Savage Mountain Two

On the last day of my holiday, Ginger and I met Marei at the Deal PA Trail head to see the magnificent vista from the highest point on the Great Allegheny Passage - an image forever etched in my mind and a memory with so many, many meanings to me now.  

But the intent I thought was one last grand hike before the start of our non-stop, back-to-back two month tour turned out to be a ruse.  Sort of.  As we were rounding our second mile, it was time to rest and water the fuzzybutts.  The entrance to Savage Tunnel seemed an ideal place for respite but Ginger pointed out a bench under a shade canopy that was closer.  I was some twenty paces ahead of the girls and nearing the spot when I saw some of the engraving... something about dog and a 2 and some zeroes.  

"What the hell?" I was thinking, quickening my pace.  "This is MY trail.. Who... What..."  And then it came into clear sight.  

..."Who did this?  Did you know about this?"  The two tricksters had caught up with me by that time and were giggling like a coupla school girls.  

My shock and surprise was down right and absolute and I couldn't help getting choked up from the gesture.  From the depths, thank you Ginger and Marei for immortalizing our journey at such a special place!  

Postscript

Hudson awaits...

Summer of Murphy Tour Trailer and News

Tomorrow, Hudson & Indiana and I are setting out on an adventurous two month, 25 city, 6,000 mile tour in the Murphy Mobile. Watch the nearby trailer...

 

For tour dates, events, stories, and updates, the website is www.SummerofMurphy.org

The Bud Man Abides

Some say we anthropromophize our dogs because we need to believe they have a soul.  

I say, if you can't see the great spirit inside them, you aren't f*cking looking hard enough.  

My God has blessed me with that ability, to open up to that beautifully complex and unspoken companionship.  

I reflect on it today, the one year anniversary of the passing of one such great soul, Buddy Morgan, Ginger's heart dog.  

I wrote a ballad about him in which I referred to him as 'Bad Beat Buddy' because he never had it easy in life.  Not much was known of him in the early years except that he was from N'awlins LA and a Katrina rescue and that's how he came into Ginger's life.  At the time she was Executive Director of the Memphis and Shelby County Humane Society.  

Buddy was starved and had a half gnarled leg which appeared to have been tangled up in barb wire that he had to chew off to survive.  Buddy also had buckshot in his arse presumably courtesy of a farmer he had made the unfortunate mistake of trespassing on their land.  

His strife didn't end there - once rescued, Buddy was adopted out to several families in Memphis all of whom returned him for various reasons and by reasons I mean stupidities, so he became a ward of the shelter.  

Ginger ultimately adopted him as her own.  

I had the great fortune to spend time with the Bud Man in the last months of Murphy's life.  He, Hudson, and Murphy and I stayed in Ginger's living room and became known as the notorious Couch Potato Kidz, and it was then and there that I got to know him.  

Buddy had two forms of expression that I described as 'The Bud Man Abides' (inspired, of course, by my love of the Dude) and 'The Bud Man is Not Amused'.  The picture nearby personifies the latter cause he really hated when Ginger dressed him up for photo ops.  

There was no middle ground with him and I think that's what I loved best about him.  

Not too long after Ginger became a part of this our story, Buddy's left eye started bulging out and the diagnostics revealed he had a cranial tumor.  Radical surgery removed it along with his eye and part of his jaw, too.  But despite her heroic efforts, the cancer spread to his lungs in the winter of 2010 and slowly sucked the life out of him.  

After Murphy died I went on an 18 day fast in Tennessee.  Within a week of my return from my fast Buddy slumped over and passed away from congestive heart failure.  Ginger says he was waiting for me. 

I miss him deeply and absolutely, and whether you believe that to be true, I've been witness to many things most people wouldn't ever believe... 

Open up... Puppy up

Stonecrop

It's two days til Tish gets here and this morning she sent me a text from the 'Free CS Lewis Quotes', a daily App she subscribes to I suppose. Here it is:

'Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side.  God is holding back to give us that chance.  It will not last forever.  We must take it or leave it.'  

CS Lewis is significant in this our story in so, so many ways.   

Tish chose.  She chose to leave two sons, a job she has worked for 13 years and a town that she has lived in for 42 years for this cause.  

The Fuzzybutts and I were recently in Maine and we happened upon a architectural marvel pictured nearby somewhere between Cape Neddick and Ogunguit.

Stonecrop was built in the 1920s by the singular determination and vision of a woman named Grace Merrill, stone by stone, and beam by beam that she reclaimed from old barns and farms in the area.    

She's an inspiration to us all.  

