Voices in the night

Last night, I woke to the sound of a man and a woman talking, softly, in the distance.
I opened my eyes. It was very dark.
I turned to look out of the window. No one was outside.
I started making a list:
The strange and quiet couple next door? No.
The young people across the yard? No.
Joey's television? No.
My radio? No.
My alarm clock? No.
Any of the other neighbors? No.
I'm pretty sure we don't have ghosts, I reassured myself.
I listened harder.
The air conditioner? No.
Then it hit me.
I reached out and touched my cat's belly, waking her up.
The snoring stopped.

Avocation

Dog-sitting.
I just fell into it.
I dog-sit for my veterinarian and have for years.
I have my own key to their house.
And my friends have me watch their pets.
And my parents.
And people I don't know ask me about it.
And people I do know inquire for people I don't know.
And co-workers.

I don't really want to work for people I don't really know.
The vet isn't likely to sue me. I'm not licensed, bonded or insured.
I just stay in your house and take care of your pets and I don't mind picking up poop or washing nose prints off of glass doors and windows.

And I will call the veterinarian when she's at 2 a.m. Greenwich mean time to ask about medication.
And I will spoil her dogs with tidbits and peanut butter (unless their diet forbids goodies) because she isn't there to say no.

Can't say I'm jealous!

The further away I get from television and commercialism, the more I see what a terrible, mind-numbing, mass-hysteria-inducing influence the media as on the world.

I have always liked Lindsay Lohan as an actress and singer. Now she seems to be involved with another young woman and I say good for her!

What's sick is that people stand around waiting for "celebrities" to come out of their houses and follow them everywhere they go. I salute the incredible moxie it takes to deal with it day after day after day.

LiLo, as she has been dubbed, is seen almost daily with another young woman and they seem to be quite content to be together. In fact, Lindsay is radiant. Her "friend," Samantha Ronson, has grown up around celebrities and also takes it in patient stride.

Young people are so fortunate to be able to not live with the fear I deal with daily. I like to lay low, be unobtrusive, not offend anyone, do things legally, be left alone as much as possible.
I don't want my car, home, pet, lover or family violated just because someone doesn't like my natural predisposition to kiss women. I don't really want to be beat up just because Joey and I held hands or kissed in view of a violent bigot.

That kind of activity still happens. You don't hear about it much at all, but it does happen.

I see images of these two young women and I know just a few things for sure. It is healthy, it is liberating, it is empowering and it is temporary.

One of my ex-girlfriends pointed out that relationships are for a season, a reason or a lifetime.
I think that the season of LiLo and Sam has a reason, primarily giving Lindsay something good to focus on; something that makes her feel alive and non-suicidal, but it is very rare that any relationship thrives for long when the pressure on both parties is constant.

I hope Lindsay Lohan is getting everything she needs and that she emerges as a stronger person because she was in that relationship. I know that when I was a younger woman, the lesbians in my life were my only real support system, the only thing that kept my heart going and made me want to get up every day and the only reason I lived through the hardest times of my life.

Whatever is going on between them, Platonic or Sapphic, it's not my business or yours.

Be happy, young people. Grab happiness by the balls and hold on to it as long as you can.