We ended up with this dog, 13 years ago, a little chihuahua mutt that we smuggled north out of Mexico. Turns out it’s extraordinarily easy to get a dog across the border. You really just drive north and pretend the dog is yours. No questions asked. We told everyone she was a Dreamer, part of DACA. Not as funny a decade later.
No. #0280_32 - Frida Fur Pants, San Francisco 2014
She settled in just fine to urban life, and promptly had a gnarly skin reaction to a rabies vaccine. We told everyone she developed “Paw-tism” as a result. Also not as funny a decade later.
She fought two raccoons on two different occasions one summer and nearly lost her eye. Four years later she developed some sort of strange and un-diagnosable eye cancer that cost a small fortune to remedy. Twice. This dog was a survivor…
No. #0260_32A - Joanna and Frida, Yuba River 2013
No. #0779_31A - Thomas and Frida 2020
She hated the water despite being born on a beach in Baja. She loved to go camping and would turn entirely feral whenever we left the City. When we brought our son home she had a look on her face that could only be described as “why did you bring this helpless, hairless dog home?” The two of them quickly became fast friends when the dog discovered that the child was perpetually covered in food.
My father wasn’t much for advice. He left me with two bits of wisdom before he died…
“Never sleep with anyone dumber than yourself. Never own anything that eats or shits.”
Can’t say I’ve heeded his advice…
I never wanted a dog. I’ve had enough trouble taking care of myself. But sometimes things come into your life, for whatever reason, and you don’t have any other choice than to roll with it. That’s how I ended up with a Mexican beach dog that we named Frida.
I’d be hard pressed to admit it in mixed company, but she was my dog from the beginning. She developed some weird, abnormal form of leukemia at some point. Par for the course. Some part of me thought this animal would out live me. We had to let her go on Monday and I’m absolutely gutted.
It’s dark times out there folks. Find somebody to love…
No. #0463_02A - Frida Fur Pants, Oregon 2016
Things I’ve been reading lately…
On The Importance of Art
a short article by the art historian, art critic, and author John Berger.
Sally Mann warns of 'new era of culture wars'
Mann, whose work is held at major art institutions around the world, is reeling after police seized four of her most celebrated — and reviled — photographs.
A beautiful, broken America:
What I learned on a 2,800-mile bus ride from Detroit to LA