If it ever happens to come up in random conversation, or a game show, my favorite modern actor is Denzel Washington.
[Note: Modern is defined as 1980-present. I have an extensive movie era category system. It deserves its own post later, but briefly the additional groupings are the Pinnacle (1967-1979), Technicolor epics & musicals (1957-1966), The Golden Age of the Studio System (1939-1956) and the Early Years (1927-1938)]
...and my favorite Denzel Washington film is “Fallen”
If you haven’t seen it, and I highly recommend you do, it begins with Denzel, in a voiceover, saying “Let me tell you about the time I almost died.”
So, today, let me tell you about the time I almost stabbed a dog.
Tonight’s walk around the town with Jethro and Nouska started innocently enough. As typical she pooped within 2 minutes of being outside, but Jethro is stubborn and gets at least a 15 minute walk in before he even thinks about defecating. The fireworks occurred between those two events.
Guam has quite a stray dog problem, as well as what I call a large “minimally owned” population of dogs that are on the loose, completely unsocialized, barking, acting mildly-moderately aggressive and defending whatever they consider their territories. Now, I’ve carried a pocket knife since vet school and usually the only action it gets is after the FedEx guy comes. But tonight, well …tonight was different.
After walking for a while along one of our usual routes, where I pride myself in knowing where all the dogs are by now, cause, preparation, right? I catch sight of a flash of black and tan fur about 20 feet ahead at my 10 o’clock, behind a van. The dog is obviously loose, so I maneuver my guys toward 2 o’clock to continue moving forward, but away from new dog until I can sort it out.
Black and tan dog sees us, and just observes for a minute. No movement, tail straight back, then he sits down. So I’m all, ok, so far so good. Just give him a wide berth and we’ll be….Not so fast. As soon as we are roughly parallel to him, he launches out of a seated position, and begins to walk toward us, or more accurately where we will be in two or three strides. We keep walking; the kids are doing great by the way, listening to me, and not interacting with Black and tan. My right hand slides into my pocket, cause I’m getting a Han Solo sized bad feeling about this. After a few feet of walking, ole Black and tan flips the switch. Full back hackles from skull to tail, all teeth bared upper and lower, then he lowers into a crouch and lopes around in a semi-circular route from our 9 o’clock to our 12.
It looks to all the world like he’s about to launch an attack, and Jethro is slightly closer to him then I am. I pull out my blade and for the life of me would have stabbed Black and tan if we went at Jethro. He seemed to get the fact that I was equally intent on drawing blood if it came to that and at the last minute changed his vector to cut behind us, and stayed on our six for the next 20 feet, just far enough away. Growling, teeth bared, but staying just out of attack range. After a half block he turned and went back to his empty lot. Never a dull moment here on Guam.
