Puppy Love

I am currently sitting in a Panera Bread in Princeton, NJ, waiting for my panel to begin (I'm giving a paper at the American Comparative Literature Conference. My paper is as uncomparative as you can get: it's on Mark Twain and American constitutional history. I'm clearly the odd-ball out here, evident not only in the topic of my paper, but also in the fact that I am wearing neither 1. "funky" glasses nor 2. "colorful" shoes). At least that's what I'm doing physically. Mentally, I'm imagining all the things my puppy dog might be doing right now, and wondering if she misses me, or thinks I've abandoned her forever, or can't be bothered to remember who that lady was who always insisted she eat peanut butter and not pee on the floor. She seemed to know that something was amiss as I was packing, and kept smelling my luggage with a concerned earnestness, eventually plopping herself down next to the suitcase and chewing on a toy with a melancholic slowness (see photo). At several points she actually got in the luggage, which was nearly impossible to resist in its bad movie/sit-com episode potential: hide the puppy in the luggage and let hijinx ensue!

I didn't expect to miss Hermione this much, but I've found that she's so quickly structured the rhythm of my day that I'm a bit lost without knowing when it's breakfast time, when it's pee time, when it's chase-the-tennis-ball time. I guess I can only hope that she's as disoriented without me, and that she will greet my return on Sunday with a vigorous tail wag and a jump up into my arms (Such a wish is not outside the bounds of possibility. For those who have not seen her leaping abilities in action, she is wholly capable of leaping up into one's arms: the trick is being quick enough to catch her before she falls).

In the meantime, however, all reports about her health are good despite Dr. Dust's caution that the cortisone might be too strong for such a small pup (weighing in at 15.5 pounds at last check [2 pounds heavier than when I first adopted her. I will choose to see this weight gain in a positive light]), leaving her lethargic and leaking urine. Yes--leaking urine. So far, though, she's just been a bit more tired than usual, but still has that Hermione get-up-and-go that boggles even the most active mind (and body). And no urine leaks, a phrase which--in its various permutations--makes me think of the Leaky Cauldron, and so secretly pleases me even as it is totally gross. And the good news is that though she is still scratching her ears, she is scratching them less, which means that she's on the road to recovery.

So pup is doing better, but mom misses her sweet pea, and is wondering if a conference on comparative literature--one that has so many "euro" folk in it [see note about glasses and shoes above]--wouldn't have minded a very elegant, friendly miniature poodle as part of the festivities. The title of the conference is, after all, "The Human and Its Others." Screw theory: I'm all about praxis, and that, as far as I can tell, totally means giving a paper with my puppy dog on my lap.