Category: Writing

Staying in balance.

We, as in humanity, could be very close to the end!

Now my sub-title could be argued as being a tad provocative and, perhaps, it is. But I wanted to catch your attention and then hope that you stay with me for today’s post.

Jean and I belong to the Humanists & Freethinkers Group of Grants Pass. At last Saturday’s meeting the main item was a talk given by William Kötke: His website is here. Bill, as he was happy to be called, is the author of the books The Final Empire and Garden Planet (the links take you to the respective Amazon pages). Bill also has more details of his first book here.

The essence of Bill’s talk was that when we ‘evolved’ from a life of hunting and gathering to developing the land for agricultural purposes we lost our connection to the planet. For the simple reason that as foragers we depended on always being able to find edible wild plants and fruit, and therefore lived in balance with the land, but when we started to farm we became protective, materialistic and greedy. For having more land, even if one took it by force from another, equated to making more; making more food, using the surplus to buy favours, sell, etc.

Some of the facts that Bill presented in his talk were truly frightening such as soil loss; a topic I highlight in tomorrow’s post.

But for now just settle down and watch this interview of Bill filmed by Woodburn Community Access Television.

Published on Jan 10, 2016

Author and Futurist William H. Kotke shares with Woodburn his years of knowledge and understandings of the Human History and The Current Dilemma all of us face as a species.

Is there a way forward?

Yes, I think so and it’s all to do with communities; more on that in a later post.

Is this anything to do with dogs?

Here’s what the Welcome page of this blog says (in part):

As man’s companion, protector and helper, history suggests that dogs were critically important in man achieving success as a hunter-gatherer. Dogs ‘teaching’ man to be so successful a hunter enabled evolution, some 20,000 years later, to farming, thence the long journey to modern man. But in the last, say 100 years, that farming spirit has become corrupted to the point where we see the planet’s plant and mineral resources as infinite. Mankind is close to the edge of extinction, literally and spiritually.

Dogs know better, much better! Time again for man to learn from dogs!

I rest my case.

Time for a change of face!

Just to demonstrate that this place is not ‘wall-to-wall’ dogs.

How about a wonderful story of a cat that saved the lives of three humans!

It was seen, as so often these days, over on the Care2 site and it just had to be shared with all you good people.

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Meet Jackson, the Amazing Cat Who Saved Three Humans in a Fire

By: Emily Zak November 30, 2016

About Emily

Just before 5 a.m. on Thanksgiving, three people in a quiet San Mateo, Calif., neighborhood woke up to the sound of breaking glass — and their cat, Jackson.

He jumped up on one person and meowed until they woke up, bells on his collar jingling.

At first, everyone thought someone was breaking in. Then, they realized their garage was ablaze.

The fire had just started spreading to the house.

Thanks to Jackson’s alarm, the couple and their roommate escaped outside.

The boyfriend, Chris, tried to quench the flames with a garden hose. But the water stopped and the fire started blazing through the home, up to the attic.

They searched frantically for Jackson, but couldn’t find him.

Then, the fire engines arrived, eight total, as well as ladder trucks and an air support unit.

Firefighters took 40 minutes to extinguish the fire, which had spread to nearby power lines and the side of a neighbor’s house, according to Burlingame Patch.

One rescued Jackson, who was still inside.

A 24-hour emergency vet treated the cat for smoke inhalation, and kept him for observation for at least a day.

Even a local fire chief pegs the Jackson the cat as the hero.

“In my heart, I believe that cat was trying to alert its owners that something wasn’t right,” San Mateo fire Battalion Chief Joe Novelli tells The Mercury News.

No humans were injured. But the blaze displaced them with little more than their lives.

The fire caused $475,000 in damage, displaced all three residents and gutted their home to ash.

But at least Jackson survived.

“I am happy to report that Jackson the Cat is recovering nicely and has been released from the vet—not before a hefty bill though, I’m afraid,” Shenea Strader, who started a GoFundMe page for the three to get back on their feet, told me.

Photo credit: Thinkstock

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We can never have too many good news stories!

But we should also not forget that this family down in California have one hell of a rebuild hill to climb. So if you can spare a few pennies for the rebuild costs then this is the page to go to: https://www.gofundme.com/thanksgivinghousefire/

And when you go there the first thing that will smack you in the face is this photograph.

