Mooshee

Sometimes I don't know what the heck I'm doing here. Yesterday there was a couple who came up to me while I was waiting on the school step for Nate to get off of patrol. I was watching them for about 10 min as they had piled up cardboard, toys and boxes that was stamped with "Vodka" on the sides into little pull carts, across the street from me. The man helped the lady put on a kids backpack (small size) with a picture of Diego (from the show) and as their caravan was moving off, she looked over at me and then Cyclone. I said hi, but her eyes were only for the dog. She was instantly fascinated with her, and came over and asked me what kind of dog she was. I did my usual shpiel. Terrier, Samoyd (spelling?), Asian street dog...trying to keep the WHOLE story down to a minimum. She said she swears it was a Russian dog, the type that are extinct....and her eyes went misty..."like my Mushee, isn't it C.J.(to her companion), like my Mooshee". And tears started spilling down her cheeks. I was wondering if I should feel sad too, or counsel her through her grief of a lost dog, or hope Nate would come around the corner and rescue me. "Who was Mooshee?" I asked, hopefully compassionately enough. She told me Mooshee was the last Russian dog in the world, they are now extinct and she had had it when she was a little girl (on the farm??). She also informed me they used to roam wild in packs (in Russia) and would surround their prey, like wolves, and work together to pull them down. Interesting.....could Cyclone have a Russian dog species in her blood?? A few weeks ago, another, very knowledgable lady had said that Cyclone was very likely a Bosjee (heaven help us with these names). "What is a Bosjee?" I asked, feeling stupid for my ignorance. "It's the only laughing dog in the world. You check it out you'll see" . She gave me a knowing nod and off she went. I actually looked it up on line, and Cyclone does resemble a Bosjee (again the terrible spelling, I don't know!). So back to this lady and Mooshee.....she does pencil drawings and wanted to do one of me and Cyclone, any size I wanted. She wanted a pencil drawing of only Cyclone too, to remember her beloved by. By this time, I was feeling the conversation was getting a little long, I was committing to giving her the first pup Cyclone was going to have, and Nate had come and was waiting. Extracting myself with a promise of seeing them hopefully Monday after school, same time, same place....Nate and I finally headed home. Cyclone is apparently a hit in the neighborhood, she really brings out deep emotions in people. I wonder sometimes if dogs do community better then I do, they don't ask for it, it just seems to happen and I deal with the fall out. (That's why I carry a dog poop bag). After a visit like that, and getting home to a more familiar set of expectations can be a balm for me. Out in the neighborhood anything can happen, any conversation can turn deep or crazy or just a normal weather talk. Maybe it would be better if I could be like a Bosjee and only laugh.....