I love living. I have some problems with my life, but living is the best thing they’ve come up with so far.
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.
Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it.
Who acts from love is greater than who acts from fear.
If a wolf comes to kill you, you are not bound to pat its back.
If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
Darkness, no matter how ominous and intimidating, is not a thing or force: it is merely the absence of light. So light need not combat and overpower darkness in order to displace it – where light is, darkness is not. A thimbleful of light will therefore banish a roomful of darkness. The same is true of good and evil: evil is not a thing or force, but merely the absence or concealment of good. One need not ‘defeat’ the evil in the world; one need only bring to light its inherent goodness.
Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family………in another city.
Koko started school! Wow, they start so early now. We are really excited that she has such a great school with excellent teachers. Even the crossing guard is really friendly. In Memphis, politeness from city employees is always shocking on the rare occasions when it is encountered.
Jesse is just doing his Jesse thing. He has branched out and is experimenting a little with cooking. The results were wonderful! I am so very proud of him.
Our animals are doing great and Tracy the African Gray yells at the dogs to keep them in line. “Go lay down. GET DOWN!”
My dear Aunt Peg Crosby passed away and we just got back from her funeral in Canton, MS. She was my grandmother’s sister. Aunt Peg had a wonderful sense of humor and apparently kept everyone laughing and smiling until the end of her battle with cancer.
It is sad, but the great thing about her funeral was that we got to visit with so many family members that we don’t get to see very often. There were many whom I have never even met before that we enjoyed hanging out with.
Before we left Canton, MS for our trip home to Memphis I drove by the old house. We had so much fun on holidays at that house! My generation was tame compared to the antics that the old timers like Bridget and Sonja. I love listening to their stories from the farm.
We love our dogs and they are part of our family. Unfortunately we live in a city where lots and lots of people do not love and take proper care of their dogs. Greedy nasty puppy stores like Puppy Corral in Collierville, TN sling puppies for a hefty profit without caring at all about animal welfare. I am currently fostering one of their former dogs who was traced back to an Amish puppy mill via her “pedigree” papers.
We have been fostering with a local rescue in town and I am volunteering at Memphis Animal Services so that we can try to clean up the mess of the irresponsible bad people who just dump animals at the shelters after they tire of them. Most puppies are abandoned before they are one year old at a shelter or in newspaper “free to good home” ads so also make sure you are ready for a 15-20 year commitment to the animal before you fall in lust with a puppy or kitten. Guess what, the euthanasia rate is 82% in Memphis due to too many dogs and too few good homes.
Anyway, back to the distemper situation. We mentioned Rufus in earlier posts. He was our first Memphis Animal Services shelter dog. I’m glad to report that he has found a WONDERFUL forever family and is living the life he deserves to live. Our latest, Rose the rat terrier, has not been so lucky. We named her Rose because she has the cutest little pink nose.
Rose is only about five months old and did not receive an inexpensive distemper vaccine by her previous owner(s) who dumped her at the shelter. Puppies just don’t have as strong of an immune system, which is why they NEED vaccinations. She seems to have come down with this horrible and very deadly disease and most likely picked it up at the shelter. It is not entirely the MAS shelter’s fault. They do not have the resources at MAS, for whatever reasons, to quarantine new intake animals and minimize infectious disease risk. There are some really good employees and volunteers at that shelter and they do the best they can with what they’ve got. You can blame your local corrupt city government. You can blame it on our city’s minuscule and overextended CONTRIBUTING tax base that is tapped out. Blame it on the backyard breeders, or the criminals, or whatever but if everyone vaccinated their animals these shelter diseases would not be so rampant and deadly.
I’m sitting here watching this poor sweet baby puppy waste away in my arms and it was all preventable with an inexpensive round of shots. EVERYONE gets all fired up about the Memphis shelter and how terrible it is but they are not helping by running their mouths. I have cried all day long for Rose and feel powerless. Our whole family is working around the clock to give her supportive care. I’ve been up since dawn with Rose so I am exhausted. Her poor nose is crusted over and cracking and she is coughing nonstop. Her eyes are oozing mucus. She can barely find the strength to stand unassisted long enough to even urinate without collapsing in her own waste.
We are still hoping she does not start showing neurological signs because she will have to be euthanized at that point. This is a terrible disease! Oh, and all the other dogs in our house are fine and they have nothing to worry about. We love them so of course they are up to date on their vaccines THAT SAVE THEIR LIVES.
Please GOD spay and neuter your animals and keep their vaccinations up to date!!!