Losing one’s home to a fire has go to be simply dreadful but big hugs to all and a very special cuddle for Jackson the cat!

The poetry of dog love

A very beautiful story.

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92-year-old Annabelle Weiss and her service dog, Joe, are absolutely inseparable.

At the age of 20, Weiss enlisted in the U.S. Marines, where she served for two years as a driver and plane engine inspector until she was discharged in 1946. Later, she worked as a nurse, and won a battle against thyroid cancer.

In 2013, Weiss learned about America’s VetDogs, which pairs veterans with trained service animals. They got her in touch with Joe, the yellow Labrador, and since then the two have become the best of friends.

screen-shot-2016-11-25-at-12-35-38-pm — Source: Today

The pair live together in their Long Island home, and fill their days with activities. Joe has been very helpful in increasing Weiss’s mobility—with Joe by her side, her daily outings are much more comfortable and pleasant.

“He changed my life, he really did,” Wiess told TODAY. “Without him I would be at the house a lot. Now people call me and I’m never home!”

Weiss lives by herself, but she’s by no means alone thanks to Joe’s loyal company. At home, Joe opens and closes doors, picks up fallen items, and acts as a brace for when Weiss gets up from a chair or climbs stairs. He also fetches the phone, and opens drawers with cloths attached to the handles.

The two relax at home in the morning, and then spend their afternoon out on the town.

“In the house, he’s a dog,” Weiss said. “When he’s outside, he has his vest on, and he’s on the job like a cop.”

When the two go out on car rides, Joe enjoys laying down for a nap in the back of the car.

One of Weiss and Joe’s favorite spots is the Lindenhurst Memorial Library, where the two like to pick out good reads together. Joe is friendly to the library staff, and puts his paws on the desk while Weiss checks out books. The two attend a reading club at the library, and Weiss calls Joe the unofficial mascot.

Incidentally, the library has a display honoring veterans, in which Weiss’s name is proudly featured.

When lunchtime comes around, the Lindenhurst Diner is their go-to place. They eat at the diner once or twice a week, and Weiss says all the workers—including the owner—treat Joe like one of the regulars.

While Weiss eats, Joe settles down under the table for a nap, but not before checking for crumbs to make sure his spot is clean.

Weiss recalled an occasion when she explained to a worker at the diner just how much Joe means to her:

“The first time I brought Joe in, there was a young man cleaning the tables — he doesn’t speak English; he speaks Spanish — and he saw me with the dog, and he said, ‘Oh, perro.’ I corrected him and said ‘hijo!’ I speak a little Spanish. I told him, ‘He’s not my dog, he’s the son I never had.’”

As the day winds down, Weiss and Joe go on a walk in a park near their home—Joe loves the park so much, they visit almost every day! He enjoys being around birds, even if they might be afraid of him.

Rain or shine, indoor or outdoors, Joe stays faithfully by Weiss’s side as her helper and friend. He inspires his owner to stay active and together the two go on small adventures and seize each day to the fullest.

Weiss loves having Joe around, and says “He’ll follow me to the end of the earth.”

Please SHARE this with your friends and family.

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I want to close today’s post with this poem that was found on the ‘web’.

Decisions; decisions.

“Things do not change; we change.“

That saying from the lips of Henry David Thoreau, the American essayist, poet and philosopher, reminds us that we must be that change before that change comes along.

Thus whatever you or I, or anyone else, thinks is wrong with these times, so eloquently expressed by George Monbiot in his essay republished in this place yesterday, bringing about the changes that you or I, or anyone else, want has to start with the individual.

That, inevitably, requires many to chose which path to follow.

Last Saturday, Sue Dreamwalker of the blog Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary, published a post that truly couldn’t have been better written in terms of following on to yesterday’s post.

Here it is republished with Sue’s kind permission.

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Crossroads~ Which path do you choose?

26 Nov 2016

by Sue Dreamwalker

I felt the need to post something deeper again today, and I could find no better words to write than I have already written as my thoughts go out to the many places around our globe in conflict right now.

I know there are many new subscribers here to Dreamwalker’s Sanctuary this year who may not have read this post.. I thank all in advance for their contributions..

