People are exploiting their dogs during this shelter-at-home time. We’re using them to meet our need for companionship and exercise. To an extreme. We figure the animals love all the extra attention. In case you wonder what they really think, though, read this possible classified ad:
I discovered a dog-show I can really sink my canines into! The Kennel Club ones are okay, but the dogs are over-groomed and the owners over-tense. I’m talking about the American Rescue Dog Show. It’s open only to dogs adopted from rescue organizations and shelters. And you can bet the only papers these dogs have are newspapers on the floor and paper-towel wipe-ups. The owners are more laid back and at least as proud of their furry ones as those in the Kennel Club contests. These dogs compete in categories that matter to families, especially kids: Best in Belly Rubs, Best Couch Potato, Best Wrinkles, Best Wiggly Butt…. To me, though, the best thing is watching what looks like love born from these dogs’ appreciation for being rescued and brought into a loving forever home.
Where’s the germiest place in your home? No, it isn’t the bathroom. Where does E. Coli lurk, waiting for you to apply it to your face, which you will do daily? Why does the old argument about PUT THAT LID BACK DOWN matter to your health? How can cutting up your salad and veggies in your kitchen sink be a health hazard? Should you be concerned about your kids’ toys? These and similar questions are answered in this CNN Health article, The germiest place in your home and the best way to combat those microbes.
Here’s a very simple act that we can all perform each day: offer up the “Thanksgiving Prayer.” Not just at Thanksgiving, but all year long. Because prayer transforms us, allowing God to transform the world through us.
Oh, God, when I have food, help me to remember the hungry;
When I have work, help me to remember the jobless;
When I have a warm home, help me to remember the homeless;
When I am without pain, help me to remember those who suffer;
And remembering, help me to destroy my complacency and bestir
my compassion.
Make me concerned enough to help, by word and deed, those who
cry out for what we take for granted.
—Samuel F. Phgh
Life is hard for veterans, who may come back to face loss of jobs, family, friends, life-focus, homes, physical disability, emotional hurdles. So much so that many resort to suicide. It’s up to us, the people they defended, to protect them. Keep this phone number handy to pass on to a vulnerable vet. In fact, loan the vet your cell phone and be with them while they make the call. It’s the least we can do.
45% of the total energy used in U.S. homes goes toward heating. So it pays to let the sun in, seal drafts, use insulated window coverings, and replace your old furnace, which is probably only 65% efficient (or less) and might burn 400 more therms of natural gas than a new model that’s 95% efficient. It’s good for you AND for the Earth.
[For more easy, money-saving, Earth-friendly tips, download a FREE copy of Green Riches: Help the Earth & Your Budget. Go to www.Smashwords.com/books/view/7000 or your favorite e-book seller and download to your computer or e-book device. Totally free, with no strings attached.]
Let’s extend Thanksgiving a day…no, a lifetime. If prayer (or God) isn’t your thing, substitute whatever guiding force you use in your life, maybe simply “Conscience.” It’s the content here that matters, not necessarily who we express it to.
I’ve been watching those 3000, then 5000, then 7000 migrants in the caravan from Honduras through Mexico toward the U.S. I’ve heard the statements–none of which have been observed or proven–about the group containing criminals, gang-members, and mid-Eastern terrorists. As I look into their faces on the news I put myself in their midst.
Since I’ve been widowed I’ve been urged to move into a smaller home or apartment in a more affordable area. I think about it and realize I would be giving up all that I’m familiar and comfortable with, like my friends, local family, my church, the city I grew up in, and neighbors who support me. I’d move to an area where I’d have to learn to navigate new roads and find the best shopping. I’d face people with different attitudes towards us senior citizens and/or disabled. My new location would require new ways of doing things, new challenges for me to adapt to. In short, it would likely take a long, uncomfortable while to become “home.”
I believe that these souls who are walking thousands of miles carrying a few meager belongings and their children are just what they say they are. I believe they are giving up their homes and all they held dear to escape violence, danger, death, and poverty that never ended despite their hard work. I believe they’re looking for a better life where fear and uncertainty is not a daily occurrence. I believe they are willing to work hard to give their children a chance to survive and grow into productive adults.
I’d be leaving behind so much less than they are, taking a far less of a chance than they are, working a lot less hard than they will have to work to achieve their new life.
And I have a real choice, while they do not. I get it.
This week, some 243 years ago (1775), the U.S. Navy came into being. Today,300,000+ men and women are active duty Navy service members.
I didn’t serve in the Navy, but my husband did. He served two tours as a submarine sailor, with a stint on land and in the air over Viet Nam installing and servicing the radios that broadcast to the Vietnamese people. That’s where he was exposed the Agent Orange that likely was the cause of his cancers and, later in life, the antibiotic-persistent lung disease that killed him.
The Navy gave him much that was positive, though. Lifelong shipmate-friends. Experience and training that led him to a career in electronics. Stories of near disaster on a nuclear sub. Long, lonely months at sea brightened by letters from home. The awesome vastness and power of the sea. Dolphins jumping over the bow of their ship, greeting them as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. And, yes, a bar fight or two (this IS the Navy, after all!).
I salute all of you Navy personnel, and thank you for your service.
And to the U.S. Navy–happy birthday!
This week, some 243 years ago (1775), the U.S. Navy came into being. Today,300,000+ men and women are active duty Navy service members.
I didn’t serve in the Navy, but my husband did. He served two tours as a submarine sailor, with a stint on land and in the air over Viet Nam installing and servicing the radios that broadcast to the Vietnamese people. That’s where he was exposed the Agent Orange that likely was the cause of his cancers and, later in life, the antibiotic-persistent lung disease that killed him.
The Navy gave him much that was positive, though. Lifelong shipmate-friends. Experience and training that led him to a career in electronics. Stories of near disaster on a nuclear sub. Long, lonely months at sea brightened by letters from home. The awesome vastness and power of the sea. Dolphins jumping over the bow of their ship, greeting them as they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge. And, yes, a bar fight or two (this IS the Navy, after all!).
I salute all of you Navy personnel, and thank you for your service.
And to the U.S. Navy–happy birthday!