Hal O'Brien

akirlu wrote a while back about the odd paw print medallion we got as part of the package of Sarah's cremation package, and how it didn't look quite right.

With all due modesty, rooting through some of the beach pics tonight, I think this one is more the feel she was looking for.

The 10th picture taken with the old Kodak DC4800 digicam. The second day we'd owned it, June 30 2001, so probably bought for my birthday (and for our upcoming trip to Sweden that year).

Presumably the first digital picture of me and Sarah, and presumably taken by Ulrika. This is in our apartment in Costa Mesa, Calif.

It's just Sarah running around at a beach again -- this time Cannon Beach in Oregon.

But she sure is bouncy for 10 years old.

Hm. That sentence goes on too long. :)

Sometimes I think the most valuable thing I do is be a pillow for Sarah. There is something curiously comforting about the warm weight of her head on my ankle.

We're back from a trip to Ilwaco, Astoria, Seaside, Cannon Beach, and Tillamook. More later, but some preliminary pictures are up at my Flickr page.

For all that I think Sarah is photogenic -- and I don't think there's any doubt I do -- there's also something about her that needs to be put in motion. So, courtesy of the new camera, and tagged as "sarahvideos", a few clips.

I picked this one to highlight because of the interaction between Sarah and Ulrika at the end. But I like them all.

Also, a reminder of this video at YouTube, taken during ArtCon in Gualala, CA in 2007.

About a month ago our dog Sarah had some surgery. She'd been licking the crevices in between her left front footpads almost constantly. We took her in to the vet, and it turned out she had what's known as a mast cell tumor down in those crevices. The surgery was to take out as much of the malignant tissue as possible.

At first she was hobbling about, then she was perky enough to chew through her bandages about every 48 hours. Now the bandages are completely off, and she seemed mostly fine.

Until Friday.

At first I noticed she was just a step behind where she usually is. When I went down to pick akirlu up at the train, Sarah had trouble jumping into the car to come along. As Friday night progressed, she developed a large amount of swelling on her left front shoulder, and the length of her relevant leg.

We took her in on Saturday morning, and our vet took some samples to send off to the lab. It being a holiday weekend, we wouldn't get results back until Tuesday. Over the course of the day, Sarah got slower, and was obviously laboring more to move. It was as if she'd suddenly gotten old. Which at ten years old, I suppose she is, but she had never seemed that way before.

She perked up enough that when Vanguard was hosted at our house that night, she seemed mostly OK, if a bit barky -- but then she's taking steroids to help with the swelling.

Sarah loves the beach. I mean, she loves the beach. So on Sunday, we took her to Dash Point, where it was... wet. Very rainy and wet. And slimy. And somewhat smelly from the kelp and whatnot.

So Monday we went on a field trip to the Astoria, OR area. I'm not going to tell you the specific beach, because it was so wonderful I'm afraid of a Tragedy of the Commons effect.

Saturday I also bought a new pocket zoom camera, because the old one had been lost. The new one -- a Panasonic DMC-ZS1 -- has many whizbang shooting modes, including a "Sunset" setting.

So this is Ulrika and Sarah at our semi-secret beach.

More at my Flickr account, tagged "beach day".

P.S.: I just got off the phone with our vet. Things are still inconclusive. I'll be taking Sarah in tomorrow morning for more tests.

"Oh, yeah? What are you looking at, ape?"

Taken tonight, we see a full moon rising behind clouds, just to the back of our house.

In the window on the right, you'll see Sarah in her usual lookout spot, trying to figure out what her crazy ape is up to this time.

Sarah sleeping on our art deco couch, in the setting sun. Taken earlier today.

Our dog hides in the bokeh, while the backlit grass is sharp.

Note the basic similarity to this album cover of Peter Gabriel's, which took me forever to parse correctly: