Georgie puppy here. I am under the care of Uncle James again, for the whole week. Momma comes home Friday, then she leaves me again, next Monday, for another week...

Uncle James says, "this is good for your Oedipal development, George. Momma will be gone. You will be initiated into the way of the male!' 

Uncle James also says, “Finally, I got a legitimate job. I am a professional dog watcher now. “

It seems that some serious sibling rivalry and rancor is involved with this situation. Uncle went up to Maine to visit his sister S, who hates me, for a film festival, but he had to come home early to take care of me. Uncle says S is mad at momma, for depriving her of Uncle’s company for the entire festival, which runs all this week. Momma was willing to put me in a ‘kennel’ with other puppies  for the week, but Uncle said, “No! I will not have my nephew in such a place.”

I don't think a boy could ask for a better uncle! 

So he is here now, and taking wonderful care of me, walking me in this horrible heat til I am exhausted and dehydrated and “no longer much of a nuisance anymore, flopped out on the floor panting, ha!” as uncle teases. He gives me treats when I get my energy up to bug him. Basically I am eating and walking and sleeping , and having good number two’s, and of course learning from Uncle the way of the Monkey.

~

“Yknow, Georgie, I made a hell of a sacrifice to come stay with you,” Uncle said.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yes. I was up in hippie heaven, watching cool movies, rubbing shoulders with stars like Karen Black and Karen Young, two delightful actresses. Also bonding with my sister S. And her husband Bobby. It was cut short, so I could come stay with you!”

“Well, thanks!” I said. I have had bad experiences with his bitch sister S. And that white haired guy who smacks me when I sniff his balls. They really do not understand that dogs are people too. Momma never sticks up for me when they are here, she just serves them yummy food that I cannot get anywhere near cuz I don’t wanna be abused and beaten. The white haired guy says, “Dogs need discipline, and must know their place, which is below us.” I have dreamed of biting off his penis, and doing other things to him that are like from the violent sexy movies Uncle watches on Momma’s big hdtv.

“A dog must know his place, Georgie,” Uncle says. “That is what some people think.”

“That makes no sense to me, Uncle. You say you want to ‘humanize’ me, make me conversant with Monkey ways. I sense a..uh..disconnect, here. “

“I am an animal lover. Always have been. So has your Momma.”

“And her bitch sister? Not ?”

“Georgie, stop using that word. “

‘’What word?”

“Bitch!”

“Ok.”

'Especially when you speak of your aunt S. She is a great woman,though not an animal lover.''

"Why not?"

"I dunno. She is also a vegan.'

"oh god. how can she manage without meat?"

"Well she does. she serves damn good food. Really!"

"mm.ok" 

“Georgie, just between you and me, I consider our time together a blessing. Not just because I am actually doing what we Monkeys call ‘real work’, but because you are easy to be around, most of the time, though I did not appreciate your eating my Alan Watts book.”

“Well, I read it before I ate it.”

“good, good, but why the fuck did you have to eat it?”

“Cuz you weren’t paying attention to me. It was an impulse.”

“DON’T EAT MY BOOKS!”

“Oh, ok…now..what did he say about ‘evil’?”

“You read the book, you tell me!”

I can read Monkey books, and understand them sort of, with help from uncle, but then the knowledge fades.

I said, “Um..he says good and evil are relative. He says that they contribute to a mutual harmony. Like dark and light. He says…” I had to think very hard , but then I remembered: “it is fear, insecurity, and pride! But that can be corrected in a , uh, unitive consciousness? A …way to see that to consider them relative is not, not, not to consider them ‘valueless’” I was regurgitating stuff that I barely understood, probably because I was not yet in the ‘supreme identity’ Mr watts speaks of. Connected to the infinite. I am still relative. I am a relative puppy dog. But uncle is not relative. Well, he is and he isn’t. it is so damn confusing. Maybe, just maybe, that is why I ate the book?

“ah, you are a smart boy.”

I gave him 15 kisses and flopped out at his feet.