If I am slow getting back to you, it’s because I want some time to paint this weekend and walk out in nature..
So look after each other and choose your Pathway well..
Love and Blessings
Sue❤

Much is happening with our Earth Plane at this time of transformation, the Mayans called it

“ A crossroads of time of Great External Changes and Major Internal Upheavals”.

We have seen around the globe how many nations are starting to change, we are also changing ourselves internally through our awareness and intuition and I see many withdrawing into themselves as they seek peace as they set about clearing the debris of our emotional bodies, myself included as we adjust to the vibrations around us.

At times all that is thrown our way is too disturbing to cope with, so we withdraw within our inner sanctuaries finding solace within Nature and our meditations..

I have to remind myself daily of the GOOD in this world as we get constantly bombarded with the BAD… So many things which are UGLY in this world which led me to revisit a post first posted in 2012.. The Good Bad and Ugly.. in which I used the Mayan quote above..

Everything in this world mirrors everything else, and everything is part of everything else, as difficult as that is to comprehend. So while we react with outrage, our rage is joining the tide of Anger already out there which is foaming back and forth in the sea of discontent.

It seems as if our very Earth Mother feels that anger as she too is rumbling ever louder in the bowels of our planet as we have seen how devastating her energies can be in Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which are now becoming more active again around our globe..

We have to be careful not to be taken down the road of Fear.. Lest it trap us into engaging in giving out more fear by our failure to see how we are all quick to judge and use our own prejudices in labelling that which we are not in alignment with. Whether that be in our politics, beliefs, or idealisms. None of us is perfect.

We are now ‘Shifting’ from duality to Unity Consciousness, this was brought home again to me on how many of us are thinking similar thoughts even here on WP we see similar themes as we link into the Mass Consciousness as we join together our thoughts as we link subconsciously to the Cosmic web of thoughts..

We need to be aware of the Power of our thoughts and how we can assist in raising our planets vibration and our own collective Consciousness..

Much has been spoken upon Ascension, but first we need to ascend through our own layers as we climb ever higher, leaving behind the things that no longer serve us.

We do that by not getting swept up in conflict.. by being more loving and tolerant and being compassionate rather than being judgmental holding hate and anger.

We need to put the Care back in the world and if we embrace and choose Love over fear and we stop looking who to blame, but start to set examples of living in harmony and unity, then the true magnificence of who we really are can begin to manifest that ‘Golden Age’ which was once prophesied to bring about Peace..

But it’s up to us to pledge to change our own lives,and when we each start bringing back that peace within our own Lives, It’s up to each of us which road we want to take. And what dominant energy we want to prevail.. I choose Love.

Blessings

Sue.

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You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have charge of.

So said Jim Rohn, the American businessman who died in 2009.

Troubling times.

We all could easily be drinking in ‘the last chance saloon’.

After I published my book, Learning From Dogs, last December I was invited to a number of book signing events. In each case I gave a short talk of about 20 minutes in which I explained the philosophy behind the book. Perhaps no better articulated than by Dr. Jim Goodbrod’s Foreword to the book. Take this paragraph, for instance, from that Foreword:

Dogs represent to me that innocence lost. Their emotions are pure. They live in the present. They do not suffer existential angst over what they are. They do not covet material wealth. They offer us unconditional love and devotion. Although they certainly have not reached the great heights of intellectual achievement of us humans (I know for a fact that this is true after having lived with a Labrador Retriever for several years), at the same time they have not sunk to the depths of depravity to which we are susceptible. It could be argued that I am being overly anthropomorphic, or that dogs are simply mentally incapable of these thoughts. But nevertheless, metaphorically or otherwise, I believe that dogs demonstrate a simple and uncorrupted approach to life from which we all could benefit.

During my opening talks on each occasion I would ask the audience: “So raise your hands if you are someone who is not worried about the future?”

There was never a raised hand!

My introduction to a recent essay published by George Monbiot that is republished here with Mr. Monbiot’s permission.

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The Drums of War

24th November 2016

The combination of automation, complexity and climate change is dangerous in ways we haven’t even begun to grasp.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 23^rd November 2016

Wave the magic wand and the problem goes away. Those pesky pollution laws, carbon caps and clean power plans: swish them away and the golden age of blue-collar employment will return. This is Donald Trump’s promise, in his video message on Monday, in which he claimed that unleashing coal and fracking will create “many millions of high-paid jobs”. He will tear down everything to make it come true.

