Chris's Diary: Missing you
May 10th 2010 05:34
Lamma Island
Dear Scratchy and Daisy,
As you may have noticed, in your occasional waking moments over the past two days, I am not there to feed you and hug you and yell at you when you whine outside the bedroom door at 6am.
I am not there because I am in Hong Kong. In fact, I am on Lamma Island, just south of Hong Kong Island. Lamma, unlike most of the rest of Hong Kong, is sparsely populated and covered in jungle. There is little concrete, no cars and just one village, where the people get around on foot or on bicycles.
Lamma Island, my darling greyhounds, is important because, during the time I live here, in what feels like another life, I saw, for the first time, a greyhound.
It was at a fair at what is known as the Lamma Back Beach. It was crowded with people and stalls and music. And it was hot. It was the middle of summer and the temperature was set at Roast and the humidity was set at Niagara Falls. I wanted only to be inside somewhere cuddling an air-conditioner, but it is the duty of a parent to suffer for his children.
So we went to Lamma Back Beach and the kids disappeared to find fun and bad food and I looked about for shade. I found it, along with a convenient flat rock, under a large tree. There were quite a few parents under that tree, all looking pale and wet, breathing in short, laboured pants, and talking in short sentences to conserve energy.
Also in there, stetched out in the cool sand alongside the rock, was a greyhound. And I was lucky enough to be able to sit down next to him. And over the next hour or so get to know him.
I had never met a gentler creature, but then of course I had never before met a greyhound. I also met his owner, who told me a lot about the breed. In that hour, a seed was planted.
So, my dear Scratchy and Daisy, I'm missing you not only because I am away, but because I am back in magical place where, even if it wasn't completely clear at the time, I discovered that I would one day have greyhounds in my life.
Hugs and licks and cuddles and stuff. I'll see you next week.
PS Please say hello to Little Boss for me, and tell her I miss her too. Very, very much.
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