Ice Wind is our April 30, 2017 Pup of the Week

Pintus and Rain loved one another as siblings for many years, and they arrived at the Bridge within a year of one another.  This left their mother Miss Marisela and their brother Junior with only one another to comfort each other.

They knew their mom and Junior needed another dog but, like all angels, they had to convince their moms that she was ready, and then they had to find the right dog, and make sure the new dog would get along with Junior.  It was a monumental task.  But there is never a task too hard for motivated angels.

Pintus and Rain devoted two hours a day to interview dogs, but they could never come across the right one.  They were both very worried.

Then they met a beautiful black and white terrier.  They knew that he would be perfect for their mom.  Now they needed to convince their mom to go to the adoption event where this little boy was waiting.

They asked Junior to convince her to go.  “If I could convince her to go anywhere she wouldn’t visit anywhere but PetSmart and the dog park.”  Pintus and Rain knew they had to get into their mom’s dreams and convince her to go.

It took some convincing, but on the morning of the adopting event, Miss Marisela had her angel’s voice in her head telling her to go to the event.  She had no intention of adopting another dog.  Pintus then went to the dog and made sure he knew what Miss Marisela looked like and to act especially cute when she saw him.

The pup followed directions perfectly, and when Miss Marisela saw him, she knew he was meant to be part of her pack.  Anyone who talks to Miss Marisela for five minutes knows she is a perfect pet parent, so she was quickly approved to take this pup home.

Rain was very proud when Miss Marisela named her new seven-month-old pup Ice Wind.  He said it was in honor of him, from Rain to Ice and Wind.  Pintus told me he believed the name had nothing to do with his brother.  You know how siblings fight.

But they are also happy that their mom has a new baby to snuggle with, and their brother has someone to play with.  Their missions were complete.

And now we can follow the adventures of Ice Wind.  Long may he run.

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: The Summer of Jake

On Sunday I wrote about the little pup who lived with mommy for a few days and inspired her to be the great dog mom she is today.   Within three years of meeting that little dog, mommy, who was now married to daddy, got her Shih Tzu Blake, and a few years later me.  But that skips over the Summer of Jake.

Mommy has three children.  Child number two, at 18, got married and moved to South Dakota with her husband, who was beginning a short stint in the Air Force.  While they were living at Edward’s Air Force Base, they adopted a Lab mix named Jake.

One summer second daughter’s husband got assigned to a base in Saudi Arabia.  This was pre 9/11 so, while his service was greatly appreciated, his work with the ground crew was not life threatening.  But second daughter was distressed.  She needed to come home to mom, and she needed to bring Jake.

Mommy did not want a big, shedding dog, who spent most of his time outside, in her house making everything dirty.  She suggested that the dog could stay at mommy’s ex-husband’s, who was living in their family home, with the big yard, another sacrifice mom made for her children during the divorce. But second daughter was insistent.  She needed her dog while her husband was in a “WAR ZONE.”

At this time mommy had a cat, Gizmo, a Siamese with a nasty disposition.  Gizmo had two joys in her life.  One was napping.  The second was hiding behind furniture, waiting for someone to pass, then jumping out and biting them.  Mommy knew a big hairy dog would only make Gizmo worse.

But there was no dissuading second daughter.  Before Jake arrived, Daddy bought a chain and put in the back yard.  At 3:30 in the morning, two hours before my parents had to get up for work, second daughter and Jake arrived.  Daddy held Jake while second daughter moved her possessions into the downstairs bedroom.  He then showed her where Jake’s outside area was located.  Second daughter was displeased.  She did not want to have to go outside to leash Jake and moved the chain closer to the door.

Gizmo came down the stairs.  Daddy picked Gizmo up and showed her Jake. Gizmo screamed, scratched Daddy’s arm, and ran upstairs.

Things had started swimmingly.

Mommy and daddy kept Gizmo in the bedroom at night while they didn’t sleep.  The didn’t sleep because Gizmo spent the whole night jumping from the bed to a bureau, to a chair, and back again, often walking across heads.  He might settle for a minute, but any sound was a signal that Jake was on the move and Gizmo panicked.  