Summer of Murphy Tour is ON

The Fuzzybutts and I are taking a couple of weeks off and the tour will pick back up after Labor Day in Memphis TN and here are the other 22 cities on the tour and approximate dates.  

09.06. Little Rock  AR

09.07 Denison TX

09.08 Belton TX

09.09 - 09.10 San Antonio TX

09.11-09.13. Austin TX

09.12 - Presenting at the Pet Sitter's International Conference in Austin

09.14 Albuquerque NM

09.16 - 09.21 Las Vegas NV

09.20 First Annual Puppy Up Charity Golf Tournament in Las Vegas

09.22 - 09.25 Denver CO

09.26 Garden City KS

09.28 Liberty MO

09.29 Chicago IL

10.03 Indianapolis IN

10.05 Cincinnati OH

10.07 Fairborn OH

10.08 Columbus OH

10.10 Pittsburgh PA

10.12 New Castle PA

10.13 Monessen PA for their Puppy Up Walk

10.15 Clinton NJ

10.16 Jersey City, NJ

10.18 New Milford CT

10.20 Madison CT

Stay posted here as we schedule event dates and time in each city.  

Japan. Je ne sais quoi

Why walk across Japan?  

The first most obvious reason is that cancer is pandemic and I must take our message and mission international and next year I go to do just that.  

The second reason is Japan is the most progressive society when it comes to animal rights.  When you lose a companion animal federal law mandates a day off for mourning.  Having been there before, it's more than that.  I saw the statue of Hachiko at Shibuya Station (LINK) and his story has stayed with me since even well before Malcolm first came into my life.

Japan is also a technologically advanced society and it'll be a fact finding mission for me about canine cancer as well.  What's the incidence and prevalence of cancer?  What is the exposure to environmental risks and what's the difference in diet and nutrition?  These things I shall discover.  

There are a few other reasons that, well, I'll talk about later.  

The nearby image is a picture I crudely drew in my moleskin of our next challenge, walking from the Southern most island, Kyushu, to the Northern most, Hokkaido.  From cape to cape it's roughly 2,000 miles.  

Ten Days Til Tish

Today bears some significance in this our story.  In less than a fortnight, Tish will travel to Boston to be a part of Team Fuzzybutts, setting aside a year of her life to tell this story and leave behind a family in Texas to do so.   

I had asked her to write a blog in her own words about the implications of her decision but it became too personal.  So I'm writing it in her stead... until she's ready to jump in.     

I know the feeling.  When I committed to March as our launch date 2008 some months earlier, it was pretty intense emotionally and spiritually.  And it was lonely, too.

My brothers thought I'd gone off to the loony bin and my father was sternly against it from a medical risk standpoint.  It's difficult to undo decades of being a doctor to be a dad.  The week leading up to our launch I got a call from him just about every night lecturing me about ticks, mosquitoes, and all the diseases they bear and how he wouldn't support the walk because of the dangers.  

Hell, even my oldest friend wouldn't back us even though I had put together a pretty thorough spreadsheet for success. But the hardest thing was leaving my mom who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's the year leading up to the walk. 

And yet when Hudson, Murphy and I left Walter E. Long Park March 16th, my entire family was there to see us off.  

I hope Tish's family steps up and sends her off the same way but if not, it's up to us to welcome her with open arms as making such a sacrifice does not come without controversy and internal strife.  Nothing great ever did.

The War of 2012

I spent yesterday on a cruise of the Tall Ships in Boston Harbor, which sailed here from around the world to commemorate the 200 year anniversary of the War of 1812.  It was absolutely stunning as the pics portray but it was as equally informative.

I profess a previous ignorance as to the significance of this chapter in our history but I am now enlightened.  And inspired.   (Warning this is a nerd rant.)

The war of Independence established our freedom from tyranny and oppression but the war of 1812, for the first time, defended it.    And it all had to do with the open seas.  Back then our survival as a new nation depended on international mercantilism, the inflow and outflow of people and technology, something that the UK took exception to.

They didn't beat us the first time so they thought they could put a stranglehold on us by regulating maritime commerce.  Basically, they tried to beat the sh*t out of us into submission by sinking our ships.

It didn't work and we did not submit.

This history lesson has inspired me that although we were founded by people who took risks, though sadly we are now governed by those who only mitigate them.  The vast majority of legislators today are lawyers who create laws to justify their space in office and ill equipped to defend us against the greatest modern threat.  

Let me be clear, we are still at war though the threat isn't from cannon fire or fodder, it's cancer.  Cancer is the sum of all of our fears; it's global and is no contender of age, ethnicity, gender, or species and it's time for us to collectively work to eradicate it.  

