Archive for the ‘General’ Category

I love whales.  When I was in New Zealand several years ago, I went whale watching.  I was humbled by the beautiful creatures as they spouted and then dove with their tales waving in the air. I abhor hunting them and the possibility of their extinction.  Mankind is so greedy which has been the cause of so much warfare with our taking what we want no matter what.  The following true story was sent to me by my friend Marilee; I have seen it before but it never fails to touch me. 

…The Whale… If you read a recent front page story of the San Francisco Chronicle, you would have read about a female humpback whale who had become entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth. A fisherman spotted her just east of the Farallon Islands (outside the Golden Gate ) and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so bad off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

    When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, and nudged them, pushed them gently around as she was thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eyes were following him the whole time, and he will never be the same.

    May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you. And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude. We pass this on to you, my friends, in the same spirit.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

MAY 2011 BRING YOU JOY, PEACE, AND GOOD WILL TOWARDS ALL.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Midnight Mass was glorious last night!  The Church is always almost mystical at night, even more so at Mass.  As we celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior, let us remember the humble circumstances that He chose to become one of us so that He could lead us to Salvation.  May God bless you.

Please say a prayer for Al who is in intensive care tonight. He is in very bad shape from his latest round of chemo.

Midnight Mass was lovely tonight.  I wish all of you the most wonderful Christmas as we celebrate the birthday of our Lord!

From another list but of interest to many, shared by permission of the author.  This may be addressed to breeders but will also very much affect those who wish to buy high quality beloved companions.  We, the show and hobby breeders, who are passionate about our breeds and their welfare will not be breeding because we will be driven out of breeding.  The only choice will be a purebred from a high volume commercial breeder or a dog from a shelter.  If the bill now being proposed in Ohio passes, a stiffer bill than the ones we helped defeat last year, I know of several quality breeders who will just quit, myself included. See below for the Ohio Bill info:

              If We Lose the Fight

The time is coming when the decision to stop or to continue breeding dogs will be made for you by the dog legislation that is being passed. The one that just passed the house in Oregon will put a stop to much of the breeding that is going on there by hobby breeders. Not that they are going to ban it but they will pass lemon laws saying that  if you breed a dog with a genetic problem you will be responsible for the vet bills. Who is willing to take a chance on that? The ironic thing about this is that the only breeders left
standing will be those that can afford the insurance that it will take to continue.  Andrew Hunte comes to mind. He will be buying our dogs.

My advise is to enjoy your breeding programs while they last because it is truly a dying sport. We have spent way too much time hoping and wishing that the few fighters among us will win the fight. Our success or failure rest on our own shoulders. No one to blame but ourselves. If we could have put as much passion into fighting animal legislation that we put into fighting amongst ourselves, then we might have won.

Daylight Savings time really caught me by surprise;  I was behind all day yesterday.  Al cannot drive yet so have been the chauffeur.  He hates not driving and is being less than his usual less than jovial self! 

I am tired tonight so won’t write much; however, I read an interesting and excellent article in USA Today which I will report upon next time.  The article deals with to do with our declining adherence to a moral code in this country.  Food for thought.  Until next time . . .

My friend Marilee sent me this one!

All dogs Go To Heaven (been around before but too good not to share again)

This is literally a ‘church signs’ debate, being played out in a Southern town, between the Catholic church and a  Presbyterian church. The churches face each other across a busy street. From top to bottom shows you the response and counter-response over time.

Great sense of humor by both congregations………

My friend Ellie has two of our Cavaliers that she spoils rotten beyond belief!  She warms their couch blankets in the microwave and Jasper crawls into his own little blanket sleeping bag.  I refuse to let my dogs see this picture lest they begin picketing for the same treatment!

This is a heartwarming vignette and perhaps we should all adopt its message:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFz-FMj-9Ps