Gamora’s Galaxy

For little Gamora, the whole world is as it should be. She’s such a joyful little pup and her bounciness is infectious. Her love for adventure knows no end. Neither does her love for mischief and getting her own way! She’s quite entertaining. 

Gamora’s half pug and half dachshund. Both breeds are known for their propensity to gain weight. Little Gamora is showing that she has fully embraced this part from both her parents. How she loves her food. I used to think that my first dog, Patches, who earned the name ‘the Turkey Thief’ because of the time he stole a turkey at Christmas, ate it, and couldn’t move for three days, had a ferocious appetite. Mind you, he was at least four times bigger than Gamora. But I have since learnt that Gamora will not be outdone by her bigger older brother that she never met. She’s either faster or on par with Patches when it comes to the speed of wolfing food down. It really is the vacuum cleaner effect. To top it off, she is always hungry! Her appetite is voracious! Two seconds after a feed, she’s ready for the next feed. She even has the ability to look like she’s been starving for days on end. It’s highly manipulative as it makes all our visitors feel bad for her when they sit down to a meal. She’s conspicuous by her silence, as she broods in a corner in the most dejected fashion ever. When she feels like she cannot keep silent, she starts popping up next to you or at the end of the table like a little Jack-in-the-box! On days when even that isn’t enough, she goes all out and paws at you. Her tenacity is unmistakable. She keeps at it. She knows I will cave at some point. 

Gamora’s behaviour patterns seem to be predominantly dachshund. She’s such a hunter. She’s caught and killed birds, squirrels, and countless lizards. She freaked out a very, very, very long snake once, and she’s dying to catch a monitor lizard or a cat. It’s incredible how she spots things even before I can. Of course her eye level isn’t the same as mine and I’ve started looking down first to see what’s on the horizon. The other day in the park, she spotted a monitor lizard having a swim in the lake. It wasn’t even close to the edge of the lake, but she sensed its presence and went into attack mode. Attack mode is when her body goes all stiff, her eyes are fixated on something, and when she starts making whiny, puppy noises to disarm her prey and make them come nearer. Some of them are stupid enough to draw close too! In my garden, Gamora uses a tree and some potted plants as camouflage. She’s really good at it too! It’s impossible to see her until she shows herself. She tries hard everyday to catch something and she patrols the house – both inside and outside to secure the borders. She’s hilarious! 

Initially, I thought all the people stopping by the house to say hi to her was a passing fancy. After all, she was just a puppy and people tend to be fascinated by puppies. In March 2025, it will be two years since Gamora came into my home. I can report that the fascination by neighbours or other passers-by hasn’t ended! One of my neighbours has to walk up to our gate to greet her every time he’s getting ready to go somewhere. On some mornings, he stops his car outside our gate and has a chat with her. He doesn’t need to see me. The visit stops with Gamora. Another lady who walks vigorously in the mornings makes sure she stops by and has her own little routine with Gamora. One of my neighbour’s helpers is another fan. Gamora loves her too and the squeals that happen when our visitor actually steps into the garden are full of unmistakable delight. Gamora has favourites among the delivery people that come to our home. If we happen to be upstairs and they arrive to make a delivery, the squeaky squealing sound she makes is so loud. It’s hard to believe she’s not very big. Gamora’s on fire when she’s with people. She enjoys the attention. 

One of Gamora’s many (and I mean many) nicknames is ‘shorty’ or ‘pendek’ in Malay. She is short. The nick is apt. Still, she’s not put off by her height disadvantage. Gamora practices trying to scale walls. I’m sure I’ve written before how she angles her run and jumps against the wall to see what thrust the momentum gives her. She practices. I notice that she uses this to also worry her prey. The birds outside, or lizards that come into the house get stressed. They could be high up in safety, no where close to her, and all her busy activity below causes them stress. It worries them so much that they think their only chance of safety is either flying low close to her, or in the case of the hapless lizards, it’s jumping down to the floor and trying to run across to safety. Safety is an illusion, for she is swift. She usually wins. Of course the big loser in all this as far as I’m concerned, is me. I have clean up. It’s utterly disgusting. I find myself gagging and feeling so grossed out. As I’m spluttering trying to clean up after her kill, she looks at me with the most innocent eyes. She doesn’t get what the fuss is about. 

One of the things that I always joked about when Loki was around that I had named him aptly. Not that he was naughty. He was nowhere near Gamora’s league of naughtiness! I joked that my Loki just like Loki from the Marvel comics, the god of mischief, the prince of the Jötunns, adopted by Odinson, did not like thunder. For the later, it signalled the arrival of Thor, his brother and nemesis. For my Loki, he was afraid of thunder. There was no comforting him. Thunder and fireworks drove Loki and Patches under my father’s chair, or onto my lap. They were terrified. Then there’s Gamora who sleeps through thunderstorms or loud fireworks like nothing is amiss. She’s not worried in the least. 

Gamora knows the friends and family who come to our home. She’s ever ready to greet them. Trying to get her to be calm is a work in progress. Saying that, she has really improved greatly! It’s funny watching her try to remain down while her bum is shaking furiously at the arrival of our loved ones. Gamora loves and is loved. 

I love little Gamora. It’s lovely to see how she’s got her own little thing going on. Gamora’s galaxy is such a busy place, with lots of delights. It’s so full of activity, hustle and bustle, it feels. Every day, whether it’s going to the park, or playing ball in the garden, there are many extras that she enjoys. It is beautiful to be a part of Gamora’s galaxy! She’s on top of the world. 

In all the busyness of her little Galaxy, Gamora always wants me near. If she had it her way, we’d both be stalking hunters! It’s true. My little girl just wants me to be there with her. When she’s a bit overwhelmed by all the attention in the park, I’m the one that she wants carrying her or hiding her. She wants me to share in everything. When the deliveries or friends arrive, she comes to get me. When I’m busy in the kitchen or doing the laundry or something else around the house, she’s ready ‘to help’ me. She waits for instructions where to go, whether to wait, and so on. She wants this community with me. 

I am so thankful to God for little Gamora. In my church on Sunday, we resumed our series on Matthew, where Jesus addressed the issue of greatness in the kingdom of God. Dependency on God is key. Jesus used the example of a child. I get the example. There’s total dependency by a child. I don’t have kids playing out this example for me. I have a four-legged mutt who shows me what it means to be totally dependent on someone. She’s dependent on me. When I go away, I have to do so much to make sure she is cared for. When I’m with her, I have to be ready to meet her needs. She doesn’t know better. She just knows her needs get met. I must take from this lesson. There have been so many times that God has come through for me. I would never have imagined His providence but it is there. More often than not, things I don’t know to ask for or have not the wisdom to seek are granted me. I do nothing to earn it. I just turn up and accept it. Yet, I forget time and time again how faithful and good He is. Gamora is far better than me that way because she never forgets me. She never forgets that I’m there for her. She misses me when I’m away. Oh little Gamy girl! What a lesson. I’m so thankful to God for Gamora!