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A Balloon in Cactus
Ninotchka
By Maggie Van Ostrand
Her Email
Her Bio
She was a blue-eyed creature of enormous beauty, so beautiful that she was named after a Greta Garbo Russian film heroine. You'd be proud to take her anywhere, as she was always perfectly attired. She was a magnificent Siberian Husky.
She was found in the Sherman Oaks dog pound, and adopted at the approximate age of 9 months, and for the next 12 years of her life, she lived well. My mother would've said, she lived "high off the hog."
After the Northridge Quake of '94, we planned a move to Ajijic, but Amtrak said Ninotchka would have to ride in the baggage compartment. That was not good enough. Planes wouldn't be an option either, not with the way certain dog people are prone to worry when their pets are out of sight. There was no choice but to take all the savings out of the bank and hire a Lear jet to fly us to Guadalajara. I never regretted it. Any dog person will understand .
It was in Mexico that Ninotchka met the love of her life. But it wasn't a Husky or even another dog -- it was a horse. The horse was a stallion named Lassie who lived next door.
From the minute dog met horse, it was true love. It might've even been obsession since, for the first time, Ninotchka refused to come when called, insisting instead on remaining at the fence and French kissing Lassie through the openings between the chain links. Lassie was even more intensely enamoured and kissed back with a tongue longer than the red carpet on Oscar night. Doubting human friends came to witness this phenomenon and walked away true believers. There was even a write-up in the local papers. With pictures.
Soon Lassie's enthusiasm broke all boundaries of civilized behavior and his ardor was aroused for all to observe. He whacked frantically at the fence for immediate admittance, leaving hoof dents in the chain link as mute evidence of his passion.
One day, Lassie was gone. His owners had sold him and did not tell his whereabouts. Ninotchka never loved again. Her Mexican stallion was the love of her life. The only thing she ever loved as much was snow.
Each year, we drove north to Taos, New Mexico, so Ninotchka wouldn't suffer from the dry heat that strikes Ajijic in April and May. We took long walks in the forest along springtime's icy creeks and had wonderful times, always returning to Mexico. Ultimately, I bought a cabin in the snowy mountains of California and named the cabin "Running Dog."
Ninotchka has been poorly for about a week, unable to come on her beloved walks, not wanting to eat, so we went to her longtime vet far away where we used to live. Prognosis negative.
I brought her a cooler full of snow from home and spread the snow all around her as she lay in a kennel at the vet's. With great effort, she managed to get herself up on one elbow to lick the snow.
Then she put her beautiful face in it, and died.
You may think the pain of loss is a terrible thing, but I don't. Love is like that.
Maggie Van Ostrand is a wonderful storyteller with great insight. To read all her articles all the time, we invite you to join our family of subscribers... it isn't expensive. A monthly subscription is just $5.00 USD - that's $1.15 per week. An annual subscription costs $30.00 USD - only $2.50 per month or 58 cents per week. If you're interested in living or retiring in Mexico, we think you'll find it's money well spent.
Subscribe today and always read all the articles!Maggie Van Ostrand, writer, lives in Ajijic Mexico and Pine Mountain California. Her stories appear in the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, El Ojo Del Lago, and various magazines. She co-authored "Home Is Where The Hurt Is" with Tony- and Grammy-winning country humorist Roger Miller, and ghostwrites for television sitcoms.
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