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.

Tropical Storm. Tropical Hurricane. Tropical Depression. Tropical What??

Sure, I lived on the East Coast for a few years, but I remain a West Coast girl through and through. I know how to deal with earthquakes. I went through years of earthquake drills in school after all and I'm California born, not quite bred. I've experienced my share of them. Hurricanes. Tropical Humanahhumanuh. That's another story.

Do you check the weather everyday? I now check the National Hurricane Center website often enough for Brooke to make funny of me. And what she doesn't know is that I've checked that bookmarked page even more since she's been gone. It's this mystery of the unknown that draws me to it. I don't know how to prepare, what to expect, or how I'll know something tropical is here otherwise.

For instance when I awoke this morning to a sky full of gray and wet, I probably would have thought "Oh, we're having a rainy day." Instead I acknowledged that the 50% Chance of Tropical Cyclone orange big bubble is upon us. We're to "expect heavy rainfall for the next few days and be aware of life threatening flash floods and mud slides . . . especially in the mountainous regions." Not quite the type of Oregon sunshine rain I'm used to, and not just a typical morning in Jamaica.

I tell myself there's logic to it. I don't watch the news here, no TV, and I don't listen to the radio. I suppose if somebody had an announcement playing on a big set of those tower speakers down the hill rather than the reggae remix of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You", I might catch it. Maybe. We're pretty isolated on the mountain. Everyone keeps reassuring me I'll have time to board up my windows, buy canned food, and fix up the generator Anna and I share before anything would ever hit. Um, okay?

Welcome to Jamaica. The land of no worries.


Truth is there's no logic to the feelings of worry and stress that comes from checking the NHC. My knowledge of today's radar for the Atlantic--that Igor, Julia, and a 40% chance are out there--does little to change my actions of the day because they're still just a possibility---and what drastic change am I going to make with a lot of rain? In fact, remember Gaston of a few weeks back? Yeah, most don't. Well, he was headed our way too, even got inside of the islands . . . and lasted just long enough for me to get a little worked up and start buying canned goods before going completely away, no harm done.

Lesson of the story is one we've all heard before. You can't stress and worry about what's to come. God designed these tropical phenoms after all. He's not going to let me down now, not even for a Tropical _______. And besides, He did promise never to flood the earth again.  :) He'll prepare me in ways far greater for what's to come than the NHC ever will.

The closeted rain coat, 4WD vehicle and a sturdier pair of flipflops will be coming with me to the clinic today. And who knows, maybe this is His way of cutting down my caseload and managing the schedule for the new grad running the show!