Murphy San ミッスタ ー マーフィー

ミッスタ ー マーフィー

I host a monthly Meetup Group, Sushi.Boston, with over 80 members and this past Thursday was a special event at Stephanie's house in honor of the companions we have recently lost.  

On the menu was a Lily blossom - a tempura onion (like an Awesome blossom) with sushi rice, spicy ranch and a pan seared scallop on top.  The inspiration for this dish was when, we first met her on a walk at Shelby Forest in Memphis, I picked a water lily blossom for her.  Lily passed away last week after a long battle with cancer.  

Next on the menu was Sunny Side.  Whenever I make sushi I'm always thinking about different ways of doing things.  We lost Sunny last week as well and aside from her beautiful spirit, her most striking feature was two different colored eyes.  So in honor of her, I made a Hamachi (Yellowtail) and Maguro (Bluefin) sushi with a single cucumber spear and a Wasabi rice cracker with tobiko on top.  

And since it was also the anniversary of my boy's passing last week, on the menu was Murphy san sushi sammich - pictured top and left.  Many of you know about his notorious sammich from previous posts.  I topped a near burnt tortilla brushed with hot chili oil with red scallions, tobiko filled avocados, cucumbers, and tuna dressed with my special spicy soy sesame mayo sauce, a recipe that would've made him proud.  

From my limited understanding of the Japanese culture, they try to balance beauty and sadness in everything they do.  It feels like lifetimes ago when I wrote a blog when Murphy was still with us (LINK) about an untranslatable expression 'Mono no aware'.  

Even, after my darkest hours have receded, it guides me still.  

Dividing By Zero

I was attempting to consolidate my blogs on Blogger.com last week and in the process I deleted myself from them which in any normal, rational, logical world would be seemingly impossible.  Since, after all, I started the blogs in the first place. 

And yet I found myself in an insane version of Descartes theorem 'Cogito Ergo Sum'. In reverse and in binary.  

How can one delete their own thoughts? And yet I almost did.  And the scary thing is four years of this our story were almost tragically lost.  

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for technology and it sometimes serves a purpose.  But does it truly serve our purpose?

I could write an entire book about how many times I tried to use Twitter to keep everyone involved   and informed on our walk from Austin to Boston but it failed almost everytime.  Granted it was a relatively new technology in 2009 but, for example, when we were trying to build excitement for crossing the Purple People Bridge into Cincinnati, I'd been uploading photos leading up to it that didn't even get posted until hours after the event and in reverse order. 

This isn't just a Twitter rant - it's regrettable that all new technology companies think they can come up with the next novel idea, give it away for free, and take it viral.  And when and if it does they offer no support to the users as once they've duped you into using it their money comes from advertisers even though the ad dollars are based on you.  

It's a failed model and to prove it to yourself - take out your iPhone, open up the calculator app and divide any number by zero.  

Murphy's Memorial Video

This Memorial video honoring the first anniversary of Murphy's passing I'm reposting for a few reasons.  When I first posted the link I couldn't type anything other than the link because I couldn't see through my tears.  

The director of this video, Deana Wehr, who we were destined to meet walking through Bowling Green KY, the city of the White Squirrel, did such a beautiful job of portraying my boy.  Her artistry and passion for animals are an inspiration.  Please take a moment out of your day to thank her for this video.    

I've had a lot of questions about the song choices.  

1.  I have a long, long history with Gulf Coast Highway the duet of Emmylou Harris and Willy Nelson and it was trail magic and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream of mine that our paths would cross with her one day.  And that she spent an afternoon with Murphy, it was written in the sands of time.

2. Hudson's always been the hugger and dancer that Murphy never was.  There's an Ellen DeG story in there somewhere, but on 'Dance' night at Mommy G's house shortly before he was given rest it was all about Murphy.  She played this song by Garth Brooks and as soon she and Hudson took to the dance floor Murphy cut in.  It was his night.  

I'd never heard that song before nor had Mommy G and it came for us from Michelle and Ramsey on the night I posted on facebook the question of when you go what song will you go to.  

3. Wynonna wasn't an easy choice for the final track.  Heck another country song was the last thing I wanted cause it'd be too obvious given my Texas roots.  But I sang this song to Malcolm twice - before limb amputation and on the way to his final rest.  That Murphy was my last living connection to Malcolm it couldn't have been more fitting.  

Postscript:  out of the tens of thousands of photos of Murphy it was exceedingly tough to select only 150 for the video.  Disinclusion was harder still and I apologize for those who were.  The pics are in the archives and not forgotten.  

