A Tribute to Mike

Hi everybody! Daisy Jones-Klein here. Usually I like to use this space to tell y’all about all the fun stuff I’ve been doing since me and my Peeps left Virginia for our new Forever Home here in Santa Fe. But not today. Last week, Peeps and dogs alike lost a true friend. Today’s blog is dedicated to Mike Hirsch.

There’s the family you’re born into. But there’s also the family you choose. Every Rescue Dog knows this as Truth.

Dad and Mike first met when Dad was just a pup in the mid-1970s, right after he moved to the Washington DC area. They became friends, and about a year later Mike moved to New York and Massachusetts. By the time Mike moved back to the Washington area in the early 1980s, both he and Dad were married and had started families. Over the years, the two families stayed close, helping their kids grow up, taking vacations together, and in general just being there for each other through the ups and downs of life.

Mike had a stroke last week. He never regained consciousness. He died three days later.

There’s a lot we could tell you about Mike. We could tell you about his degrees from MIT, his careers in energy and environment and telecommunications, his travels around the world, or all the famous folks he’d worked with. But those are just details, and never seemed to sound like how Mike would describe himself. 

Mike was a schmoozer, and a really good one at that. He was at his happiest when talking with people. Whether it was following his kids’ sports, or his passion for chess and bridge, or his collection of rare maps, or hanging with the other Peeps at the dog park while Harley romped and got his ya-yas out, or just chattering away on a host of nerdy technical topics, it didn’t much matter. For Mike, these were all just ways of connecting with family and friends, which for him is what really mattered.

“Mensch” is a Yiddish word, roughly translated as “human being.” But its meaning goes deeper, and a mensch can more broadly can be thought of as a person of integrity, character, responsibility, and honor. A mensch is someone to admire and emulate. It’s a high compliment for a Peep, earned over a lifetime.

Mike was a mensch.

But there was more to him than that. Gentle Readers, if you’re a fellow quadruped, you’d already know this. And if you’re a Peep with a pet, you might have guessed it. You see, in many of the ways that really count, Mike was almost dog-like. Consider the evidence:

• He knew the value of building and maintaining a good Forever Home for himself and his family. Harley, and before him Midnight and Dawn, chose their family well.
• He’d always be happy just to see you. If he had a tail, it’d be a-wagging. There was no agenda. Slights and grudges were things to be forgotten.
• He was loyal. In dog-years, his friendships were often measured in centuries.
• He lived fully in the present, waking up in the morning open to the possibilities of each dawning day.

Surely, for being able to rise above the Peeps-limitations of a mensch, and attaining the higher standards us dogs aspire to, there should be some appropriate way to honor Mike. So I asked around, polling my fellow Quadruped-Americans. (Just the dogs; donkeys and goats and pesky cats weren’t needed this time.) I checked with Blue, Bailey, Ginger, and Kayla in McLean VA; Goldie in Atlanta GA; Zoe and Emma in Santa Fe; Indy in Colonial Beach VA; Maitre and Prince in Bethesda MD; Madison in Deer Canyon Preserve NM; Rufus, Toby, Sadie, Bella, and Maggie right here in my neighborhood; Boo Radley and Henry and Scout Finch in Laguna Beach CA; Sadie and Zoe in Leesburg VA; and Lucy in Mariaville ME. 

By unanimous consent, we’re pleased to bestow upon Mike Hirsch the Order of the Canine, signifying some of the finest qualities of both man and beast. From us finer critters, there can be no higher compliment.

As you’ve often heard me say, it’s good to be Daisy. But I think it was good to be Mike, too.

So rest in peace, Mike Hirsch. We’re gonna miss you.

Daisy Jones-Klein and her Peeps

Santa Fe, NM

June 2013

Fire and Rain

… hiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh … 

... I mean ... Hi!!! Daisy Jones-Klein here. I was just reflecting on the season, and didn’t hear you click in. So come on in and set a spell! 

Spring is easing its way into summer here in Santa Fe, and that’s not so bad. The windy weather of the last couple of months is dying down, things are greening up, and the daytime temps are getting nice and toasty for my daytime naps.

Trees and flowers are budding out all over, adding splashes of color to the usual greens and browns out here in the high mountain desert.

And the birds and the bunnies are getting out and about, including the hummingbirds which have found their way back from their winter vacation. Thanks, David P., for these hummer pix!

Out here in New Mexico, we’re grateful for the nice weather. But we’re also grateful for much of the nature we don’t have. We don’t get tornados or hurricanes or superstorms or blizzards or super derechos or floods. We don’t get earthquakes, and tsunamis are far, far away. 

But it’s not all perfect here. We live in a dry climate, and the last few years have been even drier than normal. And as the drought persists, we see lots of ominous signs. The ground’s much drier than usual, and the trees and shrubs are showing signs of stress. And drier trees are more vulnerable to the bark beetle, turning weak trees into dead trees. 

And all that dryness and all the weakened and dead trees make for high fire risks. In the past few years, fires have not been very kind to New Mexico forests. And just last week, two big fires started not too far from us, one about 20 miles to the east and the other about 30 miles to the west. The Thompson Ridge Fire to the west is just over the Jemez Mountains, and some days is pretty dramatic. This is from its first day:

And a couple of days later, it flared up again:

The fires are still burning and growing, although some reports say they are being brought under control. Each of them is now well over 10,000 acres, and depending on which way the wind is blowing, our Forever Home here in-between the two can get kinda smoky.

So be careful out there! “Crispy Critters” should only be used to describe a breakfast cereal from Dad’s childhood, and not the outcome of a nice walk gone horribly wrong.

And save on water, too! During droughts, especially, we all gotta do our share to conserve. As a good citizen of the Quadruped-American community, I’ve developed Daisy's Three-Point Water Conservation Plan. I’m pretty sure it’s the right thing for me to do, and maybe it’ll help y’all save water, too:

1.  Never, ever, bathe. Who needs bathing, anyway? What a waste of water! I don’t know about you, but I’ve worked hard to develop my natural funky smell. Maybe I’ll even market my own line of perfume:

2. Go easy on the dishwasher. It takes a lot of water to run the dishwasher, and really, it’s not all that necessary. Ask yourself: Have I licked all the plates I could, or am I just being finicky? I’ve told my Peeps that I’m ready to do my share, step up my game, and take on even more plates to lick. And if I’m really thorough, the plates look clean enough afterwards to go right back into the cabinet! Water saved!

3. Do your “business” outside. Do you Peeps know how much water you waste on flushing? A lot! And totally unnecessary, in my view. I’m a multi-tasker, and I've learned that when I’m taking walks with my Peeps that it’s also an excellent time to take care of other pressing business, and I think you know what I’m talking about here. Exercise, food recycling, and water saving all in one walk – how cool is that!? So I suggested to my Peeps that they too may want to make their walking time a little more productive and “meaningful.” Mom just made a weird face and said that wasn’t really her style. Dad sorta chuckled, and started yabbering on about Boy Scout campouts, putting out campfires, and other strange stuff he did when he was a pup. Go figure.

Enjoy the summer! And if you’re not naturally furry all over, be sure to wear sunscreen!

Daisy Jones-Klein

Santa Fe, NM

June 2013