But it won’t come true. Even if we ripped the world to pieces in the search for full employment, leaving no mountain unturned, we would not find it. Instead, we would merely jeopardise the prosperity – and the lives – of people everywhere. However slavishly governments grovel to corporate Luddism, they will not bring the smog economy back.

No one can deny the problem Trump claims to be addressing. The old mining and industrial areas are in crisis throughout the rich world. And we have seen nothing yet.

I have just re-read the study published by the Oxford Martin School in 2013 on the impacts of computerisation. What jumps out today, to put it crudely, is that jobs in the rustbelts and rural towns that voted for Trump are at high risk of automation; while the professions of many Clinton supporters are at low risk.

The jobs most likely to be destroyed are in mining, raw materials, manufacturing, transport and logistics, cargo handling, warehousing and retailing, construction (pre-fabricated buildings will be assembled by robots in factories), office support, administration and telemarketing. So what, in the counties that voted for Trump, will be left?

Farm jobs have mostly gone already. Service and care work, where hope for some appeared to lie, will be threatened by a further wave of automation, as service robots – commercial and domestic – take over. Yes, there will be jobs in the green economy, more and better than any that could be revived in the fossil economy. But they won’t be enough to fill the gaps, and many will be in the wrong places.

At lower risk is work that requires negotiation, persuasion, originality and creativity. The management and business jobs that demand these skills are comparatively safe from automation; so are lawyers, teachers, researchers, doctors, journalists, actors and artists. The jobs that demand the highest educational attainment are the least susceptible to computerisation. The divisions tearing America apart will only widen.

Even this bleak analysis does not capture in full the underlying reasons why good, abundant jobs will not return to the places that need them most. As Paul Mason argues in Postcapitalism, the impacts of information technology go way beyond simple automation: it is likely to destroy the very basis of the market economy and the relationship between work and wages.

And, as the independent thinker Paul Arbair notes in the most interesting essay I have read this year, beyond a certain level of complexity, economies become harder to sustain. There’s a point at which further complexity delivers diminishing returns; society is then overwhelmed by its demands and breaks down. He argues that the political crisis in Western countries suggests we may have reached this point.

In the same video address on Monday, Trump announced that he will withdraw America from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). He is right to do so, for the wrong reasons. Like TTIP and CETA, the TPP is a fake trade treaty, whose primary impact is to extend corporate property rights at the expense of both competition and democracy. But withdrawal will not, as he claims, “bring jobs and industry back to American shores”. The work in Mexico and China that Trump wants to reclaim will evaporate long before it can be repatriated.

As for the high-quality, high-waged working class jobs he promised, these are never handed down from on high. They are secured through the organisation of labour. But the unions were smashed by Ronald Reagan, and collective bargaining has been suppressed ever since by casualisation and fragmentation. So how is this going to happen? Out of the kindness of Trump’s heart? Kindness, Trump, heart?

But it’s not just Trump. Clinton and Sanders also made impossible promises to bring back jobs. Half the platform of both parties was based on a delusion. The social, environmental and economic crises we face require a complete reappraisal of the way we live and work. The failure by mainstream political parties to produce a new and persuasive economic narrative, that does not rely on sustaining impossible levels of growth and generating illusory jobs, provides a marvellous opening for demagogues everywhere.

Governments across the world are making promises they cannot keep. In the absence of a new vision, their failure to materialise will mean only one thing: something or someone must be found to blame. As people become angrier and more alienated; as the complexity and connectivity of global systems becomes ever harder to manage; as institutions like the European Union collapse and as climate change renders parts of the world uninhabitable, forcing hundreds of millions of people from their homes, the net of blame will be cast ever wider.

Eventually the anger that cannot be assuaged through policy will be turned outwards, towards other nations. Faced with a choice of hard truths or easy lies, politicians and their supporters in the media will discover that foreign aggression is among the few options for political survival. I now believe that we will see war between the major powers within my lifetime. Which ones it will involve, and on what apparent cause, remains far from clear. But something that once seemed remote now looks probable to me.

