Free Money

The government is sending me money! It was a bit of a shocker, the government and I aren't exactly buddy-buddy. But, I went to the post office the other day to find a letter from the IRS waiting in my mailbox. Nervously I tore open the back, all the while wondering if they finally caught me for any little fudges I might have made on my taxes. But no, there it was, a simple note saying that with their sincerest apologies I somehow did not receive or did not cash a check for $1300.00 two years ago and that they wanted to reissue me a new one. Now, here was the catch...I had to call the IRS to get the check.

I looked at the letter for about five days. Do I call? Do I not call? What if it is a trick! In the end, I decided to call from my friend's phone. That way, if I needed to hang up they could not trace my phone number--as if they don't know everything about me anyway. But there you go, now you know the deep, dark secret about me. I am a paranoid government-phob.

So, anyway, I made the call and five minutes later hung up the phone after being told the "check would be issued tomorrow." I can't believe it! It is like cash from heaven. And, not two days later I received another letter, this time from a company I do some work for. They said that I had not cashed a check for $68 in 2007 and wanted to reissue THAT check to me, too!

One might chalk these unexpected windfalls up to my lack of business organization. You might be able to argue that I lost the checks and don't keep good record of my finances. And, you might be right. But, I personally am attributing it to the UNIVERSE!!!! It's been told to me that the universe will provide if YOU get out of the way and let it. As all two readers of my blog know, my small but steady paycheck is about to disappear and I am on a path to find this faith. Each step I take is a crucial one in the journey. Do I panic and go find some crap job in town? Do I grow medical marijuana like every other Tom, Dick, and Jane in my valley? Or, do I walk the path of enlightenment and follow my dreams, letting the universe provide?

For today, at least, the Universe has won.

Angel of Death

My dog just murdered a baby seal. I can't believe I am even writing that--but it's true.

There we were, Baxter and I, enjoying a beautiful walk on our secluded beach after a four day trip to the hell that is Los Angeles. After about fifteen minutes of strolling down the sand, wind whipping in our faces and the sea foam spraying our feet we were both all smiles. Then it happened. My sweet little baby boy became a murderer.

First we came upon a decapitated adult seal. There's been a large shark in our area and I suspected the seal had been the latest victim. So, Baxter sniffed and poked and I tried to send it love and give the last rites, as I usually do when we come upon such sights--which is often up here in the land of the wild! Shortly we walked away, me contemplating the cycle of life and Baxter with his nose twitching in the air. Nothing abnormal. Until, a few moments later I noticed Baxter poking around something near the water's edge. I went closer and there it was...a tiny seal marooned on the rocky shore. Before I could fully comprehend what was happening Baxter had the thing in his mouth and was throwing it down on the rocks with sickening thuds. The poor little baby seal kept opening its mouth with little meep, meep, meeps and I couldn't tear my beast off of it as he crashed, thudded, stomped, and bit. When I finally got him under control the small rivers of blood in the sand and the half open eyes on the baby seal told me I was too late.

We sat in the wet sand on the edge of the sea, Baxter and I, and watched the seal pup as it struggled for a moment, gasped a few times, and then lay still. I don't know why but I felt that someone should be with the poor animal in its last moments, even if that someone is the murderer himself! Not that it must have given the seal pup any great comfort but I guess it comforted me. Gruesome, I know. I still can't quite believe that it happened. It was terribly upsetting. I still can't figure out though what this act really was. I know that Baxter is not really a murderer. He's a dog for god's sake! Dogs kill chickens and mice and all sorts of things...in this case it happened to be an innocent, baby seal ( I write with a shudder!) but to him it was just prey. But, here's my question: Was the seal pup the child of the decapitated adult? If so, it surely would have died a painful death of starvation and thirst there on the beach. And, in that case is Baxter just the vessel sent to do God's dirty work?

I took Baxter to the freshwater pond near where we parked so that he could wash away the traces of seal on his muzzle. And, we left the beach. Him, with a new sense of pride in his skill as a true hunter. Me, with a new level of respect for the speed at which the angel of death unapologetically takes on its task without remorse.