This Our Story

When we were still walking through Texas there was a journalist of national repute who wanted to help tell our story.  It would have been an auspicious opportunity but at a cost of thousands of dollars per month in consulting fees and with only a couple of hundred bucks in my pocket at the time, it wasn't tenable so I figured we'd just have to bide our time. 

Four years later, there have been countless other offers to tell this tale that in of themselves could justify a book alone.  

After the final mile I headed out to Colorado Springs to work with Ed on the book. It was supposed to be simple. Man loses dog to cancer. Man and 2 dogs defy odds and walk 2300 miles over 826 days.  That was the story. 

But I was soon to learn that that was only Chapter One.  

Even still, Ed and I worked tirelessy on a book proposal.  Christian publishing houses were all over the story because it was alot about my own personal struggle with faith and belief in God.  But they didn't like my, umm, use of descriptive language.  Like F*ck Cancer.  And Chapter titles like 'Arc Goddamnit' when I danced around a campfire naked outside of Hancock MD (oddly ironic, the town name, now that I think about it). Or my euphemism for when we were in a pickle. Pickle.   

It became clear the Christian market was no place for our saga as there was no way I was going to compromise it or sanitize it for them.    

So we presented the manuscript to other publishing houses with understandably mixed results.  Though their initial rejections were heartbreaking, I didn't need them to tell me something I already knew.  It was unfinished.  I knew that the moment Murphy was diagnosed.     

Even though our manuscript got turned down and 2011 saw multi-million dollar book deals for Snooki and Sarah Palin's kid and the sort, it's what had to happen.

The three act play is ingrained in human nature from Shakespeare to Puccini to Aaron Sorkin.  I could've gotten a ghost writer to tell this story but then it wouldn't have been ours.  It'd been reduced down to a simple formula, packaged, and sold off cheaply.  That is something I can never permit.

But I've bided my time and learned a few things along the way.  How you tell a story is as important as the story itself.  And I've learned that I can no longer tell it by myself.  

So in three weeks time, Tish is moving to Boston and giving up a year of her life to help me tell this, our story. And tell it right.  

Inflection Point

For the first time in a long time, I had a really good day Friday, on Murphy's Day. Walking the final mile again; the beauty of Back Bay Fens and the Emerald Necklace, walking through the Rose and Victory Gardens, down Commonwealth Ave to the Common, it felt so good.  

Then afterwards we went up to Essex for fried seafood and clam cakes at Woodman's with the kids. Murphy was always a passionate eater - he would've been proud.  Later that nite when it was just me and my thoughts I thought I'd write a serious and deeply reflective blog but instead I kept watching that Three Amigos clip and laughing. 

In differential calculus, an inflection point is a point on a curve at which the curvature or concavity changes sign from plus to minus or from minus to plus.

I do not know yet whether it was that so many monumental events took place last week and that put things into perspective or I've finally taken the turn since losing Murphy.  Time will tell.

What I do know is that I found my voice again.  There have been fits and starts, moments of profound sadness and then extreme exaltation and all of the silence in between.  

Heh.  If you look at my dashboard here I have as many drafts, perhaps more, on this blog as I do posts. 

A lot of you have asked, 'Why haven't you published your book yet?' and that's a fair question that I'll answer in my next blog.

For now, I'm just deeply grateful.  For Malcolm. For Murphy. For the Mission.  For Fuzzybutts 3 and 4. For being blessed with our adventures past and future. And for you for having the courage to keep the Faith.  

In Famous

This past week we saw Indy's birthday party on the 16th, Father's Day on the 17th, the 2nd anniversary of the Final Mile in Boston on the 19th, the Toyota competition on the 20th, and today one year since Murphy was given rest.  

What an exhausting roller coaster of emotions week it's been.  

But will it be remembered as infamous or in famous? Reminds me of a scene from the Three Amigos.  

I started to write a serious blog tonite but I don't think he really wanted me to.  Murphy never took things too seriously (xcpt for food and pyr paw and snuggle snuggles). 

Like the DH Lawrence poem, Murphy was a wild thing, never sorry for himself.  

That we didn't win the Toyota competition was disappointing but we've crossed this bridge before countless of times on our travels.  Having faith is momentary.  Keeping it isn't.  

The Summer of Murphy Tour starts in September and as it stands will include the following states: Arkansas, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

In the spirit of Murphy, it'll be a celebratory tour thanking all of our supporters, making new friends, and showing the world that cancer will never keep us down.  There's much much more in store and we'll post exact dates and cities in the coming weeks.