During the day Jake was outside.  A distrusting Gizmo found somewhere to hide, often in the bathroom closet.  The three children were told to keep the closet door shut, which was as effective as shouting moving directions to a rock.  Gizmo would get trapped in the closet during the rare moments when someone closed the door, and when the door was opened hours later, Gizmo came flying all of the closet, a combination of claws, whiskers, teeth and attitude, scaring the poor towel seeker.

Jake spent most of the day lying in the dirt.  Daddy tried to take him for walks, but he was aggressive towards people and dogs.  When second daughter came home, Jake would sit in the kitchen while second daughter ate.  Then they would retire to second daughter’s room, which Jake could not have made messier if he had explosive diarrhea.  No one can match a 20-year-old millennial for messy.  Occasionally Jake got loose, and he gnawed the wooden window sills, ate shoes, and in one memorable day, made oldest daughter yell “He raked my boob!”  Jake was a boob raker all right.

Second daughter’s concern about her husband in a war zone lessened as she renewed high school friendships.  Her husband’s money was being sent to her.  One day he called her and asked for more money.  She told him no, he didn’t need any money, who needs money in the middle of the desert?   Her compassion for Jake was equally limited as she stayed out late and one of my parents would have to bring the lonely dog inside and, much to Gizmo’s dismay, let him lie on the floor while they watched TV.

After a long three-month deployment second daughter moved back, with Jake, to South Dakota.  The summer of Jake was the high point to many of the souls involved.  Second daughter and her husband had a beautiful baby.  They moved back home when his tour was over.  After the baby was born Jake, and a second dog they acquired, Casey, lived in the basement for a couple of months until they were surrendered to animal control.  Casey was adopted, but Jake was determined to be too aggressive.  I knew he wasn’t aggressive, he just had a broken heart.  Shortly after that second daughter left her husband for a second husband.

As for Gizmo, he was there when Blake joined the family, and when they moved to their condo.  After Jake Gizmo became more withdrawn and mean.  He also began eating plastic bags.  Son number one was living with them, and he still hadn’t learned how to shut doors.  While the family worked hard at keeping plastic away from Gizmo son number one forgot to shut his bedroom door, Gizmo went in his room and ate an entire plastic trash bag.  That night Gizmo went to the Bridge.

A week later my parents drove the Northern Central Massachusetts and brought home a little Yorkie named Foley and the rest is history.

So not only do I owe the little dog mommy found in her driveway but I also owe Jake.  I see him at Rainbow Bridge, and he asks how my mom is.  Hopefully, he forgot how second daughter broke his heart.  Hopefully, someday, in the distant future, mommy will find out if it works for her.

River Song and the troublesome lawn mower

All winter I could not wait to get outside and begin supervising my parent's landscaping.  Winter is cold and dark. We remember the warm, sun-filled days fondly.  While I sat, hogging mom’s lap, as the snow snapped against the windows and cold air seeped through crevices all I recalled our Monday garden days and the beautiful flowers.

When the perennials burst from the soil summoning the warmer air, I was thrilled.  The first time our pink stroller was unfolded, Pocket and I were lifted, then placed inside, and safely zippered in, I settled down awaiting the scent of lovely flowers to waft past my nose and the beautiful butterflies to flutter down on our soft enclosure.

I had forgotten what preceded all of that.  Before Romeo and Juliet was first performed men long forgotten built the sets with no fanfare.  Before the many flowers that will fill out six gardens can be planted my parents have to do the hard work of preparation.

The lawn is as important as the garden.  It needs to be thick, green, and evenly cut.  The last time Daddy cut the grass in the fall the pull cord on the mower did not recoil.  Like all men, Daddy thought the best recourse was to put the mower in the shed and hope it got better over the winter.

It didn’t.  At some point during the fall Daddy removed the coiler from the mower.  It had been held in place by three screws.  In the spring the screws were missing. 

 According to Daddy a homeless vagrant must have broken in the shed and stolen the three screws, and nothing else.  According to mom’s divorce attorney, any action she took would not be worth the payoff.

