los Angeles, where he honed his skills as a ferocious-sounding guard dog. On weekends, Xiao Hei accompanied the family on outdoor excursions. He enjoyed running away from ocean waves, plodding around shallow riverbeds, and eating snow during winter trips to the mountains.

Family members described Xiao Hei as a gentle giant who, despite his intimidating appearance, was always careful not to hurt any person, even by accident. In fact, the most effective way of getting Xiao Hei to release something in his jaws was always to jam one's hand into his mouth, which caused him to immediately let go.

The only creature on whom Xiao Hei ever took out his wrath was Cheeto, a fuzzy orange cat who was his tormentor until the day the dog struck back with a paw under a fence that clipped Cheeto's leg, sending the feline to the hospital.

Because of his heavy build, Xiao Hei understood he could never be a lap dog. When he wanted to feel close to one of his family members, he would content himself with plopping his bottom down on one of their feet. He had tender feelings, and was known, after a scolding, to hang his head or occasionally take himself to a far corner of the backyard to brood.

In later years, Xiao Hei was bothered by a hind leg injury that caused him to limp. But there were still good days, when he would charge around the backyard for no apparent reason, or roll around in the grass under a hot afternoon sun, snorting and growling to himself. One of Xiao Hei's favorite treats in his old age was the bowl of noodles or rice in warm broth that he would be fed every evening after the family's dinner.

Several family members were present in the backyard yesterday afternoon when Xiao Hei laid himself down one final time, on a pile of freshly-cut peach tree trimmings. He will be missed.

My parents, the animal lovers

My parents have an old friend, Jojo, who is a dog person. He breeds dogs as a hobby and everyone know him to be a dog person, so when someone has a dog they need to get off their hands, they come to him. That's how we got Xiao Hei, our 150-pound Neopolitan mastiff, 10 years ago when he was just a pup.

Last week, Jojo brought my parents a 1 1/2-year-old dog named Nalua to check out. She's a breed that is indigenous to Taiwan. "Formosan dog" is a possible English translation.

Nalua is 30 pounds of lean, wiry muscle. She behaves like a skittish cat, prancing away when you try to touch her. She's extremely aware of everything going on around her, and savvy enough not to try to compete with Xiao Hei for the humans' attention. She's also a bit of a coquette, and can be persuaded to pose for photos:

A bit of background about the parents: My dad is a dog fanatic, and has for years been hoping to get Xiao Hei a playmate. But my mom generally is known to view animals as little poop machines that she has to pick up after. Imagine my dad's surprise when Mom went out and bought a new dog house the very day after Nalua's arrival. Not only that, but she also has nicknamed the dog Lulu.