Dead Dogs Lie

We are down at Shizuko's mothers's house--the ancestral mansion-- for the New Year. This time included in my cold weather survival gear was my Marmot down sleeping bag good for temperatures up to minus 20 and a ski mask for sleeping. I am not kidding. There has been frost in the bedroom when I have woken up and the first time I spent the winter here, I woke up in the morning with bags under my eyes and aching ribs from shivering all night. This year hasn't been so cold--mostly rainy and damp.

Well New Year's Eve was here and we were celebrating in the traditional Japanese way--watching daft television and Shizuko's Mom had busted out a bottle of the good sake to keep the cold away and make the television more interesting. It was working too--smooth and light, the stuff rolled around on my tongue light morning dew. By 11:30 the cold was forgotten I was feeling that the guys on the TV were really pretty damn funny. I would have been in worse shape, but my greedy brother-in-law kept a tight paw on the bottle. He was probably thinking the same thing about me. From outside there came a long drawn out yelp and then a thump. The mother-in-law screamed, "Mei" and we all rushed outside into the new year rain.

Since Shizuko was girl, her family has had the same two dogs--Ran and Mei. A mother and daughter pair of mixed breeds with curly tails and good personalities. They have been going downhill for the last couple of years as they got into their late teens and this summer, the mother, Ran, finally died at age 20--That's 280 in human years. Everyone was pretty upset, but Mei took it the worst. She barely leaves her house, she lets the stray cats eat her food and her hair has fallen out and she has nasty sores all over her body. A mere shadow of the dog she once was.

But back to the present, everyone rushed outside and there was Mei squirming and rolling in the dirt. She was having some kind of seizure--probably canine epilepsy that dogs can develop as they get older. She was snapping her teeth and her tongue was hanging out bleeding. "Stop her! She'll bite her tongue off," screamed Shizuko's mother. Masahiro , the brother-in-law, jumped forward and tried to wrestle her jaws apart. "Hold her down, Kelly!" yelled Shizuko's mother again. I fell on top of the dog and tried to hold her down while Shizuko's mother forced a wooden spoon between the clacking jaws that Masahiro was trying to hold apart. Mei gave a tremendous spasm and lost control of her bladder, spraying the three of us with dog pee.

After the spasm, Mei calmed down and came out of the seizure. Just as we were standing up, we heard the bell at the local temple announce the arrival of the new year. Standing in the rain, half drunk, covered with pee and mud from wrestling with an epileptic dog, I could not help thinking that things can only get better from here.

Happy New Year!