The grass needed to be cut.  It is where Pocket and I do our business.  When it is wet with early morning dew half our small bodies became soaked.  Every time Daddy pulled the rope the coiler came off.  He put his left foot on the coiler to hold it down, grabbed hold of the bar on the handle to engage the starter, bent over, grabbed the pull rope with his left hand and pulled it with all his might.  The mower started just as his left hand crushed his groin causing him to let go of the starter bar and the engine to sputter and stop.

Non-Lutheran verbiage ensued.  Once recovered he switched hands, so he was pulling the cord away from him like he was awkwardly bowling.

After three attempts the mower roared to life, and the lawn was cut quickly.  If the motor stopped chances of getting the motor restarted were slim.

There were also weeds to be whacked.  Daddy had bought a new electric whacker.  Some of our flowers beds, bushes, and trees, are ringed by bricks, and next to the bricks are white stones.   It is very pretty.  When Daddy put his powerful whacker near the stones they were fired across the lawn like Kim Jong Il launching a military strike after a gall stone attack.  Luckily our stroller her up under the onslaught.

Another day without any pretty flowers but the good news is that we survived.  Please arrive beautiful flowers:  You seem to bring peace to the yard.

Wordless Wednesday

Beat This Caption

You wouldn't believe what I had to do to get a pillow

Monday Question

What are your grooming habits?  Do you go to the groomers?  What is your bathing schedule?  Do you have any other secrets? 

Our answer:  We have been going to our groomers, Groomingdales, since before Foley was born.  The groomers helped us find River Song.  Her ex-boyfriend lives there.  We get bathed, usually, once a week.

Temporarily Winnie is our April 23, 2017 pup of the week

We all love when dogs are reunited with their frantic parents.  Usually, some stranger finds the dog and cares for it until a mother and child reunion occurs.  We rejoice in their joy.  But what about the strangers.

On a Tuesday Eve L. Ewing saw a beautiful dog weaving in and out of traffic on the west side of Chicago.  She stopped her car, coaxed the stray inside and brought her home.

When Eve got home, she found the dog’s chip registry collar.  Eve called the number and was told they knew the date and location of the chip’s insertion but had no owner information.  Eve called the location where the dog got her chip, and they had no record of putting a chip in a dog that day.  

The dog was happily investigating Eve’s apartment.  When Eve sat down the dog jumped in her lap and laid down.  Eve began calling her Winnie after Winnie Mandela.

One thing that applies to all us dogs:  Once we enter your home’s we enter your heart’s.  Winnie had captured Eve’s heart.

Eve was still invested in finding Winnie’s owner.  She drove Winnie, most of the time on her lap, because Winnie loves laps, to the vet’s office where Winnie got her chip to scan the device and see if it yielded clues to her true owners.

The vet determined that the chip did not match the company listed on the collar.  Eve returned home with Winnie where she called four different chip manufacturers.  The chip was not registered with any of them.

Eve began to wonder what would happen if she never found Winnie’s owner.  She traveled regularly, she lived in a condo that didn’t allow dogs, her roommate was not sure if he wanted a dog, but there was Winnie, looking at her, with those deep brown eyes, wagging her tail, giving kisses.

Winnie was brought to a groomer’s for a bath.  When Eve returned to pick Winnie up the little dog reacted with a big smile and a wagging tail.  The groomer told Eve “She looks like she is saying ‘that’s my mom.'"

Eve also took the biggest step to being a dog owner.  She bought a name tag with Winnie’s name on it.

Two days later, while she was walking home, Eve looked forward to taking Winnie for a walk and began to wonder if her dreams of someday having a dog were coming true, that she rescued Winnie from the highway because Winnie was meant to be hers.  

Four days after Winnie found Eve they were playing fetch with a tennis ball in Eve’s condo when Eve checked her phone and found a voice mail from an anxious woman with a Polish accent.  The woman has lost her dog.  Eve asked the woman to send her a photo of the lost dog.  It was Winnie.

Winnie’s name was Jessica.  Her mom had gone on a trip and left Jessica with a friend who let Jessica slip out of the house.  Eve returned Winnie, now Jessica, to her home.  Jessica’s owner promised Eve a puppy when Jessica had a litter.

