Mi dear likkle Yaso.

He showed up in Ridge the day before I did. Three long hours of throwing up in the car, this was one of the skinniest little pups I'd seen in a long while. Yet he was "right here", as his name says, in Ridge.

He spent his first nights curled up with Katie P. and a book on the veranda out front. I got to teach him how to fetch, which involved a lot of lap loving and little throwing, but he did learn. He also learned to pick up shoes as any puppy does, even more to run when Anna went for a shoe, a broom, or really anything. When Christopher came Yaso initially hid from him, but snuck in that same night to sleep under Christopher's bed. In but a few days he'd made a month-long friend and adventure buddy.

Photo by Christopher Kemp

 After the first day of reading camp Yaso crawled into my lap and promptly fell asleep. It was the cutest thing. Hours of scavengering and kids did him right in. Then of course he learned to spend hours a day in his ab lounger in the gazebo, a very nice setup for one happy puppy. As he grew, he ventured to take on more than the cat, going playing with JT too. While JT looked fierce I'm not sure he ever hurt him.

Photo by Christopher Kemp

I'll never forget the night Yaso snuck in under the dining table at dinner and then made his presence known when he saw the other dog who mysteriously looked a lot like him and barked at the same time. Over and over again. At some point he started stealing shoes. A new round of visitors meant not only a new round of love, but also new unsuspecting shoes to steal and chew. Angela and Alyssa not only petted him at the dinner table but would pull him right up into their laps, red dirt and all. Reading Camp provided lots of space and trash and good stuff to chew. Meghan and Chris were witnesses to the stampeding loose cow and Yaso's valient attempts to big dog bark it away. From behind my legs of course. They, with Randy, witnessed the trial and errors of Yaso's first attempts to be chained as well. With perseverence, such a task was finally accomplished, but came with many a puppy whine whenever someone would walk away. Yaso always made the craziest noises. But he always had a wagging tail to greet you, no matter where you were, and likely a paw of red dirt too.

It these things that I'll remember. Not the events of the past night and my experience of another Jamaican induction and losing a dog to poison. There's no need to taint the picture of the way he lived by telling you the details of how he died.


The important thing is that he was loved and gave love his entire life. In Anna's words, "He got a lot of loving from a whole heap of people this summer and gave them many a smile too."

Photo by Christopher Kemp!

He led a good life. A life full of love and adventure. And lots of likkle scavengering. While it hurts in this moment, I'll be forever thankful he was a part of my time here in Jamaica. 

Life is precious, my friends. So love and love and even when you don't feel like it, love some more.