Gaits of Heaven

and Bob Dylan, he’d conformed to the expectations of his conservative family, at least until he’d discovered science. After that, he’d concentrated on getting into medical school and then on graduating at the top of his class. Rita reinterpreted his confession. In her view, he had a truly radical past in the sense that beneath the conformist self imposed on him by his parents, there existed a rebellious part of himself even in his adolescent years. Thus he hadn’t really lied to her; rather, he’d liberated himself from a false persona.
    Adolescence. Oh my. Wyeth. With his father in jail, one source of money was cut off. Then the foundation that had been funding Johanna’s research on feminist linguistics failed to renew her grant. These misfortunes had unexpected consequences. First, Johanna lucked into a position with the national office of a chain of day spas specializing in facials, laser treatments, and the like. She plans advertising campaigns, writes brochures, and maintains Web sites. Her original field was feminist linguistics, women and words, so the departure is less radical than it might at first seem. Second, Johanna’s brother, someone I’d never heard of before, took an interest in Wyeth and even accompanied Wyeth to a few sessions with Peter York. As Rita explained to me, in many matrilineal societies, the mother’s brother plays a powerful role in a child’s life. Anyway, this mother’s brother, who lives in Cambridge, almost forcibly removed Wyeth from Cambridge for a month and took him on a backpacking trip in the Sierras. The idea, I guess, was to make a man of Wyeth, to give him a sort of WASP bar mitzvah. I hope the ritual works.
    About Caprice and her father, Monty, I have nothing but good news. With the secrecy about his Internet porn addiction dispelled, they are spending a lot of time together. They cemented their new bond by going to CHIRP for two weeks. Its former director was fired during a scandal about kickbacks, and Rita says that the new one is uncorrupt and excellent. Monty continues to participate in a support group for people with his addiction, and Caprice attends meetings of Overeaters Anonymous as dutifully and fervently as I go to dog training. She is losing weight. As part of her new approach to diet and exercise, she still walks Lady. Also, she read and claimed to enjoy No More Fat Dogs, which she kindly credits with helping her to follow the principles of building muscle while decreasing calories. I can see the book’s influence: she certainly does eat an awful lot of green beans. She continues to see Missy Zinn, who, by the way, is seeing Peter York in the romantic rather than the therapeutic sense of the word.
    Barbara and George have gone into couples therapy with Frank Farmer, whose broken leg is healing well. His dogs are as naughty as ever, but they’re still winning. Dolfo now lives with Barbara, George, and Portia. He is housebroken. Barbara is taking him to obedience classes and feels confident that he will pass his Canine Good Citizenship test within a few months. As planned, Barbara and George volunteer with an urban wildlife program. George is very enthusiastic about the work he is doing there. In fact, he and Steve are doing a project together. It’s about Cambridge black squirrels.
    I still listen to Eumie’s gift now and then, but it has done its work. Rowdy and I went to a rally event. It wasn’t an official trial. So what? Rowdy was wonderful. My heart was pounding for the first minute or so on the course, but then I got lost in my dog, and I had fun. Indeed, everyone is bene-fitting from therapy of one kind or another. Rita isn’t in therapy with Frank Farmer, but he is supervising her. Dr. Foote is reputed to be consulting a hypnotherapist about her dog phobia. According to Rita, Missy Zinn is in treatment with India Cohen, the social worker who accompanied Wyeth to the meeting. One evening when Rita and I were going to have dinner out together, I was supposed to meet her at her office. I arrived early. Rita’s door opened, and out walked her last patient of the day. She was Oona Sundquist, formerly George McBane’s lawyer, now Ted Green’s. In my world, dogs are never left out. Lady is seeing, in the therapeutic sense, the Reiki healer and the massage therapist I met at Ted Green’s. Both of them treat dogs as well as people. Lady adores them, and her anxiety seems to be decreasing.
    I do have some final dog news that was passed on