Eve went home in tears, and, despite being told what a beautiful, wonderful thing she had done for Jessica and her mom, the tears would not stop, as she clutched Winnie’s name tag.

25 years ago a woman found a little black and white Shih Tzu in her driveway.  The woman had dogs before, but they were outside dogs, and she had never bonded with them.  But this playful little dog, prancing on her back legs, and using her paws little like little boxing gloves, captured her heart completely.  The woman bought food for the dog, gave it water, and a home for three days.  She contacted the police and animal control.  No one called.  Then, on a Sunday, the phone rang, and it was a woman who said she lost a dog fitting the Shih Tzus description.  At first, the woman caring for the dog was skeptical, but when the people arrived for the Shih Tzu, the little dog barked happily and leaped into her father’s arms.  In a second the little dog who had lived with the woman and filled her heart with joy for three days was gone.

But it made the woman realize she could open her heart to a dog.  Two years later came a little Shih Tzu named Blake, and four years after that a Yorkie named Foley Monster, and the rest it history.

Despite Eve’s pain, we hope she takes this bad case of lemons and turns them into great lemonade as Eve becomes another in a long line of great dog moms.

And like mommy owes it to that little Shih Tzu Eve will owe it to little Winnie.

Flowers for Dory

Here are some flowers in tribute to our beautiful friend Dory

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: A Shared World

I am used to getting prayers about tomorrow:  Please let the surgery go well tomorrow, please let me pass my test tomorrow, please let her tell me that she loves me tomorrow, but lately I have started to get prayers about tomorrow, and these prayers are asking that tomorrow comes.

I don’t know why man created a bomb that could kill the planet.  One theory is that humans, in their never ending quest to save the world, and their uncontrollable instinct to do things backward, created a weapon capable of destroying the world to save the world.  As with most things humans, their plan backfired.

Now lots of countries have lots of bombs that can end the world all believing these weapons will keep them safe.  It is like setting the kitchen on fire to save the living room without realizing that it will burn the entire house down.

A group of dogs is a pack; a group of cats is a clowder, a group of cows is a herd, and a group of people with power but always seeking more is called a government.

The first thing a government does is to try and protect itself, and the best way humans can figure to protect themselves is to blow things up.  Every time one government blows things up another one tries to blow more stuff up.

And they never stop to think that they are not the only creatures on sharing this planet.  People are afraid of snakes, bears, sharks, and lions that none of them ever came together to end the world.  Instead of fearing animals humans should look to the animals who have been riding this planet longer than they have and have never started a war.

I often hear people say that the Big Guy won’t let anything bad happen to the people of Earth.  Let me dissuade you of that notion.  He created this vast, self-sustaining, life-giving planet to give billions of people a place to live and thrive.  It is up to each generation, who is only on the planet for 100 years, to care for the Earth and return it in a better fashion, or at least as good as they found it.  The current generation on Earth is the first to leave the planet in worse shape than they found it, and there are no guarantees that they will even live in inhabitable.

I know you humans cannot change what your government does.  But you can make the world a better place.  Simply follow the example of the animals and be kind to one another. If every person tried to be kind to a person once a month for April, and then added one more person for each upcoming month, soon the world will be a kinder place, and maybe the kindness will rub off on the governments who will be less likely to want to destroy a cruel world.

If there are people, then there are no prayers and if there are no prayers than we are out of a job.  The immortal world is constantly growing to make room for additional spirits, but we don’t have room for the souls of every person alive to arrive at once.  We angels will be jobless, and with the overcrowding homeless, and the immortal life will become as unbearable as the mortal one.

I am going to pray that mortal souls have one more day on their planet.  Every day I will make this prayer, and hopefully, I will be saying that prayer for a billion days.

But you on the mortal side need to start taking care of your planet and each other.  There is only so much the angels can do.  

Call Pocket the Midwife

When I was a young dog, living in Foley’s shadow, trying to measure up to my famous sister, the attorney, I made claims that I was a doctor.  I even placed ads on animal social networking sites.  I soon learned the only reason Foley let me practice medicine was that she was cleaning up on malpractice suits.  I immediately took down all the ads and stopped my medical career.

At least I thought I took down all the ads.  I had advertised on individual zoo sites about being a midwife.  There, it remained without response, until last weekend.