Maybe we should call it Murphy's In Famous Tour?

We Got Beat

Team Fuzzybutt lost the 100 Cars for Good competition and I'd like to share a few thoughts about the experience.  

1. Thank you to all of our friends and supporters who took extraordinary efforts to take us over the top and that we didn't reach it is by no means a loss.  All of us who have been touched by cancer have been beat down but we learn to get up again and fight so long as god may grant us the strength to do so.  

2. I want to thank Toyota for their tremendous and generous philanthropic program.  They are a thought leader for other corporations around the world to emulate and to show how to step up to help small non-profits who are trying to make a difference.  

3. Our warmest congratulations go out to the Central Aroostook Humane Society on winning the competition.  Since I have volunteered at dozens of animal shelters on our travels I have witnessed first hand the rampant problem of pet overpopulation and abuse. However...

4.  As well planned and orchestrated the competition was, it's unfortunate that Toyota pitted our two organizations against each other.  They say that a couple of million dogs are euthanized every year due to owner neglect but at least twice that are diagnosed with cancer.  But statistics don't matter.  We share a common enemy. 

2 Million Dogs recently funded a $50,000 study that took mammary tumors from shelter dogs at the University of Pennsylvania to analyze their DNA and try and understand how breast cancer metastasizes in women.  

It's a model that speaks to the fact that our mission and that of humane societies across the country are not mutually exclusive and I hope we can all do a better job of collaborating against the worst epidemic facing companion animals and people.  

5. Although I'm licking my wounds - and the fuzzybutts are just licking themselves - in the interest of good sportsmanship, I'll be sending Aroostook a picture of Murphy, after whom the Toyota was to be named. Use it well.  

6.  Now, I've gotta go.  I have a Dachshund to kill, make Indy eat a rat, and plan for Murphy's 1 year tomorrow. 

Cancer Can't Keep a Good Dog Down 

Keep the Faith & Puppy Up!

Still, Murphy Smiles

http://vimeo.com/44286670

A Father's Fathers Day Wish

Late December 2010 when it became evident that Murphy's initial course of radiation had not only failed but a new tumor, a sarcoma, had developed I knew his time was running out.  And even though I made the hard decision for a radical second round of radiation, my mind was already planning one final farewell tour:  To the cities we had not walked through and for those who hadn't met Murphy and witnessed his indomitable spirit.  

The handful of my confidants, who were in on the early discussions about the tour, were resoundingly against it for they feared the stress would compromise his already battered body.  Although I fought fiercely for it, within a few weeks his health deteriorated and I knew they were right and the tour was canceled.  

Almost equally painful than resigning yourself to the inevitability of losing your child and the absolute sense of helplessness was the sad realization that Murphy would never directly touch lives like the thousands he had on our walk.  

I saved this blog for Father's Day because as a father you do everything you can to save the life of your child and when that fails you do everything you can to carry their memory and beauty forward.  

On the eve of the first anniversary of his passing, we have the possibility of fulfilling that dream.  We are planning a 20 city Summer of Murphy tour and the Toyota 100 Cars for Good has given us the chance to realize it.  

The Murphy Mobile, as it will be christened, will be a beacon of hope and belief at every stop it makes for everyone and anyone who has been touched by cancer.  It'll be both a place of celebration and remembrance and a reminder that our work is not done.  

I wish I could have saved my boy.  I wish I could bring him back.  But I hope and pray I can keep his legacy alive. This is my Father's Day wish.

And to do so, I need your help.  Please vote for 2 Million Dogs to win a Murphy Mobile. Even though voting doesn't begin until 10AM EST on the 20th, right now you can go to www.100carsforgood.com, type 2 Million Dogs in the search box and click on 'Remind Me' and an email reminder will be sent to you.

Keep the Faith, Puppy Up, & Happy Father's day.  

Indiana's First B-Day Party

When: Saturday 16th 3ish - 5ish

Where: Blue Hills Reservation -  Nahanton Hill Scenic Overlook.  The hike is about 1/2 mile up onto a plateau of rocks that have an awesome sweeping vista of Boston.

I plan on arriving early to grill up some tapas for the picnic.

What to Bring:  I have it on the highest authority that what lil' Indy really needs for his bday is a Sea Ray 350 Sundancer Sports Cruiser with a T-MerCruiser 8.2 MAG ECT Bravo III 375 hp Sterndrive.   

Or 20 bags of Nature's Variety Raw Boost Bite treats, two dozen of their split beef knuckles (for the knucklehead), and a can of worms (just in case).

