The Day the Dog Died

I am looking out the window at the enclosed yard where the dogs run free.
It is their job to go crazy when someone walks by along the alley.
They are running back and forth along the fence line, crazy, barking, yelling.

Suddenly, Tiger (who is a handsome young brindle boxer), collapses.  He simply drops in place, mid run.
I run outside, down the steps to the yard, to his limp body lying on the ground.

Everything else fades away.  (ie, the other dog wasn't there anymore?? how could this be???)

And time stands still.

He is not breathing.

He is not breathing.

He is not breathing.

His tongue is turning a bluish, cyantic hue.

What do I do?  what do I do??????

I don't really want to give him mouth to mouth -- but I consider it.

What do I DO???

Then, a small voice inside of me says to myself  " You are a doctor.  What would you do if this were a person?"


And I raise my fist over my head, and bring it down on his chest with as much might and force as I could muster.  I THUMP him as hard as  I can, right on the chest.

I have nothing to lose by hitting him this hard.  He is going to be dead anyway.


And then, as if nothing had happened, he takes a breath.  and his color instantly is restored.
And he gets up and walks, and I am so happy he didn't die.

It was an amazing miracle I had just witnessed.


The funny thing is, my life was so messed up at the time, I went on that day, as if nothing had happened.  I didn't even tell anyone about it...... until now -- 20+ years later.
I had been so in survival mode then, I saw a miracle, and just kept surviving.

Katz Hats

Mr Katz made Hats.

He was an old man, in an old smelling warehouse, with small customer space in front of a large tall desk, spanning the length of the room. Behind that desk, was where Mr Katz made hats.

How do you make a hat?
Did he design the hats?

I loved Mr Katz, maybe because I loved Cats.