A complete reframing of economic life is needed not “just” to suppress the existential risk that climate change presents (a risk marked by a 20°C anomaly reported in the Arctic Ocean while I was writing this article), but other existential threats as well – including war. Today’s governments, whether they are run by Trump or Obama or May or Merkel, lack the courage and imagination even to open this conversation. It is left to others to conceive of a more plausible vision than trying to magic back the good old days. The task for all those who love this world and fear for our children is to imagine a different future, rather than another past.

http://www.monbiot.com

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On my desk in front of me is a small booklet of business quotations that was published by Speedwing Training Ltd, part of the British Airways Group of Companies. I have had it for years. I randomly opened the booklet and there on page 7 is this quotation (and the emboldening is mine):

Our task is not to fix the blame for the past, but to fix the course for the future.

John F. Kennedy

Mr. Monbiot speaks for the millions of people who need that course for the future NOW!

A very strange cloud!

The endless fascination of the clouds in the sky.

Wherever one is in the world there’s something that will always offer delight, interest and a bit of a weather forecast as a bonus. I’m speaking of clouds.

I have written about clouds before in this place but the reason that I just have to share another post about clouds with you is this image:

It is from The Cloud Appreciation Society’s November newsletter and I’m taking the liberty of sharing the particular news item with you.

November 2016

A Mystery in the Clouds

Earlier this month, a peculiar ring appeared in the clouds over Warwickshire, England. James Tromans, who photographed the formation, asked what might have caused it. Clearly, this was time for some cloud detective work.

The ring was actually more of a curve, or a ‘U’, as there was no other half to it. It appeared to consist of regular lumps, or lobes, hanging down from the underside of a cloud layer. We wondered if this layer was an Altostratus, but off in the distance to the right of the image there appeared to be showers, like those produced by a storm cloud. This suggested that the cloud layer might in fact have been part of the huge canopy that spreads out at the top of a Cumulonimbus storm cloud.

Sometimes, to the rear of a storm, lobes of cloud known as

1. Could ‘mamma’ be involved? Spotted over Wilton, Wiltshire, UK, by William Saberton,

mamma can be seen

hanging from the underside of the canopy (see image 1). There certainly was a general appearance of mamma in the cloud layer. But could some of these mamma cloud lobes have arranged themselves into this strange, regular curved formation? It seemed unlikely.

There was something decidedly unnatural about the cloud’s appearance – as if it were man-made. Then it occurred to us that the photograph was looking towards Coventry Airport. Might this cloud effect have been in some way caused by an aircraft?

As planes fly through clouds made of ‘supercooled’ water droplets, they can encourage these extremely cold droplets to freeze and fall below, leaving behind a gap, known as a dissipation trail, or ‘distrail’. Such formations are often seen in

2. Or was it to do with an aircraft ‘distrail’, like this spotted over Newcastle, Australia, by Jillian De Martin (Member 12801)?

straight lines where planes ascend or descend through the cloud. But they can also appear in circular shapes when one is flying in a holding pattern as it waits to land (see image 2). James’s cloud wasn’t quite a distrail, but we felt we were getting close.

It was then that we recognised the regular spacing of the lobes. These sometimes appear below aircraft condensation trails (see image 3). They are caused by the interaction between the two swirling vortices produced by the wings. As these rotate in opposite directions in the wake of an aircraft, the two turbulent flows interact and combine to form a periodic pattern of turbulent downdrafts. In the right conditions, they appear as lobes hanging below the condensation trail.

3. The clue was in the turbulence lobes that can appear hanging from an aircraft contrail. You can see these in this strip of contrail spotted over the Smokey Mountains, US, by Gary Smith.

This explained the formation. It was caused by an aircraft, which happened to be flying just above the base of the cloud layer as it turned in a holding pattern above the nearby airport. The plane’s condensation trail was hidden within the cloud layer, but the lobes of cloud descending below it, caused by the turbulence from its wings, appeared extending below the layer.

Phew! With that cleared up, we could finally relax once more.

Turbulence lobes beneath the contrail of an aircraft in holding pattern over Hampton Lucy, Warwickshire, UK, by James Tromans.

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How very interesting and hope I’m not the only one to think so.

Thanksgiving for all!

Including our most precious and beautiful dogs.

