OHVELLO

She came into my life accompanied by one of the people from the shelter that rescued her, riding in what is called a motor-taxi which is a motorcycle modified with a caboose and seats at the back to carry passengers. I met them at the corner from the house I was renting in the dusty neighborhood an hour outside of Lima, Peru.  The lady got out and put her on the ground, then we walked back to the house. The little dog walked by my side, and it was obvious that unlike Mayah my other dog, she knew how to walk on a leash. I was pleasantly surprised. Many other things about her revealed that she used to have a home where she was probably loved because she knew what a sofa was the minute she saw mine and was upon it in no time.  I called her Maddy, short for Matilda (I didn't like the double T's which sounded harsh so changed it to D's instead) meaning "mighty in battle" which she proved that she was, mainly when it came to hunting and killing rats. Maddy was adopted t

I used to be afraid of creepy crawlies, terrified of slugs, and snails. I couldn't look at an earthworm and felt the heebie-jeebies when I ran into a caterpillar. And don't get me started on the centipedes. For those, my machete comes out of storage. And then just as the Covid-19 lockdown began, we were given a pineapple. Lo and behold, within a few weeks after that, I was rejoicing when I saw an earthworm and picking snails out of my lettuce with my bare hands. What brought about such a drastic change in my life? The pineapple. So what did the pineapple have to do with it all? It started me on my veggie garden journey.  Yes, me. The only person in the world so terrified of bugs and creepy crawlies that for years, I have been able to go hiking without touching or brushing up against a single leaf or a blade of grass, and I became really adept at dodging branches with my Matrix moves. Thinking back, it is remarkable I did not fall off a cliff in order to avoid touching a leaf. T