Or just bring yourself and your puppers for a ton of fun at one of Boston's most stunningly beautiful parks.  If you haven't already RSVP'd - send me an email at 2dogs2000miles@gmail.com.  

Weather Contingency:  Looks like it'll be a gorgeous day but in the event of rain, we'll still meet at the Scenic Overlook then take our party to one of the nearby pavilions.  

Jumping Off Cliffs

I was a big fan of Ray Bradbury growing up and his books The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451 influenced me as a precocious and scientifically curious young lad.  I recently learned of his death while listening to NPR and the segment reminded me of how much he believed in the human spirit and our propensity to achieve greatness and goodness.  

It reminded me of one of his most inspirational quotes, "Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down."  It was one of several that would shape my life and instill in me the conviction that an ordinary person could pull off the seemingly impossible.  

What saddens me most, perhaps, about Bradbury's passing is that I fear there's a paucity of successors who will carry his hopes, dreams, and preternatural prescience forward.  

I highly recommend listening to the NPR segment on Bradbury.  And if you don't, I sure as hell hope it's because you're jumping off a cliff...

Reflections of a Colonoscopy

As some of you know I had my first colonoscopy yesterday and although I am only 41, I have a familial history of colon cancer and early screening can often determine the difference between life and death.  Colorectal cancer ranks second or third in total annual cancer related deaths in the U.S depending on the source and it's very serious.

This blog isn't.

But it's a blow-by-blow (please pardon all puns herein - intended or otherwise) account of my experience.

May 31 2012. 7 PM.  Magnesium Citrate first dose.  The protocol for the procedure at the Endoscopy center where it was conducted called for two - 15 ounce doses one the day prior and one the morning of.  The label of the 'MagC' as it's commonly known as, says it's a 'Pasteurized Sparkling Saline Laxative'.

I want to personally meet the marketing knucklehead who came up with that tag line.  It's as though they wanted me to envision myself enjoying a glass of Pouilly Fuisse on the Champs Elysees.  The bottle actually has a pic of a lemon on it.

I wouldn't criticize said marketing knucklehead for irresponsible labeling or anything of that sort.  Rather they've missed a unique opportunity to cross-brand or strategerize a marketing synergy or whatever.  Think of a vodka based cocktail:

Magnesium Citratini.  Nip and Purge.  No doubt any one of the other desperate real housewives who like to get drunk and lose weight at the same time will pounce on this opportunity.

JELLO. The only 'solid' food I could have the day prior and I kept hearing Bill Cosby saying "If you have a colon, the first thing you need to do is eat JELLO".  Oh Jeez, it's going to be a long night.

June 1 2012. 1 AM - 2 AM.  Sleep.  "When I woke up this morning my girlfriend asked me, 'Did you sleep good?' I said 'No, I made a few mistakes'." - Steven Wright.  

An hour's sleep is all I got prior to the procedure and it wasn't restful.  It was like I was caught in a collaborative short film by Woody Allen and Tim Burton.  I dreamt I was running through a cheap looking rubbery synthetic colon lined with attacking polyps.

June 1 2012.  7 AM - 8 AM.  Traffic.  The morning drive from Winthrop to Wellesley was hellacious  and during it I added a new phrase to my medical diction.  "Angry Bowels".

June 1 2012. 9 AM.  The procedure.  Hmm... I won't go there.  

Postscripts 1.  The physician removed a 'suspicious' polyp.  The image I got in my head was a camo-fatigue clad polyp with a Beret sporting a goatee smoking Clove cigarettes.  Course I was hopped up on Fentanyl and Versed at the time.

Postscripts 2.  Casting for a spin off of Jersey Shores has begun now that we have Toomey and Paulie.

Postscripts 3. 'Paulie' is being biopsied but the likelihood of him being malignant (unlike the other Pauly) is minimal since we caught it early.  

Postscripts 4.  Two words - Sympathy sushi.

Upcoming Events

Meet the NoToRIouZ Fuzzybutts at the following Upcoming Events

June 3rd 2012 Potter League Animal Shelter's Heart and Sole Walk.  The walk starts at noon and we'll arrive shortly before that.  The folks at Potter League were very helpful to us when we walked through Rhode Island and if you'd like to donate to the shelter on behalf of 2 Dogs 2000 Miles click here for the fundraiser page.

June 10th 2012 Canine Wellness Fair with the Dogs Scouts of America Troop 188 at the Agri-Science wing of Ledyard High School in Ledyard Connecticut.  We'll be there from 10AM til 2PM at the 2 Million Dogs booth.

