Murphy and Pepe

I've fallen in with the crowd at Tullycarnett Park, where I walk Paddy at 8 a.m. through the week. One of the guys is called Simon and he walks with three rescue dogs, Milo, Murphy, and Charlie. Today he told me Murphy's story. Seems Simon's grandmother was showing signs of dementia. Simon's mother and sibs wanted her to move into a home for her own safety but his uncle wouldn't hear of it. His uncle came home one day and found her happily petting her beloved dachsund, Murphy. Who was dead. The uncle went to a rescue shelter and procured Murphy 2, a corgie, Jack Russell mix who didn't really look like Murphy 1 but was small. But Simon's grandmother was none the wiser, "Ach Murphy, there you are. Where've you been?" The reluctant uncle finally gave in nine years ago and Simon's grandmother moved into a home and Murphy 2 came to live with Simon. Somewhere along the way they realised Simon's uncle had been robbing his mother blind. Murphy 2 is 17 now and is fetching in the weird corgi way that he walk/bounces.

And then there's Pepe, the 37 year old parrot who had been living in a bathroom. Pepe's owner married a woman from Thailand, who managed to liberate him from 750,000 pounds and go back to Thailand. Now he's married to a woman from the Philippines. Somewhere along the way, Pepe lost his perch in a florist shop and moved into a shower. Then Simon rescued him and the parrot has taken quite a shine to Simon. He says to him in the morning: "Hello handsome. Hello darling." I could go for a bird like that. He is hostile to anyone other than Simon, apparently a parrot trait. He sings The Sash when workmen come into the house, causing much hilarity. The Sash is an Orange Order loyalist parade kind of song that Simon finds terribly embarrassing. When they pull up the blinds in the morning, Pepa says "shops open!"

I could imagine two TV episodes being generated from these stories. You can see how walking Paddy is hardly a chore when there's such good company.

Jan. 9