(Saw this over on the Care2 site and knew it was perfect for this day!)

Please give all your animals an especially loving hug.

Letting them go!

A beautiful guest post for today

Back on the 22nd October I was in correspondence with Grinia. Here’s a part of an email she sent me that day:

Hi Paul,
Thank you so much. I’m going through your blog in more details to see what would make more sense for me to write about. I will get back to you soon.

Have you seen this post in my blog? https://mirrorsoul.org/2016/10/12/blu-skies-rescue-dogs/

What I’m thinking right now is to write about my former dog, Bella, how we had to let her go live with someone else because we loved her and wanted her to be happy. She was not happy with the toddler especially because I couldn’t take her to her long walks anymore- I was expecting another baby and I knew when the new one comes I would have even less time for her. I’ve been wanting to write about that for a while.

No question to my mind; it was Grinia’s story about Bella that attracted me and I was so looking forward to receiving Grinia’s story and sharing it with you.

Grinia did indeed send me her story on the 29th October and I replied saying I would publish it on Monday, 7th November.

But, of course, events rolled over my promise in the sense that it was clear that my mother was close to death and, as you all know, she did die on the 14th.

So here we are on the 23rd, the day before Thanksgiving Day, nearly a month after Grinia sent it, and, at last, it is being published in full.

You will be moved by Grinia’s story.

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Sometimes you have to let them go.

We were just married living in a cozy apartment with an amazing view of the Boston skyline. As many young couples, we had a lot of plans including buying a house and start growing our little family. After talking it through and looking at our budget and free time, we decided that we should get a dog. The dog would be the first ‘thing’ we would have together to love and care for, so it sounded like a great idea.

I grew up among a lot animals, including dogs, cats and chickens, and my husband also had a dog growing up so we knew the amount of care it would require from us. We both had full time jobs and we were living in a rental. Before agreeing with us having a dog, our landlord set up several requirements: small breed, 4 years old+, house trained, cradle trained, and the nails should be kept short to not damage the furniture and wood floor. From our side, we were looking for a dog that would be friendly with kids (as we wanted to have kids soon) and didn’t shed too much, because I have a lot of allergies. Wow, that seemed like a lot of requirements! I didn’t think we would find this ‘perfect’ dog.

We went to several places, but the searching was tough. Every dog I saw I would fall in love with it. I remember there was pit bull called Lovie. I cried when I got home because we couldn’t adopt her. She was so cute and docile; I really didn’t want to leave her behind. My husband was struggling trying to keep me from getting too attached to the dogs we visited, but it was tough, I have a weak heart. 

I was almost giving up, I thought that the requirements were too many and it was emotionally draining. Then, one day I was searching online and I found this website for rescued dogs. They had a rat terrier that seemed to meet all the requirements. We went to her foster home for a visit and we both fell in love! What a cute dog! She seemed a bit noisy and had tons of energy despite being 6 years old but it felt like she was ours from the moment we first put our eyes on her.

After filling up all the paperwork and doing the adoption process, we brought Bella home. Her back-story, as told to us, was that she was with her owner for 6 years until they adopted a sick older dog. Bella didn’t get along with the older dog and the family decided to give her away since they thought she would have a better chance to be adopted. I don’t know if I believed in this story, I couldn’t understand how you raise a dog for 6 years and then decide to give it away because you got another one. I should not judge, but I did. I made a promise to Bella that I would never let her go. She was my first daughter.

When Bella just moved in with us, she had a lot of issues. She was scared of any noise and it was very hard to walk her on the streets of Boston, even on the quieter ones. Most of the time, we would have to carry Bella as she would freeze and not move her paws at all. It looked like she was going to have a heart attack – her little body would shake so hard and I didn’t know little hearts could beat so fast. Poor Bella…

After a while, she became more confident and happy to walk on the streets. She was greeting people and even running around. When we moved to our new home in the suburbs, Bella was super happy! Maybe it was because the area was less noisy and the house was much bigger. Bella also loved her new dog walkers! They told me she was the leader and was doing very well with other dogs. Everything was perfect for us and for Bella. She had lots of walk and all of our love and attention. She loved to go on hikes with us, but even a little car ride would do her good.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I think Bella knew something was up. She got extremely attached to me and would follow me everywhere. She also started to get more protective on walks, especially around men. I didn’t make much of it; I thought it was just temporary. The baby came and Bella seemed fine with it. She went through sleepiness nights as she would always check in when the baby was crying, poor Bella was as exhausted as I was.

