Night of the summer-solstice full moon in the Valley of the Moon . . . Dog bites of domestic, washed-rind cow's milk Muenster cheese accompanied by intense, fruity, young Sonoma Valley Cabernet sauvignon. <sigh> I got to taste only the cheese. But I hear that the bottle was a nice guerrilla vino from wine writer and former Gundlach-Bunschu guru Lance Cutler.

Many palate-educating and palate-educated humans and four-footeds have pawsed in areas around the Valley of the Moon. Jack London's dogs and the author himself pawsed to write his 1913 novel The Valley of the Moon. The late M.F.K. Fisher, author and esteemed pioneer of the culinary memoir, is perhaps the most cherished Valley human. She lived in Glen Ellen and liked cats, you know.

Fisher wrote about "receipts" a lot. That's old school for recipes. A very old term. For me, good recipes are woofable heaven. But my paw-point here is that, to recognize good recipes, you've got to have an educated palate. You get one by trying new things all the time. A young cat, says my vet Dr. Jordan, is very in need of having her pussin palate educated by eating a variety of foods. I think this applies to all of us, pets and people, but it's crucial for cats.

Pawse here. Read that quote again. Think about how smell conjures up memories. The more I sniff, the more I want to sniff everything. But I dog-gress.

I like what author Joan Reardon, expert biographer of Fisher, said of Proust's writings on nostalgia: "In pursuit of vanished time, he found a transfiguring moment in the taste of a madeleine dipped in a cup of lime flower tea."

In purr-suit of vanished time. Eee . . goosebumps.

Ms. Reardon has extensively researched nostalgia and gastronomic writing. She reviewed a nice book entitled The Future of Nostalgia by S. Boym. Reardon wrote, "Harvard professor Svetlana Boym says that the word was coined in 1688 by the Swiss doctor Johannes Hofer to identify the homesickness of Swiss soldiers who reacted physically to the hearing of certain folk melodies and the eating of rustic soups while on missions away from home."

Ah, food and music!

Back to feline palates. There are ways to prevent pussins from being overly fussy eaters. One way to entice pussin to the table that we understand now, thanks to Dr. J, is to make sure to educate the young palate by feeding a variety of good foods. Another way is by making sure the food is FRESH and species-appropriate. Woof? Big concepts. What I've learned from cats — experts would agree with this —is that they're responding to instincts that help nurture and protect them. Cats are merely expressing their need for SAFE, FRESH sources of protein and other nutrients.

I'm sure cats would rather eat the way they did back in the day: whole-prey dining. . . . Ain't that nostalgic? By the way, we dogs have different intestinal ecology than cats do. A cat's digestive system and instincts render her unable to tolerate stuff that we dogs inhale without a first or second thought. I think Ms. Fisher would say, "A pussin always displays good taste."

The last word goes to a recipezaar blog groupie: "MFK Fisher's The Art of Eating contains her most famous 5 novels in one! Anyone who loves food should try and get a copy, it's paperback. My cat scratched the index pages to shreds. . . ."

I went for a check-up at Dr. Jordan's office today. I was happy to see Dr. J. It made me feel good that she's pleased with my progress. I overheard her and dog-ma talking about my foot placement and leg movement, but I'm not going to worry about it as long as I'm getting around.

Dr. J told me I look great. I don't think she meant my hair style. But Kyrana, one of my favorite vet techs, really liked my shaved-back hair style. She called it a reverse mohawk. Dog-ma laughed when she heard this and said she calls it that, too.

We believe the reverse mohawk should become one of dog grooming's trendy summer styles. It's sure a cool cut for wine country summer. . . . "Get yore revmo on and go tastin' some fine wine." But of course you don't have to remove as much hair as I had to for my back surgery.

I didn't set out to make a political statement with my reverse mo, but it could be interpreted that way. Today's mohawk styles come from the practice by warriors of the Mohawk Nation, whose hair was grown long and cut only when they went off to war. The cut style was to leave just a narrow strip about three-fingers' wide down the middle of their scalp from their forehead to the nape of their neck. If the original Mohawk style was about going to war, then I guess the reverse mohawk symbolizes keeping the peace.

To be safe, watch out you don't get a bad sunburn trying to be political or cool. If you're post-op like me, that'd be a bad thing, as would getting chilled sleeping in a cold spot at night or in the A/C.

My dog-ma says she grew up near Mohawk Nation territory. She remembers that they're one of the Iroquois Nations and are known as "keepers of the Eastern door." I hope nobody minds my spin on their warrior hair style.

I've been whining about protecting little ears again since dog-ma said she'd seen puppies and human babies at last weekend's music concerts. I asked the wonderful vet Jona Sun Jordan, DVM, to offer us some advice. Thank you, Dr. J!

"Young pet and human ears are especially sensitive to intense sound," Dr. Jordan says. "Exposure to continued or impulse noise above a certain level — about 100 decibels — can cause pain to little ones and even instantaneous hearing damage. Sound level at a concert can reach 115 to 120 decibels, the pain threshold for the average human adult."

I ask, how can a human stand sound this loud at a concert? Dr. Jordan explains, "When a person has been enjoying alcohol or other substances, their sense of hearing is dulled. This means that dangerously loud music may not sound all that loud to them. To be safe, little ones should have the appropriate protection at a concert even if the adults don't think the music sounds all that loud."

Grrr. This is serious. When pets, kids, and babies, are near big stage speakers, it's like they're standing next to someone firing a rifle — only it's worse, because speakers get louder with sudden feedback blasts or when accidentally turned up.

Dr. Jordan adds, "I know of one case where a boy lost his hearing during a loud concert. He was lucky and most of his hearing returned after a few months, but it was a scary time for him and his family."

Here are 5 simplified points for ear protection:

(1) If it sounds loud to you, it's too loud for pets and children, and damaging to ears of human babies and animal babies.

(2) All concerts are too loud, period. There's no "safe" concert for pets and little ones to attend. Not unless they remain way in the back of the audience and also far away from any back speakers.

(3) Little ones need earplugs to be safe around any potential loudness. You can make or buy earplugs for pets and kids. Get them to practice wearing new earplugs before they need to.

(4) Consult health professionals. It takes skill to plug little ears effectively and safely, especially tiny baby ears. Your veterinary and pediatric humans would be pawsitively pleased to help protect little ears!

(5) Make sure earplugs are effectively muffling sound. Keep little ones away from intensely loud sound anyway.

------------------

Dr. Jona Sun Jordan and her caring staff are at Coddingtown Veterinary Clinic, Santa Rosa, California. She practices Eastern holistic medicine, including TCM and nutritional and herbal therapy, as well as Western medicine. She sees "all furry pets (except tarantulas), including but not limited to cats, dogs, ferrets, rats, mice, guinea pigs, chinchillas, gerbils, hamsters, hedgehogs, ocelots, servals, margays, and even coatimundis."