I got a message from April the giraffe, who needed a midwife.  I tried telling her I was no longer practicing but have you ever tried to reason with a giraffe in the midst of a two-month long labor?

I dug out Foley’s codes to download herself through the Internet tubes, and I punched them into the computer, then jumped on the keyboard, and was transported to April’s exhibit.

She was walking around in tremendous pain.  “Midwife Pocket, I am tired of being pregnant, tell me what to do.”

I looked up at the giant beast.  I had to keep darting around because one misstep by her would squish me.  I thought about all the pregnancy scenes I saw on television.  “Breath like this,” I said. “Woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo.”

She breathed “woo woo woo woo woo woo woo woo.”

“Let me check your progress,” I said.  I ducked under April and looked up.  My, that was a big opening.  
Suddenly a baby giraffe stuck it’s head out and said “Helllooooo!” then popped back inside.

“Hey you, baby giraffe!” I yelled.  “You get back out here right now.”

The baby stayed inside and said, “Sorry, no one is home, come back later!”

I almost got squashed by a giant hoof.  “Baby giraffe!” I yelled. “You need to come out, it’s your birthday.”

“My birthday!” it yelled.  “Then he fell right out to take part in his birthday party.”

After months of preparing for this birth you would think the zoo would have put a net under April to catch her offspring, but no, it just fell out, right on top of good, old, Pocket   The President may think he is doing damage by dropping the mother of all bombs but he should really be dropping the sons of mother giraffes because when those land on you they mess you up!

Once a baby is born there is no use for a midwife.  I slipped over to the computer and uploaded myself back home.

Then I made sure all posts about me being a doctor was erased from the Web.

But this was a high-profile pregnancy and I wouldn’t be surprised if, after my success, Pocket the midwife is called upon again.

Wordless Wednesday

Beat This Caption

What are you looking at me for?  The thing just blew it's brains out!  I didn't do nuthin' you hear me.  You don't have a shred of evidence.  

Pups of the Week: Easter Prayers

Today is Easter Sunday.  I have some readers who go the Church every Sunday, I have some readers who do not, and I have some who are chreasters and only go to Church on Christmas and Easter.  But I know everyone believes in prayers.  I think that the Big Guy has to grant prayer request on this holiest of days and I ask for prayers for the following friends.

We pray for two of our favorite pups, Pepper and her sister JuJu.  Pepper has lost nearly half of her kidney function.  The doctor thinks that Pepper can have a year to two, but those might not be quality years.  Please pray to give Pepper many more good days and that her kidneys keep functioning. Ju Ju has a tear in one of her chordal attachments.  She needs to be checked out again in three months.  There is no way to repair this.  We pray that Ju Ju’s heart does not become weaker and she and Pepper stay with their mom for many more years.

We pray for sweet Ruger.  Something has poor Ruger very upset.  He has been trembling and hiding from his family.  His mom is searching for answers why Ruger is no longer himself.  We ask for calming prayers for Ruger.

We pray for Boris.  Our friend Boris had a molar out, and that is very painful.  We ask for healing prayers for Boris and that he is no longer in any pain.

We pray for little Mouse.  He was having routine dental work done when the doctor found a growth in this mouth that was biopsied.  We are asking for prayers that the biopsy comes back negative.

We pray for 16-year-old Macdougal who, after his last liver enzyme test, showed a slight increase in the ALT test results.  His mom hopes this was just from nerves.  We pray for that she is right.

We pray for our friends Reese and Kole.  Their live-in Uncle Rob is in the hospital far away and he isn’t home for Easter, their grandmom’s dog Sara was hit by a car and had to go toe Rainbow Bridge, and their dad Jeff is recovering from Bell’s Palsy.  We pray that their uncle and dad are healed and that their mom has nothing but good memories of Sara and for their grandmom and may her heart be healed soon.

We pray for our friends Dory and Sugar, who recently arrived at Rainbow Bridge.  We did not know them well while they were on the mortal side but many of our friends loved them very much.  We pray that you heal Dory and Sugar’s families’ broke hearts and that they are able to sense when these two new angels visit them.

