Tidbits: An old woman's best friend.

I bought a knife from a little Chinese woman in Krabi Thailand. ( My 15 year old Swiss army knife had been taken by the Cambodian airport officials while they left six, eight inch, sharp tent stakes in my pack.) When I entered her shop to look around her midsized dog came at me growling and snarling; I froze. It jumped on me and I raised my hands and yelped. She laughed and said "Sabadeka! Sabadeka!".(Hello, Hello). She pushed him toward me again and smiled a big toothless smile. She loved her dog. She kept pushing him toward me, smiling, motioning me to pet him some more. I made over the dog even though it stank and it continued to growl.She was filthy and dishevled. She was destitute. Her stock was old and so was she. I stayed awhile and bought a few other items and made over her dog some more. We never talked, we couldn't, yet in that exchange she and I became "friends". Everytime I walked by we would trade warm Sabadeka's and big waves. One night when I went by I saw her dog lying on a piece of cardboard with a blanket carefully wrapped around him, but I couldn't find her. I wondered where she was. I looked around until my eyes focused on a pile of boxes, newspapers, rags and a dirty pillow. She was tucked away in that mess; sleeping right beside her dog.