a loss

Bella the dog is no longer with us. My landlords recently returned from a month long trip. When they got home, they noticed that Bella was bleeding from her mouth. They rushed her to the vet, who confirmed their deepest fear: Bella had a recurrent cancer in her mouth. On the very day of returning from vacation, my poor landlords put their dog to sleep.

I felt horrible; I had been watching over things while they were gone and felt that this was somehow my fault. It isn't and wasn't, but I still feel that I should have done more or noticed more.

The house is quieter now. I am no longer greeted by a wagging tail, nor do I spend time coaxing an animal to come back inside the gate when I come and go. My students were saddened to learn of her passing; they had been writing stories inspired by my strange Tuesday night.

While Bella was smelly, she was without question one of the sweetest dogs I have ever met. Another tail now wags in doggie heaven...

Mundane magic

One of the facets of daily living that I find both mundane and fascinating is the number of pay-as-you-go services I utilize on a daily basis. My cell phone operates on this sort of payment. I can recharge it by loading money directly through an ATM machine, adding credit online via my bank's website, or, I believe, with a cell phone card. While I am very used to prepaid cell phones, I am not accustomed to such a variety of payment options! My landline is also prepaid. I refill the money by purchasing a phone card at the gas station. I think I may also be able to add credit online, but I haven't explored this possibility. Finally, my electricity uses a pay-as-you-go system. There is a small box on my living room wall with a keypad. To replenish my available electricity supply, I take a plastic card to the mini-mart. The cashier swipes it through a machine and then hands me a receipt with a long numeric code printed on it. When I return home, I punch the numbers into the keypad on my wall. The system then adds units. It’s somewhat magical…