And we pray for all our friends, and our families, in these dark and troubled times.  May they have nothing but good health and success in the coming months and that we can all live in peace.

I wish you all a happy and serene Easter.

Tails From Rainbow Bridge: Looking for the Great Bear

I have been asked to pray for lots of requests and have always found a way to at least try to accommodate my friends. But last week my friends Enzo, Maya, and Molly had a unique request. They were being terrorized by a wild, 300-pound bear, who was hungry, desperate, and breaking into houses in their quiet mountain town.

Enzo asked me to talk to the Great Bear at Rainbow Bridge. He wanted me to persuade Great Bear to reason with the marauding bear and leave their snow covered, no summer allowed, quiet mountain town in peace.

I had never said no to a prayer request before, but honestly, this one gave me pause. I may have been a five-pound whirlwind of daring-do and terror, but I had never gone up against a bear, not Pooh, not Yogi, not Gentle Ben, none of them. Bears are bad for your health, even if you are immortal.

But a Yorkshire Terrier can never refuse a favor during Passover. I put on my snowshoes and journeyed up the mountain into bear territory. I came upon a sleuth of six bears sitting on benches eating meat. “Oh look, an hors devours,” one of them said as he scooped me up. “I think it would look good dipped in honey.”

“Excuse me,” I said. I was unceremoniously dropped.

“My hors devours talked!” one bear said.

“Never stopped us before,” a second said.

I stood up, dusted myself off, and swallowed my indignation. “I am Judge Foley Monster of the Fourth Circuit of Rainbow Bridge, and I have come to meet with the Great Bear. I am not an hors devours.”

“Well you certainly aren’t a full meal,” the first bear said.

I ignored him. “Can someone please tell me where the Great Bear is?” I said impatiently.

“Keep going up, up and further up,” the first bear said. He took a piece of paper and wrote a note. I looked at it “I am not an hors devours. Do not eat.”

“You’re going to need that,” the bear said. The others laughed. I hate funny bears.

I pinned the note to my chest and climbed further, and suddenly I came to this big, hairy, smelly being snoring against a tree.

“Oh my gosh,” I said. “I didn’t realize Mommy’s first husband went to the Bridge.”

Then I realized it was the Great Bear. 

I tried to control my trembling and act like I was an equal to the giant beast. “Excuse me, sir,” the Great Bear turned around. “My name is Judge Foley Monster, and I have been sent here with a prayer request from my friends Enzo, Maya, and Molly. There is a bear that is loose around their houses. They ask that you kindly ask the bear not to damage their property, break their windows, eat their food or, or,” my mind had gone blank from nervous exhaustion. I searched my pockets and found the message. “Oh, and don’t eat them or their families. I should have lead with that. That’s the important one. Sorry.”

The Great Bear looked down on me. “Bears are hungry. They are looking for food to survive. They do not want to hurt your friends. If they find no food at their houses, the Bears will move along.”
“But they are scary.”

“We did not ask to be big, or scary. We are very gentle. For you brave Foley I will try to tell this bear to move on. But I can’t guarantee, and, as you know, we angels only have so much control of life on the mortal side. But you tell your friends I will do my best to keep me safe. Now would you like some salmon.”

I said I did and then we sat down for a lovely meal. The bear was a perfect gentleman. After the meal, he turned, looked at me and burped. It knocked me back down the mountain.

Hopefully, Enzo, Maya, and Molly the bear will listen to the Giant Bear and stay away. If not remember that you should not be afraid of the bear hurting you. You should be afraid of the bear burping in your face.

That will knock you down your mountain. If you see a bear with gas run.

Beauty in Memory of Sugar

River Song Finds Spring

After eight months of winter, I had finally reached my freezing point.  I wanted spring, and I wanted it now.

After three winters in the Northeast I have learned what brings spring:  Flowers.  I was sick of the flowers staying in the ground.  It was time for a flower pep talk.

One morning Pocket and I were brought out on our leads for an opening pee.  Pocket sniffed around the grass looking for the proper spot.  I slipped into the garden and looked down at the flowers.

