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Like A Yoyo














I mentioned in passing in an earlier post that I was getting chubby. It's true, and I had to face the facts and go on a diet. Dad tells me that when he was around seven years old, his family doctor said Dad was fat, and he proceeded to take up jogging around the block in Bayside, New York, years before jogging became a nationwide fad. My tale is different, and to properly tell it to you, I have to go back to late October 2021 . . .


On October 24, 2021, Mom and Dad's 17th wedding anniversary, we had a wonderful barbeque party at our house. Auntie, who'd moved north to Gangneung, a beach resort town, wasn't there, but Big and Little Samchuns (Mom's older brothers), and Big Samchun's family were. Everyone had a great time. Steak, 🥩 cake, wow 🥳. I had a great dinner and lots of extra treats. The next morning, while I was still resting in bed, I noticed a monster drive by our house and, to defend the homestead, leaped out of bed with a mighty twist—and pinched something in my neck. The pain was excruciating. To deal with it, I looked all over the house for a place to hide and make it go away, or I panted endlessly to get the pain out, or I pushed myself backwards across the floor to escape the hurts. But nothing worked and it lingered for days, and then days became weeks. Dad carried me everywhere. Outside, to do my business (💩 with difficulty), and inside, to and from my various command posts. I passed most of my time inside my plastic house, curled into a ball in the darkness. Mom was terribly worried, and when my condition didn't improve, they took me to Daejeon to see the vet.


An MRI showed that the discs in my neck had thinned. With me there on the table, the doctor asked Mom and Dad lots of questions about my habits. Then he theorized it might be wear and tear caused by my "all in" barking method. Those of you who've met me may have witnessed it. What I do is, first I raise my front paws off the ground as I lower my rear, and then I drop my forelegs hard and deliver my message with all available power, over and over again, up, down, up, down, jarring all my muscles until the monster gets the message (or, nowadays, until Dad swoops in and whisks me away to some remote corner). Lots of small kids like me have disc problems, the doctor said, and they tend to get worse with age and with . . . fat! He said that word. 🛞 In addition to the spine, he said, accumulated fat can press on the disc and make the situation worse. Turns out I had a lot of fat on my neck area. Ergo, diet time.


Ddori was living with us then, and rather than change my food to a diet type, Mom and Dad took drastic action. She reduced the amount and cut off all snacks, and Dad increased my walks and removed me from the sight of incoming monsters so as to quickly end my barking. It worked. I went from 6.8 kilos down to 6 kilos over the winter, a big drop for a small fry like me. The diet continued through spring and soon it was summer 2022, and with the Corona Pandemic behind us, we began to travel again. One day we went to visit Auntie in Gangneung, spent a little time with her, then drove south along the East Coast of Korea to a popular spot called Jeongdongjin Beach.


Check out the second and third photos. We stopped at a place called Sandglass Park, where we saw a railway museum 🚂and, no surprise, a large sandglass, or moraeshigae in Korean. In the 90s, an extremely famous Korean television drama with the same name was filmed there. Later in the decade, a North Korean sub ran aground nearby. We spent some time enjoying the scenery then got in the car and drove south to our pet-friendly hotel in Donghae, also on the East Coast.


On the way, we stopped at Chotaebawi or Candlestick Rock. 🕯️🪨 It's another beach resort very popular here, especially for the rock formations, which reminded me (and Dad) of Maine. I've told you I don't care so much for the ocean, but I have to admit it was a beautiful spot, a great place to take a break during the drive. Or maybe I enjoyed it because I spent a good deal of the time in Mom's arms🤗🫂. Maybe both reasons, huh? Some thirty minutes later we arrived at our hotel.


The hotel was great. Clean, spacious room, beautiful beachside setting, and only one other guest. We'd brought some fresh meat with us and had a nice barbeque on the deck. Then we went for a walk near the ocean. For me, the best thing about the place was my bed. You can see me relaxing on it. I get tired from car trips and was exhausted and slept great. Not long after we returned home, Mom, who's always on the ball about such things, searched the internet and got me the exact same bed. I'm sitting on it now as Dad types my tale. It's my favorite post in our house. 🛏️


Maybe you noticed me slowly getting slimmer in the photos? I was doing really well on my diet, reaching 5.8 kilos near the end of summer. But then, for some reason, I started gaining weight again. Just like a yoyo. You can see me getting chubby again in the last four photos. It puzzled Mom and Dad. I had bad knees (like Dad) and thinning neck discs (like Mom). Maybe, they wondered, I also had a thyroid problem like Dad? The truth is, I wasn't enjoying my walks as much because of pain on my left flank, in two spots near where my leg is attached to my body. Sometimes when Mom or Dad picked me up, it hurt there and I quacked like a duck🦆 . At the same time, my left eye swelled up several times over a period of five months. After taking medicine, the swelling would go down but return six weeks later. Our local vet said it was likely due to a bad tooth or teeth, something else small guys like me have to deal with. These annoyances continued through the winter until late February 2023, when Mom and Dad brought me to Ddori's new vet in Daejeon. That's a whole different tale, and I'll tell you all about it next time.


For now, this is your friend in Korea, Tango, saying thanks for reading my blog.


Tango 🐾




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