Blue Gnome Emporium: The Story Of Kyoko And Sachi.

I started off my day this morning with a big, frothy latte..I'm a faithful tea drinker but once in a while I enjoy a nice hot cuppa joe. After working in the service industry for years a long, long time ago, I'm happy to say that I've perfected the art of making that perfect cappuccino, latte or espresso. But put me in charge of making a pot of regular coffee and it all goes to sh*t. I was gently relieved of my duties of making the studio coffee years ago when I continuously made everyone's morning a bitter hell. Since then, like my singing in the shower, I've given up and refuse to touch a conventional coffee maker. If you want black coffee in my house, you can simply add hot water to your espresso. There, done.

Another week has flown by, amazing that we're heading into May already, it seems like just the other day the local markets were filled with Valentine's chocolates piled high in their front windows. The years, as of late have been passing by faster than ever and I hear there's some scientific explanation behind it all as well as the unacceptable explanation that time just passes more quickly as we get older. I'm not a fan of that particular belief and therefore will disregard it..if you ignore it, it should go away.

My mother is flying to the east coast and will be staying with me in a few days! It's been 5 months since we last saw each other and I'm really looking forward to her company.
She's been studying aroma therapy massage and Thai massage for a number of years now and the one who benefits the most from all of her experience aside from her paying clients is Sachi. It's quite something to watch a 120lbs beast keel over onto her side and fall into a state of utter bliss as she receives a deep tissue massage with lavender essential oil. She gets the pads of her feet worked on too..the pressure points between her big, furry toes pressed and kneaded, the knots and kinks in her shoulders and hind quarters worked on..my mom gets a kick out of applying her skills on an animal..feeling her tendons and seeing where they connect to what. She'll apply light pressure on a particular spot above Sachi's knee and watch delighted as it makes Sachi's toes wiggle. After a couple of days of this, Sachi will seek out my mother in the evenings, looking for her nightly massage appointment. It's pretty rough being a dog these days..chasing squirrels, barking at the mailman, tossing and chasing that squeaky toy around the house. Out of all of us I definitely think she deserves the massages the most and my mother is quite happy to comply. They make quite a pair..and they're the two most important females in my life.

When they first met years ago, things didn't go quite as smoothly. I flew home to visit my folks in beautiful British Columbia about two weeks after Sachi came to live with me and we were still working on that small issue of house training. I'm not sure what I was thinking bringing a not-house-trained puppy into my parents gorgeous home with the spotless, dark hardwood floors..but she proceeded to squat and take a poop by their entrance hall on their lovely area rug within seconds of being let out of her travel crate. I ran through the kitchen and slid down the hallway in my socked feet just in time to catch the organic matter in my hand before it touched the rug. She was 9 weeks old. Quite the introduction..my father was not impressed. Over the course of our visit, she became oddly attached to my father who wanted very little to do with her and she followed him around the house. When he was in the basement doing his yoga stretches one day, she followed him down there, then squatted and peed beside his head on the carpet as he was practicing his downward dog. Awesome. There was a lot of yelling and talk about tearing up the entire downstairs carpeting and disinfecting the house at the time, I don't think he did either but I might be hearing more about it during the next phone call if he reads this.

A year later, my mother came to visit me and Sachi was mostly full grown and had no memory of meeting her as a pup. Akitas are well known for being protective of their 'pack' and turf but this was excessive. She barked at my mother all day long during her entire visit, following her around upstairs, downstairs, outside, inside..barking. When my mother went into the washroom, she sat outside the door not barking but smelling and loudly snorting under the closed door. When she came out..barking. It wasn't an aggressive barking, some of you may be shaking your heads right now but anyone who's owned a dog learns to tell the difference between their dogs barks. Keep in mind that this is the only voice they have and not all barking it aggressive. Dogs will bark when they're excited, happy, seeking attention or playing..in this case, it was Sachi learning about cause and affect and testing it out. When she barked, my other understandably tensed up, got up and left the room. It became a game for Sachi..she'd have brief periods of rest while she happily chewed on her toys and when she got bored, she'd get up, go find my mom and start barking. A tense visit to say the least..they disliked each other and when my mother went to bed at night, she told me later that she would pile her suitcases in front of the door so she wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night with Sachi staring at her in the dark and start barking.

They've worked out their difference since then and my mother will say once in a while over the phone in 'Japan-glish' (that means mixing Japanese and English in a sentence..) "..I miss Sachi, yo."
Last year Sachi was so excited about seeing her again, when she stood on her hind legs to kiss my mother they almost both fell of the deck. She's not a graceful girl..but when you're as awesome as she is, who needs graceful?

xo Blue Gnome