June 16th 2012 Indiana's Birthday Party.  Come join us at Blue Hills Reservation for an afternoon of hiking, eating, and celebrating Moose's first.  If the weather permits we'll hike up Nahantan Hill to the scenic overlook of Boston otherwise we'll find a pavilion there.  I'll post more details as they materialize.

Memphis

I wish I had a really cool expression for Memphis like in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now... "Saigon.  Shit."  

It's a strange place for me; it's a city much defined in our story by defiance, redemption, and salvation and yet it will always be the capital of my absolute sadness.   

It's where everyone said there was no possible way Hudson, Murphy and I could cross the mighty Mississippi River but we did.  

It's where Murphy was given final rest.  It's where I fasted for 18 days in almost unendurable conditions then lost another mate to cancer, the incomparable Bud Man.  

It's a city that could have broken me many times over. 

But to use an expression from a John Donne poem, Memphis will always be a fixed foot for us and that's because of Mommy G.

Returning to Memphis for the first time was filled with mixed emotions but I did so because it was Ginger's inaugural Puppy Up Walk and there was no way the fuzzybutts and I were not going to be there to support her.  

And as soon as we arrived much to her surprise, she put us to work.  Scripting and shooting the Toyota video was one our top priorities there but her Pete's Pink Garden which I started last year was way up on the list, too.  

I built a raised bed for her and moved two yards of dirt, stripped her side yard of scrub brush and a Holly tree.  Mostly.  I hacked and hacked away at it with machete and chainsaw but like all of the Hollys I've dated in my lifetime, it was just too damn stubborn and got the better of me.

But it wasn't all work while we were there.  We went to Trolley Night - a curious celebration of Memphis Mass transit even though the Riverfront car we wanted to take on trolley night never actually arrived.  

I don't remember why knucklehead is sporting a jesters hat or where that fits into the story here - just like this red penguin. Who took that pic?  Must be a metaphor. 

We also had us some fine Memphis style ribs at Central BBQ with several of the out-of-towners who traveled many, many miles to participate in Memphis' first Puppy Up walk.  

Let's see.  On the left that's Pamela (w/Shaughnessy) and Jesse (camera guy), Hope, Dawn and husband, John (right), Sheila, Ginger, and Jeri.  

That's only some of the people from 11 states who showed up for the inaugural event.  Ginger draws the finest crowd.  

It was a good day and amidst the miasma of emotions from all of us who have lost and suffered and still grieve, it was impossible not to feel the undercurrent of hope and belief. 

Nicely done, kiddo.  You make us proud

Recipe: Tex-Mex Bangers and Mash

I bought a pound of some very exceptional chourico (chorizo if you're from the Gulf) sausage from a Portuguese butchery in Orient Heights for a different take on the Irish version of 'meat and potatoes'.  

1. Fry the sausage in hot chili oil (or olive oil with whatever heat you have on hand) with roasted garlic and cilantro.  

2. Boil and mash the potatoes.

3. The Sauce.  Mayo + Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce + lime + onion powder + garlic salt.  Adjust proportions to your palate but the tanginess from the mayo and smokiness from the chipotle sauce should balance.  Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.  

4. Serve.  I made this for lunch when I had about 30 minutes and rolled the bangers and mash up in a tortilla but I'll probably come up with a more elegant delivery system at some point in our travels. 

2 Million Dogs Finalist in 100 Cars for Good

Over the past month we've had a stricket (as Hudsy says) project going on and boy was it tough to keep it that way.  We had hoped to make the announcement next week but the competition went live Monday and people are finding out.  

While we were in Memphis it was a tremendous honor and privilege to script, storyboard, produce and edit this beautiful video. Thanks to Jesse Muniz, our cameraman, for his discerning eye and taking two weeks of his time to help the cause.

Erich will post here about the details of the competition but I wanted to be the first to share the video.  Thank you to Toyota for selecting 2 Million Dogs as a finalist in 100 Cars for Good and thanks also to everyone who participated and contributed.  Puppy Up!

For some reason the youtube video is clipping so here's the direct link.  Please share and vote on June 20th  - YouTube Video

Bobbye Robinson

Coming off from a couple of weeks with Ginger, I wasn't sure whether I wanted to write, in the spirit of Mother's Day, about her as the original 'Mommy' to the Notorious Fuzzybutts; or her inaugural Puppy Up! walk in Memphis; or what it was like to return to that place for the first time since I said goodbye to Murphy.  

Then I realized I've only spoken of my own mother in brevity here and she deserves a lot more than that since she, in large part, made me the man I am. 