Bella was very loving and gentle with the baby, but she was still more protective than usual on our walks. The baby started to grow, crawling, and then walking. She wanted to play with Bella, so I had my eyes always on them because J still didn’t know how to be gentle. She wanted to hug and kiss Bella, but Bella wasn’t the cuddling type.

I was pregnant with my second baby and resigned from my job to stay home with the kids for a little while. We couldn’t justify paying for Bella walks anymore with only one income and me staying at home. It was okay for a while, but as the belly grew bigger and the winter came it became very challenging. I wasn’t giving Bella long walks as she was used to. Bella started to become a little bit more anxious and didn’t want my toddler around her. J would try to play with her and even a gentle approach let Bella to nip her a couple of times.

My husband and I tried to work it out. He started to give Bella long walks in the morning and evenings and I made sure to have time to play with her even though I was feeling so tired. One winter afternoon, I was walking Bella with my toddler when J had a tantrum and threw herself on the ground; at the same time Bella was barking and pulling the leash trying to escape to run across the street to fight another dog. I was in panic! After that day I realized that it would be very hard to handle the situation moving forward: in a few weeks I would have another baby at home, I couldn’t leave Bella alone with the toddler, and Bella was barking uncontrollably.

We looked for professional help. The ‘diagnose’ was that Bella was insecure; her behavior was driven by fear. I think Bella had the first child syndrome – she was used to have 100% attention and love and now we could not provide it anymore. After talking to a few professionals, the price to have Bella trained was at least $700 per week and they didn’t guarantee results due to her advanced age. We couldn’t afford that, and couldn’t afford Bella nipping behavior either. She even tried to nip the kid’s neighbor and a stranger on the street while we were walking her – she had never done that before.

It was time to face the truth: we couldn’t keep Bella.

I was so stressed. I couldn’t let my first daughter go, I had made her a promise. I’d failed her.

We started to ask friends if they would like to take Bella, this way we would still be around her and know she was being treated well. It was when one of our friends said he would consider taking her. His response was perfect:

“Bella is a great dog but, as you know, being a dog owner – being a good dog owner – is a lot of work, so this isn’t a decision that I can go into lightly. I will need a little bit of time to think about this and plan/budget what I would need in order to be the type of dog owner that Bella deserves.”

His answer brought tears to my eyes. He was the right person to love and care for our little Bella and I couldn’t wait to hear his final response. After a couple of dog sittings, he said yes. Our little Bella had found a new loving owner. My feelings were mixed, I was so happy that our friend was going to take her, but my heart was in pieces for having to let her go. I loved – I love – Bella so much.

The day Bella moved out my husband and I had tears in our eyes. Our little Bella was gone. We kept telling ourselves it was the best decision for her and for us. We couldn’t give her the love and time she deserved. But I couldn’t stop thinking that it is not an excuse to let your child go, Bella was my first child and I had given her away.

Today, my heart still hurts when I think about it. I miss Bella, I miss arriving home and see her jumping around and grabbing one of her squeaky toys. Sometimes I even miss her barking. However, we believe that we did the best for Bella. Her new dad loves her deeply and gives her all the love and attention she deserves. We see photos and videos of Bella everyday and we went to visit once. I don’t like to go visit much, because I feel every time I leave I am abandoning her again. Looking at her videos and photos warms my heart, as I know she is happy and healthy.

Sometimes, we have to let them go. Letting go someone or something you love isn’t an easy decision and it hurts deep in our heart, but knowing that by letting them go you set them free to be happy and to have the love they need and deserve brings some relief to our soul.

Bella’s new Dad!

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What a wonderful, moving account. No question in my mind that Grinia’s story was well worth waiting for.

Golly, there are some great persons out there!

What a wonderful sequel to yesterday’s post!

I am always amazed at how things turn out. Call it serendipity or what!

Because, as much as I love publishing a daily post in this place, not infrequently I think what on earth am I going to find to write about; or republish!