“Alright you lazy bums,” I barked.  “You listen to me.  It is time for you to stop hiding under the ground and show yourselves.  I know the world is a scary place and none of us know if the sun is going to rise tomorrow but if I have to be here then so do you.  So help me God, if I don’t see some buds tomorrow, I am digging you up myself.”  Then I peed on them like a blackmailing Russian hooker.

The next morning I revisited the garden.  I didn’t see any sprouts.  I was ready to lay paw into the garden.  Then I saw one tiny shoot.  “Who are you?” I asked.

“I’m Bob,” the shoot said.

“Hi Bob, where are your friends?”

“They sent me out first to see how things are.  It’s kind of cold here.”

“Of course it’s cold.  You flowers drive the cold away.”

“No, we don’t.  We wait for the warm to come up.”

“Hey!  I’m no arguing semantics here.  Tomorrow I want to see more of you little shoots, or I am introducing you to my front paws Lou, and my back paws Seal and you do not want to meet Lou Seal.”

The next morning there were a few more shoots but not enough to make winter flee.  “What is your problem?” I asked.  

“We’re still cold,” he said.

“Listen, you need to get your act together and start sprouting you bunch of pansies!”

“Actually we’re lilacs.”

“Don’t sass me!” I yelled, peed, and went back in the house.

A couple of mornings later the flowers were in bloom.  I thanked them.  The next day it was warm and sunny.   As I passed the flowers I told them that I was right, they did bring the sun and warm weather.  As I was walking away, I thought I heard one of them call me a dumb dog.  I showed them Lou and Seal to quiet them.

To my neighbors in the Northeast, I want you to know that you don’t have to thank me for bringing the warm weather.  Just remember you owe me.

Wordless Wednesday

Beat This Caption

"So, you were at work all night?  Well, I called work and no one has seen you since 5:00 PM.  Now you come home reeking of Tropiclean and Greenies.  Why don't you tell me what is going on?"

Monday Question

What was the last thing you found and brought to your parents as a gift?  We are not hunters.  The best we can do is the napkins River tears up and the socks she finds on the floor.

Miracle is our April 9, 2017 pup of the week

As Angels we often have to pray for a miracle, but seldom have we had to pray for a dog named Miracle.

This story goes all the way back to December.  Miracle, a pitbull mix, was living in an abandoned factory in Orangeburg South Carolina. The warehouse caught fire.  Miracle was found limping down the road near the burning factory.  She was picked up by a passerby and brought to animal control.  

They examined her and determined that she had a broken leg and she was producing milk.  Somewhere Miracle had puppies that needed to be located.  

The animal control officer called the fire department and asked if he could take Miracle to the warehouse to find her pups.   The officer was told that the warehouse was not safe.  The officer had to wait four days before he could bring Miracle back to the building in search of her puppies.  They held out little hope that the pups had survived the fire.

Miracle was put on the ground near the warehouse.  Miracle turned and walked towards the neighboring woods.  She came to a little-wooded area in a grove.  She began to nuzzle around, and six little eyes looked up at her.  Miracle had carried her pups from the burning warehouse to the woods where she knew they would be safe then limped up the road looking for help.  The pups waited for their mom to return.

Miracle and her pups were brought to the Dochas n Gra Animal Rescue to be nursed back to health.  The pups stayed with their mom until they were weaned and then they went to the Happy Tail Dog Rescue in Smithtown, New York.  

Miracle remained in South Carolina because, after her leg was X-rayed it was determined that her left leg was broken at the shoulder joint and it needed to be amputated.  Once Miracle was strong enough to travel she was sent to Happy Tails too.  

Victoria McGonigal, who volunteers at the Docha n Gra Rescue said. “I was a blubbering mess when I put her on transport.  You could tell she was so grateful for being found and being taken care of. She would jump in my lap and give me hugs.”

By the time Miracle got to New York her pups had found homes.  Volunteers determined that Miracle must have been, at one time, in a home with a family, given the way she reacted around people.

Right now Miracle is at a foster home.  If the fostering works out Miracle will stay there.  If not there are 40 people who have volunteered to give Miracle a home.

None of us are surprised by Miracle’s heroic actions.  We all know our parents will do anything to save us.  Both human parents and dog parents.