Nokomis is starting to really enjoy gymnastics and is excited about her two-week summer camp in July before our big move. Courtney is volunteering at the Memphis Animal Shelter currently and is nursing sick dogs back to health. Jesse is still trying to figure out what it will be like when he starts his new job in August with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) . Let me tell ya, I just began but searching for real estate and schools can be a pain when you don’t speak French. They are helping us with all the furniture shipping arrangements but we are on our own in securing transport for our dogs. We’ve kept everything hush hush until we knew for sure that Jesse got the position but now we are finally letting ourselves get excited. This is a great career opportunity for Jesse. We get a paid move, the help with living/school expenses, and he keeps his seniority in the FAA. We will miss our family but hey they get an excuse to visit us in Paris!
Well as fate will have it we now have a “bugg” dog. He is a boston terrier and pug mix that unfortunately has become a trendy designer dog breed. UGH! These dogs frequently end up in animal control shelters. It seems that the type of people who capitalize on breeding for profit don’t screen homes well. Please remember this before you even think of purchasing a puppy from one of these unscrupulous individuals. Our shelters around the country are filled with these designer dogs and you will save a life when you adopt instead of purchase.
He came with the name Biscuit and apparently before that he was Jeb. Jesse has not named him yet. I named Rufus so it is his turn again.
You see, this dog was adopted from the Bartlett Animal Shelter six months ago. He was about nine months old at the time. His owner for the last six months placed an ad on craiglist to give him away for free and we scooped him up. This guy was going into the military and did not have time for him. The dog was not on a flea or heartworm preventative.
It is never a good a idea to list a dog for free in the newspaper or online because there are quite a few not so caring people out there who search for these listings for bait dogs, animal research dogs, or to sell for profit.
This pup is very hyper and has separation anxiety issues because his previous owner was gone for more that 9-12 hours a day frequently. This pup has already developed a STRONG attachment to me in only 24 hours and will need to be socialized in public so that he can overcome his fear of the world in general. He is SOOOO cute and we think he is going to make a great dog with a little work. I can’t wait for everyone to meet him!!!!!
Valentine’s Day is a commercialized and goofy holiday but we think you can never have too many excuses to celebrate love. Our family decided to plant roses for Valentine’s Day 2009. We each chose our own rose. Bella and Maya have their own shared rose too.
My Gram used to grow roses in her backyard in Carthage and when I close my eyes I can still remember the perfume that flooded Pearl Street on warm, humid days. I hope that Koko finds as much enjoyment poking her nose in our roses as I did in Gram’s.
We are trying to find summer camps for Koko. She has really expressed an interest in going this year. So far the one we like the best is Smokey Mountain Adventure Camp. Heck, I want to go to camp after looking at the site.
In other breaking news, Bella has now acquired a ridiculous yellow raincoat. We are still searching for a dog snowsuit for her that fits correctly and is waterproof. Any suggestions are appreciated. I swear it is way cheaper to clothe children than animals.
Um, we are going the weekend of the “Mardi Gras Parade & Winter Carnival” which is SO strange. Mardi Gras in NY seems like sacrilege. People who don’t know what boudin is (much less how to pronounce it) should not be allowed to celebrate Mardi Gras unless they are visiting one of the Gulf states, the Caribbean, or Brazil. Those crazy Yankees ALSO forgot to check their calendar because Mardi Gras is February 24th this year. Just another example of how them Yanks like to make fun of us down here in the South, yet we’re so cool that they have to steal our holidays. I guess the “Freeze Your Butt Off Festival” would not sound as attractive. Whatever. Maybe we’ll find a leftover mold-free King Cake on the clearance rack to haul up there.
Gloria (Jesse’s Mom) found a great 4 bedroom house rental for us to rough it in. It has a fireplace, jacuzzi, and is dog-friendly. I will try to survive the miserable cold the best I can.
Koko is extremely excited about learning to ski with Uncle Nick. She will probably be really good at it. Now we just have to find a really stupid looking dog jacket and boots for Bella…
A friend of mine told me about this online wine tasting thing that Jennifer Biggs at the Commercial Appeal does every Thursday night. You buy the wine listed in her column on Wednesdays and then participate in a live chat session with local wine experts. This sounds like a blast and there is no risk of DUI.
I am so going to do this tonight! I have already purchase my bottle. Cheers!
The Feb 5, 2008 wine is Tres Picos Garnacha2007 which you can purchase in Memphis at Kimbrough’s on Union or Buster’s on Poplar. John Vego with Buster’s is the guest wine expert tonight. Spanish wines will be featured during the month of February.
www.whiningdining.com <<This is where the actual wine chat takes place @ 7pm tonight
I love listening to their stories from the farm.