As it was yesterday morning. Not only did I have a heap of things to do around the house but also other ‘office’ work that had to come first.

Then in my email in-box there was another story from Care2. It made a perfect follow-on to yesterday’s post about how rescued dogs go on to become rescue dogs.

Enjoy! (And many thanks Miss Serendipity!)

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Hero on Motorbike Delivers Food to Street Dogs and Cats

By: Laura S. November 20, 2016

About Laura

Murat Şahin climbs onto his dusty motorbike and holds his breath as he turns the key, hoping the engine will start. His trip is important because he’s going to feed more than 100 dogs in the forest of Aydos in Istanbul, Turkey. Dozens of cats living along the rocky coastal walls are waiting for him too.

Watch Murat Feed the Animals

Murat’s mission is important to him, it’s a spiritual calling in fact, and he is deeply devoted to serving the hungry animals as you will see in the uplifting video below.

Murat does take some animals to the veterinarian for spay/neuter, but it isn’t always feasible. Some of the animals are wild, and without a car, he can’t bring a trap or transport them easily. He also doesn’t have the funds to do sponsor spay/neuter on a wide scale on his own.

“Murat has never asked for any help,” fellow volunteer Anna Efe explains. “He has always used his own money and collected food at a restaurant and a local canteen. Also, some butchers were giving him leftovers free of charge. But this year the situation has changed. The butchers stopped giving leftovers for free and, on top of that, Murat’s old motorbike was stolen. It was his only way to deliver food to the forest dogs.”

Though Murat did manage to find a very low-priced bike to replace the stolen one, the replacement bike frequently breaks down. In fact, it broke down immediately after the filming of the video on this page.

Better Days Ahead

The Harmony Fund charity, based in the U.S., is working on a surprise for Murat. The group is attempting to raise funds to purchase a reliable, used car for Murat’s rescue work and would be shared by Murat and his fellow volunteers working together as an authorized rescue team in Turkey. The car would have several advantages over the bike including carrying larger quantities of food, transporting animals to the veterinarian and safer transportation during bad weather.

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If anyone reading this post can find it in their hearts to make a donation, then this link on the Harmony Fund website is the place to go. You can specifically nominate that your gift goes to Murat out in Turkey. (And Jean and I have made a modest donation to Harmony to be passed to Murat.)

A celebration of a life.

My mother was a remarkable woman.

Back in North-West London (Preston Road, Wembley) my two sisters, Elizabeth and Eleanor, are today hosting a party to celebrate my mother’s life. Many family members and friends will be at the house.

My contribution was to record a eulogy that I will broadcast to everyone using a ‘FaceTime’ link between here and Alex’s tablet that he will have with him at the party.

I wanted to share that eulogy with all you good people.

Flick!

Just like that!

How is it that I am sitting at a computer keyboard writing these words in this my seventy-second year of my life!

Where did it all go?

What did I learn?

But this is what I do know.

That it is only as we get into our ‘senior’ years that we can start to put our lives into some form of perspective.

When I look back at my life I can see many things that, in hindsight, I didn’t handle all that well. Yet that same backward gaze also reveals many things that I would never have changed.

That is the person that I am.

Or to put it in a more introspective way, that is the person that I was brought up to be. For each and every one of us rises to adulthood wearing a rather colourful psychological overcoat. Our life’s journey hopefully offers us the opportunity to undo our overcoat from time to time and take note of the shape and style of our underclothes.

That is the true legacy of my father, of my step-father and, most importantly, of my mother.

I was very privileged to have them as my guardians and parents.

Mum and Jeannie – photo taken 31st July, 2014 here in Oregon.

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Meet Jackson, the Amazing Cat Who Saved Three Humans in a Fire

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92-year-old Annabelle Weiss and her service dog, Joe, are absolutely inseparable.

“He changed my life, he really did,” Wiess told TODAY. “Without him I would be at the house a lot. Now people call me and I’m never home!”

“In the house, he’s a dog,” Weiss said. “When he’s outside, he has his vest on, and he’s on the job like a cop.”

Weiss loves having Joe around, and says “He’ll follow me to the end of the earth.”

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The Drums of War

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November 2016

A Mystery in the Clouds

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Hero on Motorbike Delivers Food to Street Dogs and Cats

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