Coco
July 20, 2023 with an advance tip from our neighbor Becky Daugherty, whose retirement gig is volunteering at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society, we adopted a beautiful Australian Shepherd pup, born November 23, 2022. From our first meeting, it was apparent that he craved friendly contact with humans.
We considered various names for him:
'Kelbi' which means 'My Dog' in Arabic... but also has an unflattering connotation;
also Argos, after Ulysses' dog, which had a nice aura of loyalty... but seemed stiffly formal;
and finally 'Coco' because of the brown patches over his eyes,
with generally white color as you'd see in coconut meat,
and some black flecks as you often find on the inside of a coconut shell.
Coconuts.. a subject near and dear to me for many reasons from the functionality of coconut shell bowls to the nutritional options of coconut meat, water, and oil, to the many useful items that may be woven from coconut fronds.
So, Coco: sweet, inoffensive, unpretentious.
It turns out that Coco is the best dog ever.
His mission: to be near me at all times.
I get up to go to another room: he follows me.
I sit at my desk: he lies at my feet.
I sit to eat dinner: he's at my feet.
I nap on the sofa: he stretches out on top of me or beside me to nap at the same time.
We take a walk together, on or off leash, he's never far.
No question, this dog is everything I've ever wanted in a canine companion.
A gift from God.
To top it off, Gloria loves him too!
We considered various names for him:
'Kelbi' which means 'My Dog' in Arabic... but also has an unflattering connotation;
also Argos, after Ulysses' dog, which had a nice aura of loyalty... but seemed stiffly formal;
and finally 'Coco' because of the brown patches over his eyes,
with generally white color as you'd see in coconut meat,
and some black flecks as you often find on the inside of a coconut shell.
Coconuts.. a subject near and dear to me for many reasons from the functionality of coconut shell bowls to the nutritional options of coconut meat, water, and oil, to the many useful items that may be woven from coconut fronds.
So, Coco: sweet, inoffensive, unpretentious.
It turns out that Coco is the best dog ever.
His mission: to be near me at all times.
I get up to go to another room: he follows me.
I sit at my desk: he lies at my feet.
I sit to eat dinner: he's at my feet.
I nap on the sofa: he stretches out on top of me or beside me to nap at the same time.
We take a walk together, on or off leash, he's never far.
No question, this dog is everything I've ever wanted in a canine companion.
A gift from God.
To top it off, Gloria loves him too!
Gloria's son Lawrence
A friend, Robert Amico
Coco and me, February 2025
Farmer's Market, 3d and Fairfax, Jonathan and Coco and Edwin Craig, April 11, 2025
Easter Greeting, April 20, 2025, Jonathan and Coco, Easter Parade, Irving Berlin 1933