The media memorials for 9/11 were terribly sad and terribly touching at the same time. So many perished. The first response rescuers were awesome; too many of them dying along with the victims or later due to the toxic ashes, smoke, and chemicals.  We celebrate our heroes, but there were other heroes after 9/11:

The twelve 9/11 search dogs who are still alive:

Their eyes say everything you need to know about them.  Just amazing creatures.

True heroes of 9/11 still with us today..

Moxie, 13, from Winthrop, Massachusetts, arrived with her handler, Mark Aliberti, at the World Trade Center on the evening of September 11 and searched the site for eight days

Tara, 16, from Ipswich, Massachusetts, arrived at the World Trade Center on the night of the 11th. The dog and her handler Lee Prentiss were there for eight days

Kaiser, 12, pictured at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11 and searched tirelessly for people in the rubble

Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Cypress, Texas, arrived at the site in New York on September 17, remaining there for ten days

Guinness, 15, from Highland, California, started work at the site with Sheila McKee on the morning of September 13 and was deployed at the site for 11 days

Merlyn and his handler Matt Claussen were deployed to Ground Zero on September 24, working the night shift for five days

Red, 11, from Annapolis, Maryland, went with Heather Roche to the Pentagon from September 16 until the 27 as part of the Bay Area Recovery Canines

Abigail, above, was deployed on the evening of September 17, searching for 10 days while Tuff arrived in New York at 11:00 pm on the day of attack to start working early the next day

Handler Julie Noyes and Hoke were deployed to the World Trade Center from their home in Denver on September 24 and searched for five days

Scout and another unknown dog lie among the rubble at Ground Zero, just two of nearly 100 search and rescue animals who helped to search for survivors

During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors.

Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled ‘Retrieved’.

The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.

Traveling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11.

Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which is published on Friday, the tenth anniversary of the attacks.

Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted ‘Retrieved’ to mark not only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for some of the first responders and their dogs.

‘I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved,’ explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam.

‘They speak to us as a different species and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.’

A True Duck Story from San Antonio, Texas

It is strange what is remembered from childhood—a melody of a song, a line from a poem, a character from a children’s book.  I will never forget Nurse Fuzzy Wuzzy from the Uncle Wiggily books which my mother read to us in the car from Ohio to New York for the Holidays. When I was a child we used to sing the following to a John Sousa march: “Oh, be kind to our fine feather friends for a duck may be somebody’s mother. She lives in the ponds and the lake where the weather is always fine.”

So the following story tells the tale of a duck that was somebody’s mother.

Something really cute happened in this week. Michael is an accounting clerk at a downtown Bank and works there in a second story office.  Several weeks ago, he watched a mother duck choose the concrete awning outside his window as the unlikely place to build a nest above the sidewalk. The mallard laid ten eggs in a nest in the corner of the planter that is perched over 10 feet in the air. She dutifully kept the eggs warm for weeks, and Monday afternoon all of her ten ducklings hatched.

Michael worried all night how the momma duck was going to get those babies safely off their perch in a busy, downtown, urban environment to take to water, which typically happens in the first 48 hours of a duck hatching. Tuesday morning, Michael watched the mother duck encourage her babies to the edge of the perch with the intent to show them how to jump off.

Office work came to a standstill as everyone gathered to watch.

The mother flew down below and started quacking to her babies above. In disbelief Michael watched as the first fuzzy newborn trustingly toddled to the edge  and astonishingly leapt into thin air, crashing onto the cement below. Michael couldn’t stand to watch this risky effort nine more times! He dashed out of his office and ran down the stairs to the sidewalk where the first obedient duckling, near its mother, was resting in a stupor after the near-fatal fall. Michael stood out of sight under the awning-planter, ready to help.

As the second one took the plunge, Michael jumped forward and caught it with his bare hands before it hit the concrete. Safe and sound, he set it down it by its momma and the other stunned sibling, still recovering from that painful leap. (The momma must have sensed that Michael was trying to help her babies.)

One by one the babies continued to jump. Each time Michael hid under the awning just to reach out in the nick of time as the duckling made its free fall.  At the scene the busy downtown sidewalk traffic came to a standstill. Time after time, Michael was able to catch the remaining eight and set them by their approving mother.

At this point Michael realized the duck family had only made part of its dangerous journey. They had two full blocks to walk across traffic, crosswalks, curbs and past pedestrians to get to the closest open water, the San Antonio River , site of the famed “River Walk.” The on looking office secretaries and several  San Antonio police officers joined in. An empty copy-paper box was brought to collect the babies. They carefully corralled them, with the mother’s approval, and loaded them in the container. Michael held the box low enough for the mom to see her Brood. He then slowly navigated through the downtown streets toward the San Antonio River. The mother waddled behind and kept her babies in sight, all the way.

As they reached the river, the mother took over and passed him, jumping in the river and quacking loudly. At the water’s edge, Michael tipped the box and helped shepherd the babies toward the water and to the waiting mother after their adventurous ride.

All ten darling ducklings safely made it into the water and paddled up snugly to momma. Michael said the mom swam in circles, looking back toward the  beaming bank bookkeeper, and proudly quacking.

At last, all present and accounted for: “We’re all together again.  We’re here!  We’re here!”

And here’s a family portrait before they head outward to further adventures …

Like all of us in the big times of our life, they never could have made it alone without lots of helping hands. I think it gives the name of San Antonio ‘s famous “River Walk” a whole new meaning!

"…It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.." –Samuel Adams

Amen . . . Received this from a friend and thought it was worth passing on: To the pop stars singing our national anthem: So, with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem at a sporting event: Save the vocal gymnastics and the physical gyrations for your concerts. Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten — straight up, no styling. Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don’t make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification. Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans You want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love — not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from the costumes, the makeup and the entourages.  Sing “The Star Spangled Banner” with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it is about America , NOT you.

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.