it’s hard to bow to the vastness of the sea when being pulled under

I was walking our dog during the pandemic, the neighborhood empty, the clouds heavy, and, through my headphones, the music of a man now gone, the love from his soul helping me keep my head above water. And though it’s hard to bow to the vastness of the sea when being pulled under, hard to believe in the merit of light when lost in the dark, hard to wait on love when painfully lonely—these larger truths never stop being true. Even as I voice this, someone is dying in the hall of an overcrowded hospital, while another is lifted from their own hell by the grace of a kindness no one saw coming. As if the spirit of the one dying arrives like pollen in the heart of the one stuck in hell, giving them just enough to begin again. If we could only give the extra warmth we receive to someone who is shivering. If we could shed the masks that keep us from ourselves, there would be enough to save the world.

~ Mark Nepo, “Sheltered-in-Place” (FB, April 5, 2020)


Notes: Photo – Axios. Quote: Thank you Make Believe Boutique. Inspired by Ray’s post: It’s all about Perspective

Time Well Spent (got jacked up on rage)

They knew us as the ones who checked the day’s euth list for the names of the dogs scheduled to be killed the next morning, who came to take the death-row dogs…for a last long walk, brought them good dinners, cleaned out their kennels, and made their beds with beach towels and bath mats and Scooby-Doo fleece blankets still warm from industrial dryers…They knew us as the ones who worked for free, who felt that an hour stroking a blanket-wrapped dog whose head never left your lap and who was killed the next morning was time well spent…The knew me as one who love in them…the patent need, the clinging, the appetite. They knew me as one who saw their souls in their faces, who had never seen eyes more expressive than theirs in colors of clover honey, root beer, riverbed… We would do anything for them – their heads and bodies crossed with scars like unlucky life lines in a human hand, yet whose tails still wagged when we reached to pet them…They knew me as one who got jacked up on rage and didn’t know what to do with it, until a dog dug a ball from the corner of his kennel and brought it to my side, as though to ask, “Have you thought of this.” …They knew me as one who saw through the windowed panel…a dog lift first one front paw and then the other, offering a paw to shake though there was no one there, doing a trick he had once been taught and praised for…They knew me as one who decoded the civic boast of a “full-service” shelter, that it means the place kills animals, that the “full service” offered is death…They knew me as one who asked another volunteer if she would mind holding Creamsicle, a young vanilla and orange pup, while I cleaned his soiled kennel and made his bed at the end of the night…We were both tired, and took turns holding the pup against our hearts. They saw this; they knew this. The ward went quiet. We took our time.

~ Amy Hempel, from “A Full-Service Shelter” in “Sing to It: New Stories” (Scribner, March 26, 2019)

 


Image Source

It’s been a long week


Source: Gifak-net

He is running, running, running

spill-simmer-falter-wither-book-jacket

He is running, running, running. And it’s like no kind of running he’s ever run before. He’s the surge that burst the dam and he’s pouring down the hillslope, channelling through the grass to the width of his widest part. He’s tripping into hoof-rucks. He’s slapping groundsel stems down dead. Dandelions and chickweed, nettles and dock. This time, there’s no chance for sniff and scavenge and scoff. There are no steel bars to end his lap, no chain to jerk at the limit of its extension, no bellowing to trick and bully him back. This time, he’s further than he’s ever seen before, past every marker along the horizon line, every hump and spork he learned by heart. […]

He is running, running, running. And there’s no course or current to deter him. There’s no impulse from the root of his brain to the roof of his skull which says other than RUN.

~ Sara Baume, from the Prologue of Spill Simmer Falter Wither (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015)


Ray, a 57-year-old loner on Britain’s southern coast, adopts a one-eyed terrier. You can guess what happens next: Ray falls head over heels in love and is soon organizing his life around One Eye’s walks and feedings…Ray falls deeper under the spell of the damaged but joy-filled dog who has transformed his “squat, vacant life” and renewed his interest in his surroundings…This lovely book seems destined to become a small classic of animal communion literature, fervently handed along among friends and family…Early on, Ray asks himself a question that anyone whose life has been changed by a pet will recognize: “What did I use to do all day without you? Already I can’t remember.”

~ Sam Sacks, from his book review of Spill Simmer Falter Wither


One of NPR’s Best Books of 2016.  See NPR book review: For A Young Irish Artist And Author, Words Are Anchored In Images

Sunday Morning: Loki


“Kelly Lund adopted Loki in 2012, he had no idea that the life and love he shared with this husky/arctic wolf/malamute mix would lead to full-blown Instagram stardom. What began as a personal mission to enter Loki’s canine world and give him the life he was meant to enjoy outside quickly somersaulted into an international movement to experience the world with man’s best friend.”

