Mad at My Kennel

Each time I bring the dogs to the kennel-with-a-fancy-name the staff assures me I'll be able to reach them via email to get periodic updates about P&B's health and well-being.

They NEVER follow through.

I'm truly not a pest: I email just once a few days after I've arrived, asking for an update. That's all.

Since I'm away for 2 weeks or more at a time, and traveling halfway around the world without reliable cell phone connectivity, I want to hear some assurance that the dogs are adjusting reasonably well. And, frankly, in the era of Doggy Daycamps that send cutesy postcards home after a single afternoon's stay, I'm stunned that an enterprise would neglect a simple email exchange with a regular client paying them upwards of $600 and $800 per trip.

If they'd send me just one proactive email during my trip I would bring them presents from exotic Asian shops and recommend them to all my fellow travelers. Instead, I'm bitching about them on Christmas day and wondering if they neglect to follow through on a promised email, what ELSE are they neglecting?

Autumn Haiku 6

Garbage day
Dogs at the window

Autumn Haiku 5

Chilly morning
Labrador behind
a sliding glass door

Autumn Haiku 4

Frosty morning
Terrier tiptoes out
and in

Autumn Haiku 3

Labrador in the shrubbery
Rustling branches
Leaves unseen

The deal with the haiku

It's part of my Zen dog project (remember that?) and also just something I'm enjoying learning more about.

I'm trying to write or revise one each day (no I won't post them all) as a way to pay closer attention to my world. Also, the craft of haiku intrigues me--the discipline of stripping away verbs, of integrating seasonal references to express the connection between the moment and the natural world and its cycles of life.

Eons ago I would write "witty" haiku for my own amusement--ironic, glib stuff. Mostly awful but still fun to write.

I'm still mainly just amusing myself, but differently. I'm not yet attempting to write "good" haiku, but I'm getting a sense of the verses that satisfy me and those that don't, whether written by me or by others.