1974 Freddie Prinze and Free Bird

The house in Iselin was wonderful.  Because Patti had  lived there for years, it was totally dog oriented.  It had a great back yard with snow fencing all around, and the basement had been made into a  kennel.  There were 3 big pens with 8-foot chain link, and each pen had an elevated platform because Afghans love to be up high.  It was also heated.  It was perfect.  The only problem was that there was really only long bedroom with doors at each end (this had obviously been 2 rooms at one point).  Since Diddy was living with us, we hung a sheet down the middle.  There wasn't much privacy, and our rooms were tiny, but it worked.  I remember the sheet was striped, various shades of brown, orange, and yellow, and when the sun hit it, it glowed.  It was really pretty.  The inside of the entire house was panelled in dark green panelling.  It was a little craftsman with a porch and I loved it.  We did quite a lot of work to it; painted it, etc.

Diddy lived with us.  I remember sitting at the round table in the kitchen between Diddy and David and talking French on one side and English on the other.  We had a couple of fishbowls on the table, each containing a beta, and they would attack each other through the glass constantly.  At the time, Diddy had a boyfriend named Freddie who looked just like Freddie Prinz.  Darn, he was cute.  However, she never paid the rent, and after 3 months, we evicted her (I remember calling Mother and telling her the situation so she would be ready when Diddy called her to complain).

One of my strongest memories of Iselin was lying on the bed with the sheet glowing, and listening to Free Bird over and over and over again.  When Lynyrd Skynyrd died,  that song just broke my heart.  That was also when mother and I had a fight and didn't speak for 6 weeks.  During that time, she went to Texas and I thought I would never forgive myself if something happened to her.  But I was too stubborn to give in, and nothing happened.

1975 My Sister Kate

When we lived in New York, we often took a friend with us to shows.  Her name was Susan Kamen and she was an artist.  She made me a t-shirt with Glider's portrait on the front that was a work of art.

One of Susan's paintings

One day I was at her loft and saw a copy of the AKC Gazette lying on her table.  On the cover was a Basenji.  I told her how great it looked, like it was a scene for a painting.  She left the room and when she came back, she was holding a painting of that very scene, the brick wall of her loft, her leather couch, the old wooden table, and the Gazette with the green trees and the Basenji.

"Blush"

Susan's breed was in fact Basenjis.  She had a beautiful little bitch named Bomabwa Blushing Bride, from the top Basenji breeder in the county.  That little girl cleaned up the ribbons everywhere she went.

Susan was a bit of a rebel.  I remember how David was shocked that she didn't shave her armpits though he found it quite a turnon.  My dog Glider absolutely loved Blush.  They slept together in the back of the station to and from the shows. 

Susan always promised us that when Blush had puppies, Glider would be getting one.  



While we lived in Iselin, Susan came through on her promise and gave us a little Basenji puppy, Apu Shimmy Like My Kate.  Kate was adorable.  She was great to show, she basically did it all herself.  But oh my, what a voice.  She would sit in the bedroom window all day and yodel.  One day David came home to find the police in front of our house.  Apparently the neighbor heard the yodeling and thought I was being murdered.  We couldn't risk being evicted, so unfortunately, Kate went back to Susan (and got her championship in 3 shows!).  

"The Basenji produces an unusual yodel-like sound commonly called a 'baroo' due to its unusually shaped larynx.  This trait also gives the Basenji the nickname "soundless dog".

Oh my...  Barkless, yes.  Soundless, far from it.

1974 Dawn, Gabby, and Annie

Dawn was a leach.  She would latch onto you and you couldn't get rid of her.  She was constantly being evicted, with one hard luck story after another.  She had a young son, maybe 6 or 7 years old, and four Afghans.  One of them was a little black female named Gabby (Gabriella of Grandeur).  She also had Gabby's two sons, a big red brindle named Montrose Smackwater Jack and a bigger black male named Montrose California Soul, as well as Gabby's beautiful cream domino daughter, Sally (Montrose Azul Dominga.)  Gabby lived with us for a couple of months when Dawn was between living arrangements.

Ch. Montrose California Soul "Jules"

Gabby was wonderful.  I would have kept her forever.  She fit right in.  I think she is the reason I have always had a special place in my heart for little black Afghan bitches.  She is also probably the reason that I got my Hermit daughter, Alabama, who was also a little black bitch, from Jeanette in California.

Gabriella of Grandeur "Gabby"

Strange Twist of Fate
Many years later when we lived in Denver, I was offered a black and tan Champion Afghan Hound bitch by my friends at Shylo.  That was Her name was Ch. Shylo Ceylon, "Annie" and I was thrilled to have her.  One day when I was at Shylo, I asked about her pedigree.  Bruce told me her mother was their beloved, "Puff", Linmara Lucinda of Shylo.  I mentioned that I had known someone in New Jersey whose kennel name was Linmara and sure enough, it was her.  And Puff's mother was a bitch named Montrose Azul Dominga, whose mother was Gabriella of Grandeur, Gabby!  I had Gabby's great-granddaughter and didn't even know it!