Bobbye Robinson was born to Robert Kraft and Doris Allen, a smallish woman who was given the sobriquet 'Big Momma' which I can only assume so from tales about her fierce ability to wield a skillet, take a broom to an ornery bull, and wring a chicken's neck without flinching.  

Mom grew up in their modest farm in Winnfield LA, a town whose sole distinction is the birthplace of Huey P Long, a fascinating man who was the American dictator who never was.  According to T Harry Williams's account, Huey was the only man FDR was afraid of.  If you're into history - read his book.  

I only mention this because my mother was a woman who lived by, and given the opportunity, probably would have died by her political convictions as Huey Long did.  

But family and her faith trumped politics and it was from my mother I learned about God's grace.  My mother gave far more than she ever got but that never stopped her from giving.  And not just to our family. 

To the best of my knowledge she is still the only woman named 'Man of the Year' by the Belton Chamber of Commerce because of her contributions towards economic development in central Texas. 

I've privately written that I got the brains for the walk from my father, the heart from my mother, and the balls - well that's all me. 

But in truth, my mom had them all.  

Happy Mother's Day.

Monkey Wrench No. 1

2 Dogs 2000 Miles Asia is off to an inauspicious start. My feasibility team and I have hit the proverbial bump in the road. Or swell in the ocean. The problem is transport. 

How do the fuzzybutts and I cross the 5,800 mile expanse of the Pacific Ocean to Japan? By plane it's a 14 hour flight from LAX to Narita which would be easy but there is absolutely no way my boys will be stowed like luggage in some cargo hold all alone. 

How about a boat then? I love to be on the open seas but as we have recently learned, none of the cruise ships permit pets on board which to me seems particularly odd since travel and leisure with a companion seem to go hand in hand. Even if said companion is of the fuzzybutt kind. 

On to Plan C. Freighters. Believe it or not, you can actually catch a ride on one of those big container ships to pretty much anywhere around the world and the accommodations are better than the luxury liners. Just not with your dog. 

I haven't figured out yet whether it's a legal issue or silly superstition why there doesn't seem to be any poop on the poop deck but the term sea dog has a whole new irony to me. 

But I am a man unperturbed by such roadblocks. A Marine I met on the Great Allegheny Passage who was training for the AT put it perfectly, "Impossible only describes a degree of difficulty". 

We will find a way.

Of Glory In the Flower

"What though the radiance which was once so bright.  Be now for ever taken from my sight, Though nothing can bring back the hour.  Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower" 

Over the past few weeks some dear, dear dogs that I have met during our travels have either been diagnosed with cancer or passed from its singular determination. Wordsworth's poem somehow seems particularly poignant tonite.

Recipe: New England Naughty Hog

I'm well known for my breakfast tacos but the other morning I didn't have tortillas, cream cheese or even refried beans so I was stuck with a six pack of Portuguese sweet bread buns I had purchased at a Somerville bodega, a pound of pork, and a pint of French onion dip. 

And thus the New England Naughty Hog was born.  Here's how you make one.

Fry up 2 strips (or four for the more adventurous and cardiac unclogged) and in the bacon grease, cook a cup of diced potatoes.  I seasoned them with Thyme to add a hint of sweetness.  In the opened bun, my base layer is a couple of slices of maple syrup ham, topped with the home fries, then the bacon and a handful of cheese.  Try pepper jack for a little kick to it.  Broil it til brown and the cheese has melted then slather the other face with the French onion dip.  Don't be stingy - the sauce really makes the sammich.  

If you want the breakfast version, which I've made a few times, throw some scramby eggs in the mix - which I make with sour cream.  

As one of the first to try my latest concoction said, "It just feels good to eat it".  

And ironically and unintentionally, I happened to publish it today.

April Fools

We've played some pretty great pranks on our travels but last nite we punk'd the ultimate: Mommy G.

It's Ginger's first Puppy Up Walk in Memphis on the 29th and with all of the projects I'm managing it was impossible for me travel from Boston for it. But unbeknownst to her, the fuzzybutts and I have been secretly planning otherwise and Sunday we loaded up in a mini van, er man van I mean, and drove 1,300 miles to Tennessee.

I didn't think we'd pull it off. As some of you know, it's exceedingly difficult to get anything by her. But when we showed up at her door at 10pm Monday nite and scared the hell outta her - ah, sweet success! Mommy G got punk'd!

For the next two weeks, we'll be here helping her out as she did for us the moment we met her walking through Memphis in August 2008 and every day since. Puppy Up Memphis!