Find the full Loki story here: Loki the Wolfdog

Find more photos at his instagram account here: loki_the_wolfdog

38° F. It’s still cold out there.

elephants-winter-cold

“Young, orphaned elephants are bundled up against the cold before going to bed at night at an animal rescue center in Kaziranga, in India’s Assam state.”


Source: wsj.com by Roger Allen/I-Mages/Zuma Press)

 

Rescue Us

pets,rescue,

“I’d like people to start to look at animals as individuals,” she said. “If everyone did a bit more, if they fell in love a little bit more, so much could happen. It doesn’t have to be going vegan. You can advocate for them. You can show tenderness. You can play music for them. I really hope people can connect with animals the way most of us did as children.”

That’s the thing about animals we grow close to, Ms. Stewart added: “We talk about taking in ‘rescue animals.’ But the truth is, just as often, animals rescue us.”

~ Judith Newman, Tracey Stewart’s Animal Planet


Tracey Stewart is the editor-in-chief of the website Moomah, which provides parents and kids with fun, easy, and effective ways to contribute to varying kinds of nonprofits. A passionate animal advocate and expert (she’s a former veterinary technician), she lives on a farm in New Jersey with her husband, Jon Stewart; two kids; four dogs; two pigs; one hamster; three rabbits; two guinea pigs; one parrot; and two fish—all rescues except for the kids.

Don’t miss Judith Newman’s background story on Tracey Stewart: Tracey Stewart’s Animal Planet

Tracey Stewart’s book will be released on Amazon on October 20, 2015: Do Unto Animals


Rescue (85 sec)


When South African filmmaker Dave Meinert took into his life a Great Dane puppy, whom he named Pegasus, he was told that the tiny canine might not live very long due to her difficult beginnings in a squalid backyard puppy mill. With this in mind, Meinert set about documenting Pegasus every day for six months as she walked or tried to walk on a treadmill. He then compiled the footage together and created an incredibly touching time-lapse film entitled “The Pegasus Project.” Meinert discussed the project in an interview with Fast Company.

“Rescuing her was a way for me to be sure she’d be looked after,” Meinert says. “For me, she had already been born—nothing was going to change that. By rescuing her, at least I could be certain that she wouldn’t be discarded.” Rather than dwell on the negatives about her life, he says, “I decided to make a record of the healthy days as a way to celebrate them.”

And also note that today (August 26th) is National Dog Day.


Source: Laughing Squid

Rescue Me

rescue 1 Rescue 2

rescue 3 rescue 4

rescue 6 rescue 5


Beagle rescued from testing lab. He had never previously walked on grass.

And be sure not to miss this video.


Image Source: Chikita Banana

Bona Fide (not). But loved it anyway.


Voting over. Hands down the best ad in the upcoming Superbowl XLVIII. 5,300,000 views on Youtube and counting.


Thank you Rachel

Repeat after me: “Nakama”

rudeneja-fall-autumn-words-Lithuanianvedriti-shelter-from-rain-slovenian [Read more…]

Today’s Weather

today's weather

Dealing with Rainy Weather - Frog


Source: Weather – Google.  Frog – themetapicture.com

Moved.

“Mohammad Azmi, a 55-year-old former contractor, has dedicated his life to rescuing stray dogs and cats, despite living in a country (Malaysia) where dogs are considered taboo and filthy…However for Mohammad Azmi, who is fondly known as Pak Mie, his love for these animals is unconditional, as he, with the help from his wife, splurge their savings on the stray animals by providing a shelter, food and medication on daily basis, apart getting donations from concerned citizens… This also means that they have to lead a simple life; so simple that they sleep in the car parked outside the shelter that they built just to make sure that no one harms the animals during the night. Although Pak Mie knows that he will never get anything in return by sacrificing his normal life, he is hopeful that he will continue to do so until his last breath.”

The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.
~ Mahatma Gandhi

A Stray Hero from Hisyam on Vimeo.

Sliding into nap time with Ray LaMontagne…

Ray Lamontagne sings “Shelter” and then segues into “Hold You In My Arms” in this (yes, amazing) BBC clip.  And speaking of segues, this will take me straight away to a long, lazy Saturday afternoon nap.



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